99 and 100 degrees? How do I keep it at 99.5?

[DavidKerk]

I am going to put my eggs in the incubator today. I only have one of the cheep Styrofoam incubators with the little dial to control temperature. Will my eggs not hatch if the temperature is off by .5 degrees? Also, with the little dial, if I open the incubator to put eggs in or to candle and all the heat escapes will the temperature go back to what it was at before I opened the incubator? Oh, by the way, I'm incubating chicken eggs. Thanks!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

If the temp is a little low they'll hatch late, a little high and they'll hatch early. IMO a .5 degree difference won't hurt but in a still air be careful where you place the thermo because the top of the egg will be warmer than the bottom. The eggs will be that temperature so they take a little time to cool off especially if there are a lot of eggs in there. A hen gets off of the nest once a day so slight cooling isn't so bad. Too hot is a bad thing.

 

[texas75563]

I got same thing hovabator (cheap styrofoam). 100 to 99 is fine. They will hatch with either 1. Maybe a little sooner with 100 and a little slower with 99. With just 1 degree a few hours difference? I honestly have no idea. If you take the lid off to add eggs or water it will go back to that in a minute, 2, or a few. It all depends on how long the lid was off.

As far as how to keep it 99.5, put you a thermometer or 3 inside. Set your dial to about where you think it should be . Wait and see what the thermometer(s) say. If not what you want adjust dial and wait 5 to 10 minutes and check reading again. Repeat as often as needed. Don't touch dial once you have it set.

 

[Bill 101]

I agree that 99-100 is fine, but, are these still air incubators? I thought it was supposed to be 101.5 or something in still air machines (99-100 in forced air) Just asking

 

[ChickenCanoe]

101.5 at the top of the egg for still air. The conventional wisdom being that the middle of the egg would be 99.5.

 

[texas75563]

That was a good question Bill. I got the fan kit with mine. David didn't say if his was still air or not.

 

[DavidKerk]

Oops, It is still air. Thanks for all the posts!!!

 

[DavidKerk]

I have the eggs in! The incubator usually stays at about 100 although it sometimes gets to 100.3ish.

 

[Bill 101]

You surely can run your incubator at any temperature you want, but someone indicated that your temperature should be 101.5 for a still air incubator so it confuses me as to why you are running at 99.5-100

 

[DavidKerk]

You surely can run your incubator at any temperature you want, but someone indicated that your temperature should be 101.5 for a still air incubator so it confuses me as to why you are running at 99.5-100

Yea, I should probably turn it up, I'm just scared I'm going to turn it up too much. What to do?