No chicks.
This is the first time in all the incubating we've done, that we've had a failure. And what a failure - not just one or two, but ALL our eggs failed!
16 out of the 20 were fertile. All 16 developed to a greater of lesser extent, but all were dead in shell. We had tested the temperature of the incubator with a specialist probe, before we set the eggs; we've used this incubator before with excellent results.
We had been planning to run two incubators, but as we ended up with only 18 eggs, we decided to go with just one. If we'd run two, then at least we would know whether the problem was with the incubator or with the environment.
Looking at the range of development, it could be anything: Temperature too hot. Temperature too cold. Not enough humidity. Too much humidity.
We've done a factory reset on the incubator. DH is calibrating the probe to see if the probe is at fault. We're reviewing the external conditions, as they may have caused or contrbuted to the problem.
Investigations are continuing.
We've decided we'd like to try again. We'll either use the other incubator, or we'll put some eggs in both. A risk, I know - but we have to find out.
On a potentially positive note (if there can be something positive in this sort of situation) if R's Girls (those that survived yesterday's fox attack) lay eggs in the next few days they may still be fertile, so we can include them in the incubators as well.
This is the first time in all the incubating we've done, that we've had a failure. And what a failure - not just one or two, but ALL our eggs failed!
16 out of the 20 were fertile. All 16 developed to a greater of lesser extent, but all were dead in shell. We had tested the temperature of the incubator with a specialist probe, before we set the eggs; we've used this incubator before with excellent results.
We had been planning to run two incubators, but as we ended up with only 18 eggs, we decided to go with just one. If we'd run two, then at least we would know whether the problem was with the incubator or with the environment.
Looking at the range of development, it could be anything: Temperature too hot. Temperature too cold. Not enough humidity. Too much humidity.
We've done a factory reset on the incubator. DH is calibrating the probe to see if the probe is at fault. We're reviewing the external conditions, as they may have caused or contrbuted to the problem.
Investigations are continuing.
We've decided we'd like to try again. We'll either use the other incubator, or we'll put some eggs in both. A risk, I know - but we have to find out.
On a potentially positive note (if there can be something positive in this sort of situation) if R's Girls (those that survived yesterday's fox attack) lay eggs in the next few days they may still be fertile, so we can include them in the incubators as well.
