Incubation Temp. help please

[kbaabyyy36]

I have a Little Giant 9200. Its a still air incubator but i found a small battery operated fan at wal-mart for only 5 bucks and it fits perfectly in the incubator so it does have air circulation to an extent. Anyways I've read through a lot of these post and did a lot of modifications to the incubator to stabilize the temp. However im still having two problems. 1) My temp isn't completely stable. There are currently 31 eggs in the incubator so this worries me. But it isn't varying anywhere near as much as it was. My thermometer tells me what the high and low was for the day. For two days in a row my high has reached 102 degree and my low has been 97 degree. Any tips on how to completely fix this? Also will the eggs I have in the incubator be okay? Or has it already messed them up? 2) My humidity is WAY too high and i dont know how to bring it down. Its reading at like 65% which will drown my chicks if i dont figure it out soon right? Thats what ive read. So i need to get it way down quickly. I know i could just remove the water but thats a little difficult with 31 fragile eggs and an egg turner and fan in there. It would take way too long and disturb them too much im afraid. Any ideas are very much appreciated as I REALLY want to be successful with this hatch. I tried to hatch in this incubator last spring and got nothing. It was so discouraging and disappointing i put it away and haven't gotten it back out till now. I really want to learn about this and get it right!

 

[FridayYet]

What day of incubation are y0u on?

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC - glad that you have joined us. Sorry, i have no incubation experience, but if you post on the "incubating and hatching eggs" forum you may more help.

all the best
CT

 

[kbaabyyy36]

What day of incubation are y0u on?

Im only on day two of incubation. Technically theyve only been in for a little over 24hours. I put them in last night. I just went back to check on it and now it was 104. Couldnt have been that way for long... maybe 20mins. Ive got to get this temp thing under control. My babies are probably dead arent they?

 

[kbaabyyy36]

Hi and welcome to BYC - glad that you have joined us. Sorry, i have no incubation experience, but if you post on the "incubating and hatching eggs" forum you may more help.

all the best
CT

oops sorry! I was in a hurry trying to get some answers. Didnt take much time to try and figure things out. I apologize. Thanks for the good wishes!

 

[FridayYet]

Im only on day two of incubation. Technically theyve only been in for a little over 24hours. I put them in last night. I just went back to check on it and now it was 104. Couldnt have been that way for long... maybe 20mins. Ive got to get this temp thing under control. My babies are probably dead arent they?

In 20 minutes the inside of the egg probably didn't get that hot, so I'd give them a chance.

Some people add flat stones, marbles to the water channel, or even jars of water to act as "heat sinks" and reduce temperature fluctuations. If it were me, I'd open the bator, mop up some of the water to lower your humidity, add something as a heat sink, then let the bator come back up to temp. Make sure you heat sinks are pre-warmed though.

You'd have to stay up for a few hours to watch it though, so the temp doesn't overshoot.

 

[drumstick diva]

Sending good hatching vibes your way

Hope they help

 

[kbaabyyy36]

In 20 minutes the inside of the egg probably didn't get that hot, so I'd give them a chance. 

Some people add flat stones, marbles to the water channel, or even jars of water to act as "heat sinks" and reduce temperature fluctuations.  If it were me, I'd open the bator, mop up some of the water to lower your humidity, add something as a heat sink, then let the bator come back up to temp.  Make sure you heat sinks are pre-warmed though.

You'd have to stay up for a few hours to watch it though, so the temp doesn't overshoot.

i dont mind staying up to get it right. I really want this to work. I already have glass rocks in the water wells. But i have not tried the heat sink idea. I kept seeing others mention it but didnt know what it was! I will try that thanks so much!

 

[kbaabyyy36]

Sending good hatching vibes your way   Hope they help 

thanks so much! I deff need it. These little giant incubators are tough.

 

[kbaabyyy36]

Also, i mentioned i had some air circulation due to the fan. So i should be running a temp close to 99.5 right? Rather than the higher temp for most still airs? Because i have two thermometers on opposite sites and they both read the same temp. So the fan must be doing its job?