So just how resiliant are hatching eggs??

[Cranman]

I built a incubator this weekend and had the temp stabilized around 99, so I put a egg from the coop in there to see what happens in a few weeks. Today I get home for lunch and the temp is 108 and the little fan has quit in the incubator. I guess the lack of air circulation cause the temp to spike? I have one 40w bulb on full time and one 25w bulb controlled by a water heater thermostat. I know it was stabe all night so I guess it was due to the fan cutting out. Anyways I had another fan and put it in real quick.

I'm inclined to see if the egg still hatches, is it pointless? The thermometer is close to where the egg was but maybe the egg was a little cooler?

Anyways, looking forward to getting the 'bater dialed in and hopefully some chicks in the coming weeks.

 

[Katy]

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Only time will tell if the temp spike cooked the egg. I'd suggest putting more eggs in tho.....if your egg does hatch, you're going to have one very lonely chick.

 

[debilorrah]

Very early and very late in the hatching process, the spikes and drops don;t matter so much. Try to stabilize it and you should be fine.

 

[suzettex5]

Ooooch, thats a pretty high spike,

If the eggs are special to ya, I would reccomend you keep trying with them, ya never know, you might get lucky. Sometimes in the very first few days a spike like that wont hurt the eggs, but you didnt say how far into incubation the eggs are.

I think you could do the repairs and give them a few days and then candle the eggs to see if you see any movement. I think there is some hope still that you may get a few to hatch.

 

[Cranman]

The egg was laid the same day I put it in the 'bater, yesterday. I plan to add 1-2 eggs a day until the bater is full, and I guess it will hold 18 eggs. Glad to hear there may be a chance for egg#1!

As for candling the egg, Suzette mentioned candling it after a few days to look for movement? When might you casyally see movement, how many days? I would have guess it would take 12 days or so..but I'm still very new at this.

Thanks for the input!

 

[Katy]

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I'd suggest you save the eggs up until you have as many as you want to put in. A staggered hatch like you're going to have comes with a whole set of headaches unless you'll have a different hatcher to move them to.

 

[Cranman]

Hmmm...I guess that brings on a few more newbie questions.

What temp should I store the eggs at until they all go in the 'bater? I seem to remember arounf 60 degrees? If it's around 60 I'n not sure where I will keep them!

What's a hatcher? I thought the new chicks would go in a bin with a heat lamp, like the day old chicks I originally got?

Lastly, each days eggs from the coop, will they still be ok as hatching eggs if they get cold? Our high today is around 40, what if I don't get the eggs until this evening and they have cooled down?

Thanks for the help everyone!

 

[Katy]

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