New to incubating, temperature help needed ASAP.

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cowgirlup07

cowgirlup07

In the Brooder
5 Years
Oct 22, 2014
64
1
43
Comanche, Oklahoma
We got our first ever egg from our new hen (who's been laying for awhile, we just bought her) her eggs are fertile and have been hatched by her previous mommy. I checked the nest boxes this afternoon and nothing but when I checked again around 10pm I found an egg from the white rock (not 100% sure on the breed this is a guess, previous owner wasn't sure either) bantam hen (she lays an odd colored peach/pink egg, kinda cool since I've never had the privilege of seeing this color egg). Here's the problem, it was only 47 degrees Fahrenheit outside when I found her egg and she was not sitting on it. The egg was chilled but I brought it inside anyways as I'm in the process of setting up my incubator. I have no clue if the outside temperature was cold enough to destroy the chance of hatching the egg. Help!?!?

Just for fun here's the egg :D:D:D

700
 
The chill was actually pretty good for the egg. Ideally you only want 2 temperature changes, one when it is laid and then ideally down to about 60 and the other when it goes into the incubator. It is a good idea to gradually warm the egg so it doesn't get condensation on it.
An egg can remain viable down to freezing. Below that ice crystals will form in the egg and prevent it from developing.
The following is a great read on temperature and incubation.
http://www.brinsea.com/Articles/Advice/PowerOff.aspx

That could be a rock egg. I had some that color from my rocks.
 
Thank you so much!!! I'm wanting to gather a few eggs before putting them in. I've read a lot on storing them but completely forgot about outdoor temperatures in the process lol, I got too excited and ahead of myself but I've got the incubator up and going along with getting it adjusted, confusing as all get out doing that much.. Everything is done in Celsius on this one, ugh, it was a gift though so can't complain.
 
It's got a fan on it. I had it set to 37.5 so I was hoping that was correct. So far it hasn't gotten above 45% humidity, from what I've read, that's good but not sure how accurate the information is. The instructions that came with it are very poorly written, the grammar is really confusing. I'll log in on my phone and post a picture of it real quick.
 
It seems to be jumping from 37 to 37.5 and back again. Does the temperature of the room the incubator is in affect the temperature inside the incubator at all? It's on my kitchen counter so my little boy can watch the eggs too. Not where food is prepared or anything, just unused space.

400

400
 
The temperature of the room does matter. It is best to place them in a room that stays a more constant temperature. Some people use closets. I put mine in the cellar because the house electronic thermostats change with the season and time of day so it can be anywhere from 62-82 but the cellar stays pretty much a constant temp.
Don't completely rely on the settings, they could be off. It's best to have at least one known accurate thermometer in addition to the controls. I like the following 2 because they're very accurate and are not real expensive.
http://thermoworks.com/products/low_cost/rt301wa.html
https://www.brinsea.com/p-394-spot-check-digital-incubator-thermometer.aspx
You can always use a fever thermometer. They're very accurate.
Keep in mind, with fast or instant read thermometers, the reading will change quite a bit as the heat element turns on and off. That isn't the internal egg temperature.
 
Ok. Does it matter if the room is kept pretty cool? My son has a breathing defect, that until surgery is done, we have to keep the house under 70 degrees to keep his esophagus from closing up. I keep the room where we brood the chicks a good bit warmer since he doesn't have constant access to it.
 
You can keep it whatever temperature you want. The problem comes with fluctuating room temps. You can build a little wall around the incubator with cardboard to keep some of the heat in if it has trouble maintaining temperature. Just don't block off air vents.
 

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