wind storm frustration

[bumpershoot]

I WAS on day 14 and then we had a wind storm last night. I candled the three banty eggs that had made it this far out of a dozen. One was iffy and two you could see the chicks developing and some movement. Then we had a very high (60 plus mph) wind very cold front come though here about 10 pm. I spent until midnight working on stabilizing the incubator. It's in an inner room with a heater in it, but with that much wind ambient dropped from 80 down to 71. Doggone it. I put a blanket on the incubator and worked to keep the thing at 100. Put a second blanket on it and got it to 101. At midnight I HAD to go to bed. We have two building projects going concurrently for the next two weeks and I HAVE to have at least six hours of sleep. Six am the alarm goes off and I check the eggs. 103. DRAT. I cooled it down and candled the eggs. I can see zippo for movement. But then, I am tired and a touch frustrated right now. I suppose that the only thing left to do is just wait it out until Sunday when they are supposed to hatch, but drat. Worst of all, the gal who these are for is a hugely over emotional person. SIGH. She is going to weep and wail over the loss of the bantys and I think I am a little too tired to walk that road right now.
Spring in NM is always VERY windy, so I am thinking that my next round I am going to find a big box to put the Hovabator into and put blankets around the bator. If someone has any ideas on that I'd be grateful.
Meanwhile, does anyone think the babies could make it though that kind of temp spike?

 

[patyrdz]

I am not sure, but from what I have read it is normal for temps to rise and fall during incubation. I think about a hen in the summer! They probably get very hot and still hatch the eggs! I would not give up yet.

 

[BeardedChick]

103 should not be that big of a deal. Especially if it was the air temperature in the 'bator and not the wiggler temperature...

Blankets are OK, just don't block all the air holes on the 'bator. The eggs also need a little bit of fresh oxygenated air.

 

[bumpershoot]

Thanks guys! I feel somewhat better. The holes of the bater were somewhat blocked. Ok. I laid the blanket over the bator. BUT I have a fan in there (this was originally not equipped with one). The wiggler and the mercury thermometer and the digital all read something different last night. When forced to choose, I chose the mercury which was fighting for 100 last night. Truthfully, it was the the wiggler that read 103 this am, but I did not look at the mercury because I was pre coffee and a touch brainless. It usually reads a degree lower than the wriggler. The whole thing is stable right now and I am going to have to hope it remains that way all day as I HAVE to work today.

 

[cici_p]

Hi bumpershoot
where are you fromt?
This sounds like the same windstorm that knocked out my pilot light last night! My home went from 67 to 54. But a blanket on the incubator kept it at 99 until I got the problem fixed.

 

[BeardedChick]

Re: 103, I still wouldn't worry about it. People have higher spikes that that all the time & things turn out OK.

 

[bumpershoot]

Quote:
I live in the Sandia Mountains. Still windy today, but the ambient temp is up.

 

[bumpershoot]

Quote:
Thanks! This is my first round, so I have nothing to compare it to.

 

[BeardedChick]

Some people even have a few chicks survive short spikes of 106-107f.

My wiggler temp was at 102f yesterday - seems like the change of air pressure during a storm messes the thermostat up sometimes.

I'm in CO, so I'd appreciate it if you stop that nasty wind from blowing up this direction.

All of our storms seem to come through NM.

 

[WriterofWords]

Last year during a hatch in my classroom the wind knocked out our power and the eggs went from 100 to 89, tried covering it etc, then power came back on while we were at lunch and temp went to 104, took off top, lowered temp, watched it carefully,,, The kids were sure they were fried but we ended up hatching 18 out of 23 eggs so keep your hopes up. Windy season is here and it's going to be a bad one.