Whole incubatator of dead checks in an hour and a half!

[Tcthomps1]

We had a full Little Giant incubatator that we moved chicks into for lockdown. Everything was going well, the chicks were noisy all hatched out bouncing around. All looked healthy and just like normal when someone checked them at 4pm. When I got home at 5.15, ALL of them were dead! The incubator still looked right and working just than the humidity being higher than usual, around 95%. Anybody know what could have happened?

 

[b2c2chicks]

That sounds like an extreme temp spike....or lack of ventilation. Do you have any plugs open?

Oh my, my heart breaks for you I am so sorry!

 

[Tcthomps1]

That sounds like an extreme temp spike....or lack of ventilation. Do you have any plugs open?

Oh my, my heart breaks for you I am so sorry!

Yes, there are plugs open, we have used this incubator as is multiple times.

 

[Tcthomps1]

The only thing we're have found is my husband noticed that the incubatator humidity sensor was taking high while the humidity controller sensor was reading at 45% (lower than we had it set).

 

[b2c2chicks]

Yes, there are plugs open, we have used this incubator as is multiple times.

Is it still air or forced? Someone mentioned to me in regard to a bad hatch that they had to vacuum out the fans/motor area from time to time to keep things working correctly. (Chick fuzz clogs it up from what I gather). I just can’t imagine why they would all die that suddenly. Is it possible someone opened it and they got chilled?

For the humidity to be reading that high it makes me wonder if something went off with the electronics. I would calibrate as soon as you get the chance. How many chicks was it?

 

[fire370]

Sounds like you had a heck of a spike.

 

[Tcthomps1]

Is it still air or forced? Someone mentioned to me in regard to a bad hatch that they had to vacuum out the fans/motor area from time to time to keep things working correctly. (Chick fuzz clogs it up from what I gather). I just can’t imagine why they would all die that suddenly. Is it possible someone opened it and they got chilled?

For the humidity to be reading that high it makes me wonder if something went off with the electronics. I would calibrate as soon as you get the chance. How many chicks was it?

Over 40 chicks, all hatched but 2 that were started zipping (dead too)and 2 that were not hatching. It is forced air, I clean it every time between hatches but I do focus on the bottom. I will definatly clean and check everything before using it again. We had opened and moved stuff around before I thought to check the location of the sensor coming in from the outside humidity controller. Could the humidifier running overtime kill the chicks like that all at the same time?

 

[b2c2chicks]

Over 40 chicks, all hatched but 2 that were started zipping (dead too)and 2 that were not hatching. It is forced air, I clean it every time between hatches but I do focus on the bottom. I will definatly clean and check everything before using it again. We had opened and moved stuff around before I thought to check the location of the sensor coming in from the outside humidity controller. Could the humidifier running overtime kill the chicks like that all at the same time?

Wow! Were the chicks wet looking or did they look fluffy? Not that I suspect that...I don’t see how too much humidity can kill them all like that once they’re hatched...unless they were on the wetter side and got severely chilled (but even then it shouldn’t have killed all). I still keep going back to a temp spike or lack of oxygen.

Even if it was mold or bacteria, I can’t see that killing all of them. That’s so awful! I hope you are able to find out the definite cause of this.

My incubatorwarehouse.com hygrometer has a setting that will tell you the highest/lowest temp registered. I didn’t know that until recently. Did you happen to use multiple instruments?

 

[FarmerGirl101]

I have heard that Little Giant incubators aren't very good (hatch rates, temp or humidity spike, stuff killing the healthy chicks). Just something that I am sharing

 

[HuffleClaw]

@The Moonshiner i think had an awful experience with the Little Giant incubators too