I was incubating 2 dozen bantam eggs. They were due to hatch last Wednesday. Nothing. So I let them go until today and still nothing. I gave up on them and cracked them into the pig slop. Most were fertilized and had started to develop. Some looked like they were nearly fully developed. My bator spiked to 104* twice. That has happened with big stock eggs and it was no problem. I wonder if the bantam eggs being smaller made it impossible for them to weather that much heat. Are quail eggs incubated at lower temps? I think I need a new bator but cannot afford one. I have 2 Little Giants. Looks like once you get it set you shouldn't have a problem but that hasn't been the case for me. The bator was in the living room against the wall. Any ideas?
0 hatch!
A 104 spike shouldn't have been fatal, even with bantams. Where did you get the eggs?
From my hens. I have 3 and the prettiest little roo you ever saw.
I would suspect that you need to calibrate your thermometer...they can be seriously off. If it were 2 degrees off either way, it might make a big difference.
How do I calibrate it?
You have to compare it to a known reliable thermometer...which is tricky to find.
You might find a science class at a high school that has one.
I use a cigar humador thermometer/hygrometer from Amazon...about $17, but much more accurate than the ones at Walmart.
The $12 Walmart ones are perfectly good, once you have them calibrated (i.e you know they are one of two degress off and just adjust for that).
It is important when you are calibrating them to leave them for a good long time in the same environment, since some take longer to register the correct temp.
I can't really think of any other reason for a zero hatch....especially since the eggs were fresh and at least some started developing.
Thanks for the info.
I raise geese and have one Little Giant and two Hovabators. I replaced the Little Giant with a Hovabator this winter because the hatchaibility rate with the Little Giant (non-circulated air) was about 10% under the exact same conditions. My hatchability rate with the Hovabator is about 95-97%. I would suspect your incubator first, just because of my own experience. If you candle your eggs weekly, you can determine the from the stage of development that they die some of the other possible causes. There are vitamin and mineral deficiencies, as well as some illnesses that can cause death and at different stages of development. When you candle your eggs, don't handle them without gloves that are clean and disinfected and don't breathe on them any more that you have to. Mine did fine last year, but until you learn to recognize what you're looking at, you will probably over-handle them.
The temperature shouldn't have been an issue unless it was prolonged. You didn't say if this was first-time use of the incubator or a subsequent use. Bacteria can also be an issue. A thermometer/hygrometer will be very useful to you. I got a couple from Hovabator.com very reasonably, but I've forgotten the price. It was low enough for me to buy 3, though, when I bought that last incubator from them. You can also get replacement parts for the Hovabators directly from them. I liked that!
This was the 2nd use for both incubators with the same results. I only use the Little Giant for a warming basket for the goslings to hatch in once they've pipped. It's great for that and keeps all that really awful stuff from hatching eggs out of the actual incubators.
What is the best way to clean the incubator after a hatch?
A lot of people use very dilute bleach, but I worry about the bleach degrading the styrofoam.
I rinse mine out, use very dilute pine based disinfectant (it may also be hard on the plastic, but I know the bleach is) to soak it in for a few minutes, and scrub out the stains with those white Mr. Clean scrubbing blocks. Then I rinse it thoroughly and leave it in the sun for a few hours. Sunlight is suppose to be an excellent disinfectant.
We use a product called Virocid that we buy from Murray McMurray Hatchery. We also use a spray, such as Lysol or Tektrol on the electrical parts. Bleach is my first and favorite disinfectant, but I needed something that wouldn't corrode metal or deteriorate the o-rings on my waterers. I was also concerned that there might be chlorine fumes when I next turned it on. I soak the styrofoam and plastic parts in Virocid & water at the recommended rate in the bathtub (after removing all the electrical parts!). Color code or tag these if you're not sure you'll remember where everything came from. After a good soak and scrub, they go out into the sunshine and stay there long enough for everything to get a good, solid exposure. The electrical parts get a good wet soaking with the Tektrol spray and left to air dry in the sun before reinstalling the parts in the incubator and putting it away till the next season. They get sprayed again and aired before the next use, too.