Chook Me!

How high is too high for baby chicks??

This is my first time hatching chicks. I'm a teacher, and my incubator is in the back of my classroom. Somehow, my incubator got cranked up to at least 110 degrees for approximately 15 to 20 minutes the first day the eggs were put into the incubator. I got the temp turned down and I have been able to stabilize the temperature and humidity for several days now. I am just hoping the embryos are still alive. Am I wasting my time continuing incubation?

Public Comments

1. well depending on how many days you have been incubating, you can candle them to see if there are any veins. If you can see them, then you got yourself a lil baby chick! it was only up by 10F so I dont know for sure if that would of cooked them or not, if it did kill'em than withing a few days you will be able to smell something nasty coming from the eggs, if not than i think you are safe. HOPE THIS HELPED!!!!!!!!
2. It's hard to tell if they will make it.... After a week or two try to "candle" the eggs using a flashlight in a dark room... you should be able to see veins on the inside of the egg and a very small embryo... it's pretty neat when you can catch it at the right stage and you can actually see the heart beating.. It's only a waste of time if you know they are dead... and you can only tell that within the next week... here is a site you should check out... maybe print out.. its very helpful if you don't have it already...This print out will be really helpful since it is for a classroom... it has some really neat charts for you and your students to fill out!! http://agrilifebookstore.org/tmppdfs/viewpdf_1215.pdf?CFID=1300127&CFTOKEN=97a48fb47651e3a-46700724-7E93-35CB-8D349F10D746C0FA&jsessionid=8e305fe71ce823356149 one more thing.... If you do candle the eggs and if there are a few where they look like they are dead... more than likely they are.... you want to get them out of the incubator as soon as possible so that you don't introduce bacteria into the incubator..... Happy hatching!!!!
3. Hi, Eggs need a temperature of 37.5°C if they are to be incubated.They need to be turn a minimum of 3 times a day. You just might get away with the temperature going that high for such a short time. Candle the eggs at 8 days, if you see the "red spider" (blood vessels) and a dark blob, then they'll be fine. If they are clear (you can see through them) then throw them away and start again. It's always a good idea to have your incubator up and running for at least 4 hours to see if the temperature is constant, also check the humidity. Good luck.