what went wrong?

[holderh]

I incubated some eggs in a still air incubator model# 9200 They were supposed to hatch April 3. Today is day 23 and nobody has pipped. There has been movement however. I have incubated before and had several to hatch but this is the first year I have used an egg Turner. The egg turner was supposed to come with a thermometer but it didn't it said not too us the one that came with the incubator because it is mounted on a metal bracket. It said too use the one that came with the turner because its mounted on clear plastic so u can put it on top of the eggs. Well my incubator thermometer WAS on a clear plastic piece NOT a metal bracket so since the egg turner didn't have one and the one I had looked just like the one in the instruction booklet I used it. I had the incubator regulated ,put the eggs in right and put the thermometer on top of the eggs. Easter Sunday it was time to stop rotating so I took them out of the turner but since I thought it would hinder them hatching I put the thermometer on the wire bottom of the incubator. Just like I did it last year when I incubated. We went out of town from Sunday morning till Monday night. When I got home the temperature was 89 degrees! So I turned it back up to 99.5.......and now no one is hatching. Should I have left the thermometer on top of the eggs when I stopped turning them? Is it too late? If they dont hatch by Saturday I should throw them out shouldn't I?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I hate thermometers. Most of them can be off by 2 degrees and I've had them off by much more.
Has there been movement since it was 89 degrees? They may just be late because temps were low.

 

[holderh]

Yes...at least 2 out of 28 were moving yesterday, especially one when I would talk to it. I havent seen any activity yet this morning.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don’t know what type of incubator you are using, still air or forced air, let alone make and model. If you could list that, maybe by editing your first post and putting it in your title you’ll attract the attention of someone that has a similar make and model. They can probably give you more help than I can.

It sounds like you have a still air, sometimes called a thermal air. Hot air rises. The temperature in them can vary quite a bit depending on where you take the temperature. The usual recommendation is on top of the eggs and shoot for 101.5 degrees Fahrenheit. Mine is a forced air so I don’t k now how much it can vary, just that it can.

My guess is that you have a still air and kept the temperature around 99.5 instead of 101.5 at the top of the eggs. With the incubation temperature being low, they would hatch late. That’s if your thermometer is reading right to start with. Did you calibrate it to confirm it was working right?

Then when you lowered the thermometer and cranked the temperature up, you may or may not have cooked the eggs. I honestly don’t know. Remember I’m just guessing.

If there is movement but none have pipped, I’d suggest you try to get it to the right temperature and wait a bit. If they were not moving I’d suggest doing the float test. That’s where you take an egg that has not pipped and put it in a pan of lukewarm water, somewhere around 100 degrees. If something alive is in it, the egg will wiggle on the water. If it is dead still, there is nothing alive in it.

Good luck with it. Sometimes those chicks can be pretty tough.

 

[3 NH reds]

How is the humidity in there that will affect your hatch.

 

[holderh]

Thanks ridge runner. Okay so its a still air 9200. I just opened it up and moved the thermometer back ontop of the eggs. its now reading 104.5 ...so to recap during incubation i had them in an egg turner with the thermometer on top of the eggs. the instruction book said to put it on top of the eggs at 99.5 so that is what I did. When i put them in lock down i put the thermometer on the bottom of the incubator instead of on top of the eggs. (i just thought since they would be hatching it would hinder the eggs with it on top. the instructions never said anything about keeping it on top of the eggs during lockdown and i didnt last year when i hatched some.) so a day and a half later when i got home the temperature was reading about 88 /89 with the thermometer on the floor of the incubator. so i moved up the temp back to 99.5 So your thinking that since i moved the temp back up when I lowered the thermometer it killed them?

 

[holderh]

well i have kept the rings full of water but i dont have anything to read the humidity because the incubator didnt come with one. I did the same thing as i did last year except for the egg turner and putting the thermometer on top of the eggs until lockdown.

 

[holderh]

So i am now adjusting the thermometer agian to read 101.5 and will wait a day or too to see what happens. Poor little chicks

 

[Loghousemom]

I would think if they are moving in there maybe those will hatch late since the temp was low. I am not an expert (only in the middle of my first hatch myself) but you could do the water test like one suggested, but if it were me, I would leave them set for a couple more days and see what develops. Next time I would probably be sure the thermometer is calibrated and get a hygrometer. You should be able to get one cheap in the reptile area of a pet store, and having an inaccurate idea on humidity would be better than no idea I think. (I purchased a separate thermometer/hygrometer online for incubator so I had 2 reference points.

 

[mshuntjump]

You're using a Little giant model #9200. Thats the one i have. You just have to use your thinking skills when using it. The temp in the turner is higher than the temp on the wire, so right when you put your eggs in lockdown(on the wire), regulate the temp back up. I'm on day 19 and this has worked ever since ive gotten the bator.