3 temps using 3 thermometers

[angidee]

I have 3 different thermometers in my incubator and they all read a different temp.
1 hygrometer reading 98.8, one home digital hermometer read 99 (doesn't do decimals) and a glass old style one reading just over 100.
Last year I used only the glass one (assumed it would be the most accurate) and had very poor hatch rate. Not sure that is way, but thought I would mention.
2 years ago, used the hygrometer only and had 100% hatch, but the incubator was brand new.

So, what temp do I trust? I am incubating turkey eggs, but as I understand it, the temp should still be 99.3-99.6

Thanks!

 

[seventreesfarm]

I have 4 different ones in my bator that all read a bit different. I tried swapping them to different locations and found that some of the variance is due to hot & cold spots in the bator, a forced air foam one.

Snce the eggs are developing ok, and air cells are looking right, I just do a mental average of all the thermometers. As long as the one in the warm spot is 100-101 and the one in the cool spot is 98.7, the two on top of the eggs are usually right at 99.5, and I have decided not to stress about it.

 

[jenifern]

I have the same issue. This incubator is new to me and I have 4 thermometers in there! Plus I have a little spot check one that I use. I am on day 7 with good veining showing in most eggs, had to toss out only one blood ring so far. My temps vary between all four thermometers 99.5-101.1 which I feel is fairly safe.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101

CALIBRATION! YES! It’s IMPORTANT!

Calibrate the thermometer/s you are using for your Incubator. I use 3 thermometers! You need to make sure your thermometer is reading correctly, Even one degree may cause serious problems with your hatch! A simple method without specialized instruments and knowledge is to compare your thermometer/hygrometer with other devices.

CALIBRATION of thermometers:
Freezing point method.
Fill a glass with crushed ice. Add a LITTLE clean water until the glass is full and stir. Wait 3 minutes then insert the thermometer tip into the ice-filled glass so it’s in the water ice mixture. Wait a minute and if the thermometer reads 32 F then it’s accurate, and if it does not, it requires calibration.

Boiling point method.
Boil water in a pot, about 6” deep. When the water is at boiling point, place the thermometer into the water and make sure that the tip stays in the middle of the boiling pot, away from bottom and sides. Wait 30 seconds and check if the thermometer reads correctly at 212 degrees if you are at sea level or below 1,000 feet elevation. The boiling point of water varies for different elevations: sea level at 212 F, 1000 feet at 210 F, 2000 feet at 208 F, 3000 feet at 206.4 F, 5000 feet at 202.75 F, and 8,000 feet at 197.5 F. The thermometer needs calibration if the reading is incorrect.

Calibrate the Digital Thermometer
Adjust the nut of the digital thermometer in order to correct the temperature. This is done by simply turning the adjuster until the correct reading is reached. Digital thermometers do not require any adjustment of a screw or nut. You simply need to locate the reset button. When the freezing point or boiling point of water is achieved, simply push the button and that’s it. Some digital thermometers may require you to push hold the reset button.

More information on Calibrating your thermometer/hygrometer:

How-to-Calibrate-your-hygrometer/

http://cmfarm.us/ThermometerCalibration.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_6672710_calibrate-digital-thermometer.html

http://www.canadacutlery.com/download/calibrate-a-thermometer.pdfhttp://www.canadacutlery.com/download/calibrate-a-thermometer.pdf

http://www.doityourself.com/stry/how-to-calibrate-a-digital-thermometer

VIDEOS SHOWING how to calibrate: http://www.youtube.com/results?sear.....0.0.0.2672.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0...0.0...1ac.

NOTE: Some incubators, even expensive ones may have "hot spots" or "cool spots" depending on air circulation inside the incubator.
​

 

[retlaw]

Drove myself crazy dealing with this before.
Even bought digital temperature guns and had different temperature readings.

There was big differences with some thermometers so I did a series of tests with them.
After marking down each thermometers readings I got rid of the lowest and highest ones after running the test numbers and averaging them out.
Tested around 7 of them from old school ones to digital ones.
kept the closest three.
Also noticed that if I switched locations with them in the incubator that the locations played a role in the numbers.
Closest to the eggs is the best results.
And the incubator has a fan in it to circulate the air around.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

I bought several of those acurites from amazon.com as well as walmart, the digitals and the round ones for in the brooders, LOVE them I havent had one that was off at all yet!