100.5 F too high for a forced-air incubator?

[alireza18feb]

hello
my incubator temp falls down to 99.8 and rises up to 100.5 F
is this considered high for a forced air incubator?

 

[K0k0shka]

It's fine.

 

[JustAChickenLoverOverHere]

hello
my incubator temp falls down to 99.8 and rises up to 100.5 F
is this considered high for a forced air incubator?

The temperature in a forced air bator should be 99.5, and embryos tend to do better colder than hotter. So, yes, it's a little warm. Try to keep it in between 98.5 and 100.

 

[MGG]

hello
my incubator temp falls down to 99.8 and rises up to 100.5 F
is this considered high for a forced air incubator?

That's ok. They might hatch a teeny bit earlier though.

 

[alireza18feb]

based on your very appreciated replies, I will reduce the temp by 0.5 degree F

 

[Ridgerunner]

based on your very appreciated replies, I will reduce the temp by 0.5 degree F

If you can do that great. The ideal average temperature in a forced air is 99.5 F. Some incubators bounce up and down a little which isn't a problem. You don't want it to spike high, like 104 F and stay there long enough for the internal egg temperature to get that high, that will kill the chicks. It takes a while for the internal egg temperature to change, it's not instantaneous, but avoid those spikes. Cooling it off a bit isn't as dangerous as too much heat but it's still not a good thing.

You should still get a good hatch with the temperatures you were seeing. Nature can be pretty mean and cruel but in this she was fairly nice. The temperatures don't have to be that precise. Nature gave us a range that works and your temperatures are in that range. The eggs would probably pip and hatch early but they should hatch.

Good luck with your hatch, let us know how it goes.

 

[alireza18feb]

If you can do that great. The ideal average temperature in a forced air is 99.5 F. Some incubators bounce up and down a little which isn't a problem. You don't want it to spike high, like 104 F and stay there long enough for the internal egg temperature to get that high, that will kill the chicks. It takes a while for the internal egg temperature to change, it's not instantaneous, but avoid those spikes. Cooling it off a bit isn't as dangerous as too much heat but it's still not a good thing.

You should still get a good hatch with the temperatures you were seeing. Nature can be pretty mean and cruel but in this she was fairly nice. The temperatures don't have to be that precise. Nature gave us a range that works and your temperatures are in that range. The eggs would probably pip and hatch early but they should hatch.

Good luck with your hatch, let us know how it goes.

Thank you so much for your guidance, yes you are totally right.

I reduced it to 99.7
Now it changes between 98.9 and 99.7.

 

[parvani]

The scientists at the PURINA company actually recommend 100.5F as the ideal incubator temperature for chicken eggs.

Since they have a vested interest in making sure as many healthy, HUNGRY chicks hatch as possible, I'd assume they ran a lot of test hatches to find the best temperature.

https://www.purinamills.com/chicken...g-eggs-at-home-a-21-day-guide-for-baby-chicks

 

[Ridgerunner]

The scientists at the PURINA company actually recommend 100.5F as the ideal incubator temperature for chicken eggs.

They sure do. I saw it at least three times in that article so 100.5 F is what they intended to use. There were a few things in that article I sort of said, 'hum" when I read it. I'm not convinced the person that wrote that article for Purina actually had a lot of incubating experience.

I'd be more tempted to follow incubator manufacturers recommendation than theirs. The only incubator I've ever used was a Genesis Hovabator and it wanted 99.5 F. It was supposed to be preset to 99.5 but it wasn't, I had to calibrate and tweak it. I don't know what Brinsea or other manufacturers recommend or preset in the factory as I haven't used those incubators.

At the bottom of page 4 in this article they recommend 99.5 F for a forced air. This is pretty consistent with what I see most places.

Texas A&M Incubation site

http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/...e-Cartwright-Incubating-and-hatching-eggs.pdf

The Texas A&M article is written mainly for the commercial hatching industry though some parts have been tweaked for us home hatchers. Their recommendations are more about "ideal" conditions. Most of us don't have those ideal conditions and we can still do pretty well so don't get too hung up on what they say. But it is a good guide.

 

[spartacus_63]

My forced air incubators are set to operate at 99.5-100.5 but I do not get concerned if the temperature gets out of that range periodically.
I also use thermometers & hygrometers that provide an average of the readings.