➡ Quail Hatch Along🥚

[RUNuts]

As low as 97. :-(

After reading all the hatching stuff AND listening to everyone here, the process is not as cut and dried as some people make it out. If a chicken can do it, it isn't that exact. But they use the all natural incubation methods.

How many thermometers is the 97 on? Did you figure out why the dip? The January incubation was much different from the summer incubations for me. Humidity difference is the big one. I want to try incubating outside or the garage to see. As opposed to the temperature stable house. The summer fluctuations are also bigger. I'm still getting calibrated to this styrofoam box.

 

[RUNuts]

For those who have hatched jumbos, do you see a large difference in growth rate or sizes? I'm guessing the slow growers will eventually catch up to their twice bigger hatch mates? Or is the size gene variable in the jumbo lines? Meaning, keep the big ones and keep breeding?

 

[Nabiki]

After reading all the hatching stuff AND listening to everyone here, the process is not as cut and dried as some people make it out. If a chicken can do it, it isn't that exact. But they use the all natural incubation methods.

How many thermometers is the 97 on? Did you figure out why the dip? The January incubation was much different from the summer incubations for me. Humidity difference is the big one. I want to try incubating outside or the garage to see. As opposed to the temperature stable house. The summer fluctuations are also bigger. I'm still getting calibrated to this styrofoam box.

I have 3 aquarium thermometers in addition to the one on the incubator. I tested the three in freezing water, and they are all 1.1 or 1.2 degrees low. With that in mind, it got down to 97 on all three of the aquarium thermometers, but never below 99 on the incubator thermometer (I'll believe the aquarium ones).

I'm pretty sure the temperature fluctuation is due to the house temperature difference. I open up the house at night to cool it down so it doesn't get really hot during the day.

 

[sarabeth485]

For those who have hatched jumbos, do you see a large difference in growth rate or sizes? I'm guessing the slow growers will eventually catch up to their twice bigger hatch mates? Or is the size gene variable in the jumbo lines? Meaning, keep the big ones and keep breeding?

I’ve hatched just one batch of 17 but there were a few outliers on the small end. I haven’t weighed since week three but visually I’m pretty sure I could still pick out the runts at six weeks.

 

[RUNuts]

I have 3 aquarium thermometers in addition to the one on the incubator. I tested the three in freezing water, and they are all 1.1 or 1.2 degrees low. With that in mind, it got down to 97 on all three of the aquarium thermometers, but never below 99 on the incubator thermometer (I'll believe the aquarium ones).

I'm pretty sure the temperature fluctuation is due to the house temperature difference. I open up the house at night to cool it down so it doesn't get really hot during the day.

Sounds like you are on top of this.

Consider putting the incubator in a closed room during the night? Closet? Adding a lidded quart jar for thermal mass?

 

[Nabiki]

Sounds like you are on top of this.

Consider putting the incubator in a closed room during the night? Closet? Adding a lidded quart jar for thermal mass?

I'm thinking of wrapping a towel around it during the night. That works when I make yogurt in my crockpot, so it should work for the incubator. Might help with my humidity fluctuations too.

 

[007Sean]

After reading all the hatching stuff AND listening to everyone here, the process is not as cut and dried as some people make it out. If a chicken can do it, it isn't that exact. But they use the all natural incubation methods.

How many thermometers is the 97 on? Did you figure out why the dip? The January incubation was much different from the summer incubations for me. Humidity difference is the big one. I want to try incubating outside or the garage to see. As opposed to the temperature stable house. The summer fluctuations are also bigger. I'm still getting calibrated to this styrofoam box.

Styrofoam bators are way more susceptible to temperature swings. That's way it is recommended that they be in a stable room temperature location.
Cabinet incubators are less susceptible to temperature swings. I have the old style cabinets. Their made out of wood. I don't have any experince with the new cabinet bators that are made of plastic but I would suspect them to be susceptible to temperature swings as well. I have my cabinet incubators in the garage, there is a great temperature swing between day time and night time temperatures, that's with the door open. If closed, the ambient temperature would be way to hot for the incubator to compensate, or a better way of saying that would be the electronics can't handle the hot temperature conditions. Electronic devices need cool temps to operate efficiently.
That's one of the reasons that foam bators need a stable climate controlled area to operate at optimum conditions.

 

[ketojenn]

I have huge size differences in my Jumbo's. They hatched over a three-day period though, so I figure that accounts for some of it.

The little is 12g, the big is 32g.

 

[RUNuts]

Styrofoam bators are way more susceptible to temperature swings. That's way it is recommended that they be in a stable room temperature location.
Cabinet incubators are less susceptible to temperature swings. I have the old style cabinets. Their made out of wood. I don't have any experince with the new cabinet bators that are made of plastic but I would suspect them to be susceptible to temperature swings as well. I have my cabinet incubators in the garage, there is a great temperature swing between day time and night time temperatures, that's with the door open. If closed, the ambient temperature would be way to hot for the incubator to compensate, or a better way of saying that would be the electronics can't handle the hot temperature conditions. Electronic devices need cool temps to operate efficiently.
That's one of the reasons that foam bators need a stable climate controlled area to operate at optimum conditions.

Agree with the electronics being the weak point in the system.

Thinking out loud, the wood has a higher thermal mass than the styrofoam or plastic. That makes sense and the wood will stabilize moisture by breathing. Way too cool. Please correct me if I missed this.

The wafer electronics are bimetallic thermometer switches. Wouldn't the analog relay be more resistant to heat damage than the digital controllers? The wafers are subject to mechanical failure (wearing out).

 

[007Sean]

Agree with the electronics being the weak point in the system.

Thinking out loud, the wood has a higher thermal mass than the styrofoam or plastic. That makes sense and the wood will stabilize moisture by breathing. Way too cool. Please correct me if I missed this.

The wafer electronics are bimetallic thermometer switches. Wouldn't the analog relay be more resistant to heat damage than the digital controllers? The wafers are subject to mechanical failure (wearing out).

Correct, the wafers can get pinholes in them and loose the gas in the wafers. It's the gas expanding and contracting that allows for the wafers to make contact or be an open circuit.
And yes, wood has much higher insulating factor than foam or plastic.
4" of wood has a higher insulating factor than 12" of regular fiberglass insulation.
I have both on my cabinet incubators, triple backup, I know overkill but if one wafer goes bad the other will kick in and if both go bad, (not likely) the digital controller can be used.
For the most part, I'm 'old school', the analog system has worked for me for years, I can't say that for the digital systems.