Hooooollywalsh Posted May 9, 2010 Share Posted May 9, 2010 I bought a new Novital 6 egg incubator, to hatch 6 Dutch Bantam eggs, but the temperature is aroung 10 degrees f, below the recommended. I have turned the temperature up as much as possible and have resorted to putting hay at the bottom of the incubator and a scarf around it, hoping that no heat escapes, even putting on the radiator momentarily. I am worried that this will make the chicks ill, if they even develop? They have been in the incubator for 1 day now and as the instructions specified, i left 12 hours with the incubator running before the eggs were put in. I am not sure as to whether the thermometer is broken or whether this is a problem with the incubator? Someone please help me as I am worried about the eggs welfare. Thank you in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted May 9, 2010 Share Posted May 9, 2010 Oh dear. It sounds as if the incubator is faulty. Have you tried a separate thermometer inside it, to verify that it isn't just the incubator thermometer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted May 9, 2010 Share Posted May 9, 2010 Oh dear. It sounds as if the incubator is faulty. Have you tried a separate thermometer inside it, to verify that it isn't just the incubator thermometer? Thats what I'd do, a digital thermometer is the best if you can get hold of one The eggs need air so take care not to cover any vent holes On my similar inccy there was a place where you could stick a screwdriver and turn to increase/decrease the level at which the thermostat kicks in but normally they should arrive ready to go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hooooollywalsh Posted May 10, 2010 Author Share Posted May 10, 2010 Thank you, I am going to buy a new thermometer today - hopefully that will work. I'll keep you posted! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hooooollywalsh Posted May 11, 2010 Author Share Posted May 11, 2010 Thank you, I am going to buy a new thermometer today - hopefully that will work.I'll keep you posted! I have bought a digital thermometer, which displays both degrees Celsius and Fahrenheit - the average temperature of my incubator is around 29.9 oC / 84.9 oF. The supplier has offered a repair or replacement, but I have no where to store the eggs whilst I return the incubator to be replaced . . . what do I do now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 Chances are they are probably not going to hatch now anyway Where are you in the country? someone may be able to offer the loan of an inccy or recommend where one can be hired from Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hooooollywalsh Posted May 11, 2010 Author Share Posted May 11, 2010 Chances are they are probably not going to hatch now anyway Where are you in the country? someone may be able to offer the loan of an inccy or recommend where one can be hired from I live in Stevenage, Hertfordshire. My Mum and I will be very disappointed if they don't hatch as we've been planning to have pet chickens for a few years now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted May 11, 2010 Share Posted May 11, 2010 If eggs get chilled once they will normally recover and some will hatch however they have been at a low temp for some days now so I wouldnt be expecting them to hatch - stranger things have happened though I'm a bit far away but I have a spare inccy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hooooollywalsh Posted May 12, 2010 Author Share Posted May 12, 2010 Thank you for your kind offer, unfortunately I think you were right in saying that I shouldn't expect them to hatch, as they are starting to smell now I am going to look into buying day old chicks and using a brooding box to raise them. Hopefully this will have a better outcome, thank you once again for your support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
