What the heck happened?????

[beebiz]

Cynthia, since the post that I made and said that I had no hygrometer, I have gotten one. It monitors the temp and the rh as it sits inside the incubator or hygrometer. My "hatcher" is a Little Giant incubator that I use for the purpose of hatching because I don't like how touchy the thermostat is. I still needed the hygrometer in the hatcher (for new eggs that I put in after removing these 44), so I couldn't put it in the hatcher. But, that's how I knew what the humidity was during the first 18 days and not the last 3. Sorry for any confusion I caused.

I'd certainly like to know what happened too. Such excellent results with the Mille Fleur hatch and such sorry results with this one. And, the only differences (that I am aware of) between this hatch and the Mille Fleur hatch are the following. 1) due to rain, during this hatch the rh inside the house was higher (I had a wall hygrometer to monitor this), 2) the Buff hens were younger than the Mille Fleur hens, 3) for this hatch, I had a hygrometer in the incubator, 4) for this hatch, I had a homemade water weasel in the incubator and kept the temp in the weasel at 99.5 (or as close to it as I could), and 5) the temperature spike.

You said that in your opinion a spike inside the weasel of almost 5 degrees above the ideal temp would not cause a complete dead out. Would that be true if the spike lasted for say 6, 8, or 10 hours?? Just curious, because I don't know for sure how long it lasted. I just know that the temp inside the weasel was 99.5 when I checked it about 6 AM and it was 103.8 inside the weasel when I checked it again around 10:30 PM.

If it were truely a humidity issue, wouldn't the air cell be overly large and the membrane be dry, tough, and leathery?

Thanks for all your input,
Robert

 

[speckledhen]

Robert, it may not have been humidity at all.If your aircells were the proper sizes and membranes were sufficiently moist, perhaps it wasn't. And you are correct that a temp spike of an extended length could have been the culprit, but I would say that the temp you mentioned for a couple to three hours probably would not have killed all of the embryos. What about ventilation, though? That is the one thing people tend not to think much about, especially when they try to keep humidity in the bator. They tend to plug up too many inlets and suffocate the chicks. I'm not saying you did that, but that is the third eye of this triangle of temp, humidity and oxygen that is too often neglected. Always allow as much air into the bator as possible without compromising temp or humidity. Are the pullets brand new layers? That could account for the weakness in the chicks, but not a complete dead-out as you called it, I wouldnt think.
The problem is that you don't know how long your temp spike lasted and so you may not be able to know with any real certainty if that was what killed the embryos. Just try again and pay particular attention to oxygen flow as well as temp and RH and hopefully, it will go much better for you. Sure hope so. Sorry about the chicks.

 

[beebiz]

Thanks Cynthia. The hens had been laying almost 2 months when I collected the eggs. It just may have been too soon. But like you, I find it hard to believe that this would cause all of the embryos to die. As for ventilation.... I kept one of the red plugs out of the bator the whole time. To try to insure that fresh air made it into the bator, once daily I removed the lid for a few seconds. While it was off, I turned it (the lid) upside down, flipped it back right side up (to kind of "empty out" the stale air), and replaced it. I did this just like I did with the Mille Fleur hatch.

The more I think about it, the more I fear that it was the temp spike. And, I fear that it may be something wrong with the wafer. Before I trust it to any more eggs, I am going to set it up with the weasel, egg turner, and hygrometer, and let it run for 21 days. If a spike happens again, I'll replace the wafer and try it again. I may replace the wafer anyway..... this is just toooooo disheartening!!

Robert

 

[speckledhen]

Robert, wafers around here sell for about $6 at the feedstore. Why don't you just go ahead and get one and install it? At least, you'll have peace of mind. I'm not sure that's what it was, but you'll feel better knowing you have a brand new one in there. BTW, last year, my new Hova was doing a two week test run, had never incubated any eggs and the brand new wafer right out of the box, blew a seal. If I'd had eggs in it, I'd have been very upset. So, even new ones can be defective. Always have one or two extras on hand.

 

[skeeter9]

I second that sentiment. When I changed my wafer a couple of months ago, the new one I put in was defective. Luckily I had another on hand - now all is well.