Temp of air vs. temp of egg

Hi everyone,

I am on Day 1 of my first hatch. I'm so excited to see how many and who hatches. I set far more eggs than I ever planned but such is life and chicken math.

My incubator is holding at a perfect 99 degrees and the thermostat has held that round the clock so far. My humidity is between 28 - 35% so I am happy with that as well. So far, knock on wood, so good.

My only question is...I have a Brinsea thermometer w/ a probe in a water wiggler and that temp is holding around 98.6-98.8. It does not hit 99 but I'm thinking that is ok. Just as long as the temp in the incubator is 99, is that right??

Thank you so much!

Which thermometer is the most accurate? Due to manufacturing tolerances not all thermometers read exactly correctly. There are different methods to calibrate a thermometer but I really don’t trust any until I have calibrated them.

Some thermometers are accurate to within 1 to 2 degrees. Some are made to be accurate to within 0.1 degree. I’m not talking about them reading the temperature correctly, I’m talking about precision. If the temperature is truly 99 degrees, some thermometers may read 98 degrees one time and 100 degrees another even if they are reading the right temperature. For incubation you need one that is precise to within 0.1 degree.

You are on Day 1. The egg itself is a lot denser than air. It can take a long time for the temperature inside the egg to match the air temperature. That’s why peaks and valleys in air temperature inside an incubator isn’t a real disaster as long as they don’t last too long. It’s the average temperature that is important. Has that water wiggler had time to stabilize?

In the middle of an egg, the perfect temperature is 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit. You’re real close to that if those thermometers are accurate. If that water wiggler is really accurate you will still get a good hatch, it just may be a little late. I don’t see any real cause for concern as long as you trust your thermometers.

I’d be real cautious about adjusting the temperature with it being that close. You don’t want to cook those eggs and some temperature adjustments can be really touchy. Too much heat is worse than too little, though if you are within a degree or so either way you are doing well.

Thank you for replying! That makes sense. Before setting I calibrated the hygrometer w another that is used in a meat curing room in a restaurant and am told it's accurate. They were the same temp and off by 3 on the humidity in my salt water test. I stuck the never used brinsea in my mouth (prob stupid) to see if it would hit 98.6. It didn't make it to 98 so I'm going w that one as off by almost a full degree.

I hope I'm right. I decided to err on the side of being a few tenths below 99.5 or right on instead of being over the whole time. I'll have to wait and see if I'm right. Stressful!!!

Thanks again.

After posting tonight I decided to candle. I know it's only day 4 but the suspense of this temp concern is KILLING me. I only spot checked since it's so early but the vast majority I checked had very visible veins, clear as day. Some were hard to tell on b/c of the shell color so I feel good leaving the temp as is. Thanks again!

JulesFlock said:

After posting tonight I decided to candle. I know it's only day 4 but the suspense of this temp concern is KILLING me. I only spot checked since it's so early but the vast majority I checked had very visible veins, clear as day. Some were hard to tell on b/c of the shell color so I feel good leaving the temp as is. Thanks again!

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LOL. Never make excuses for your decisions. My rule #1. You've got a gut, go with it. Yes, sometimes it will be wrong, but then it's a learning experience and we know not to repeat that action. What someone may not think is right to do, may work perfectly fine for you.

I spot check every night once they start developing. I'm now anal about keeping an eye on my air cells and I like to check progress of my chicks as well. I usually only do 3-4 eggs on a nightly basis, except the days 7/14/18 and then I candle all and mark air cells. I do take precautions such as hand washing, gentleness and I do not keep them out for long periods. (Yes, I am a candling addict.) I find no ill effects to my method. If I did, I would change it. There are people that have a hands off philosophy, and that's fine, they are doing what is comfortable for them, but I won't feel guilty for my methodology and choices I make because it's uncomfortable to them. We all have different comfort levels, but we need to accept the differences in others. There is aways that point where you make a decision that someone else has warned you against, and it doesn't work and you realize that they were probably right, but sometimes you just learn by making the mistakes, how else are you going to know what works for you?

Yay for the developing eggs!! It's so exciting to know and see that life developing!