Hi. This is my first try at incubating. I am using the renowned and beloved (
) LG 9200 still-air with an egg turner and using the dry incubation method. Here's the deal.
The incubator is sitting on the top rack of a 2-shelf mesh shoe rack, about 12" above the surface of the dresser. Plenty of opportunity for air flow. There are no plugs in any ventilation holes.
When I stabilized the incubator before setting eggs, the humidity was low. Super low. 16% low. I am using an Accurite thermom/hygrom. I only had one at the time and have since purchased a second to double-check accuracy. They read exactly the same for both humidity and temperature. The room itself is a bedroom with little traffic and is constant temp at 68-70 with humidity levels of 30-36% over the past 24hr (and the past week, I've been keeping an eye).
Because of scheduling the hatch date I had to set on Feb 21 before I got the humidity issue worked out. The temperature was and is reading steady at 102*F at the level of the top of the eggs (100 in some places). I placed a pan of water on the shelf underneath the incubator (5" clearance) to catch drips and hopefully evaporate into the incubator to get the humidity up, but that hasn't happened yet.
I set 28 of my uncle's eggs (30 hens under 2 roos, untested fertility but all eggs I've cracked have been fertile). Today was candling day, Day 7. I found blood vessels in 8 eggs and cannot see into 4 others. The rest all look about the same, with a dark mass toward the top (big end) of the egg and a very dark ring about halfway around. I can't tell if this is just a different stage of development or if they have gone bad.
I sacrificed three eggs that were questionably dirty. Two had burst yolks, one was intact. One of the burst yolks appeared to have blood in it, but not a blood "ring". The other did not. The intact yolk did not appear to have been fertile.
My questions:
What is this dark mass and dark ring a sign of? Too hot? Too dry?
It is possible for humidity to be too low. Should I be refilling the wells before it hits 25% to prevent further excess moisture loss?
What should I be looking for at the next candling (3 days out) to confirm that the eggs are "dead"? If uncertain, should I leave them or pull them? I don't want to damage the few I'm sure about.
Is it possible this is a temperature issue? Is 102*F possibly too hot in my incubator? Try as I did, I was unable to land a mercury thermometer to calibrate the electronic ones. The Accurite units do not tolerate boiling or freezing temps so manual calibration was not an option.
I appreciate any feedback you've got time to share. I know this is a busy thread and this is probably a common question with this incubator, but I couldn't seem to find the right answer.
The incubator is sitting on the top rack of a 2-shelf mesh shoe rack, about 12" above the surface of the dresser. Plenty of opportunity for air flow. There are no plugs in any ventilation holes.
When I stabilized the incubator before setting eggs, the humidity was low. Super low. 16% low. I am using an Accurite thermom/hygrom. I only had one at the time and have since purchased a second to double-check accuracy. They read exactly the same for both humidity and temperature. The room itself is a bedroom with little traffic and is constant temp at 68-70 with humidity levels of 30-36% over the past 24hr (and the past week, I've been keeping an eye).
Because of scheduling the hatch date I had to set on Feb 21 before I got the humidity issue worked out. The temperature was and is reading steady at 102*F at the level of the top of the eggs (100 in some places). I placed a pan of water on the shelf underneath the incubator (5" clearance) to catch drips and hopefully evaporate into the incubator to get the humidity up, but that hasn't happened yet.
I set 28 of my uncle's eggs (30 hens under 2 roos, untested fertility but all eggs I've cracked have been fertile). Today was candling day, Day 7. I found blood vessels in 8 eggs and cannot see into 4 others. The rest all look about the same, with a dark mass toward the top (big end) of the egg and a very dark ring about halfway around. I can't tell if this is just a different stage of development or if they have gone bad.
I sacrificed three eggs that were questionably dirty. Two had burst yolks, one was intact. One of the burst yolks appeared to have blood in it, but not a blood "ring". The other did not. The intact yolk did not appear to have been fertile.
My questions:
What is this dark mass and dark ring a sign of? Too hot? Too dry?
It is possible for humidity to be too low. Should I be refilling the wells before it hits 25% to prevent further excess moisture loss?
What should I be looking for at the next candling (3 days out) to confirm that the eggs are "dead"? If uncertain, should I leave them or pull them? I don't want to damage the few I'm sure about.
Is it possible this is a temperature issue? Is 102*F possibly too hot in my incubator? Try as I did, I was unable to land a mercury thermometer to calibrate the electronic ones. The Accurite units do not tolerate boiling or freezing temps so manual calibration was not an option.
I appreciate any feedback you've got time to share. I know this is a busy thread and this is probably a common question with this incubator, but I couldn't seem to find the right answer.
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