Against the odds hatching thread (with pictures and questions)

[adirondak5]

Very nice . I'll be following along watching your progress .

 

[K0k0shka]

It has been 1 full day now and all is going great! Temperature has held steady. Humidity dropped from 40% to 35%. I salt tested my hygrometer twice before setting the eggs, and it read 65% both times (instead of 75%) so I'm assuming it might be reading low, so I won't add any more water just yet.

I just plugged the auto turner back in.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

In Styrofoam incubators I've noticed they drown in the shells more so I'd lower the humidity down to 30-35%.

 

[K0k0shka]

In Styrofoam incubators I've noticed they drown in the shells more so I'd lower the humidity down to 30-35%.

Good to know, thanks! Do you have any experience with salt testing hygrometers? I'm still a little worried that mine was showing 65% instead of 75% both times I tested it, so now I don't know if the humidity in there is really 35% like it's showing, or it's actually 45%. I did the towel test after the two salt tests and it showed 99%.

 

[aart]

I salt tested my hygrometer twice before setting the eggs, and it read 65% both times (instead of 75%) so I'm assuming it might be reading low, so I won't add any more water just yet.

So just add 10% when you take your readings.
And remember humidity over the length of the incubation is more important than keeping it exactly right every single day....there's more wiggle room than with the temp.
Trace air cells when you candle on day 7-14-18.

 

[K0k0shka]

So just add 10% when you take your readings.
And remember humidity over the length of the incubation is more important than keeping it exactly right every single day....there's more wiggle room than with the temp.
Trace air cells when you candle on day 7-14-18.
View attachment 2068192

Yep, will do that. I hope the air cells are easier to see on day 7. I candled all the eggs before setting them, and (probably because that was my first time candling) it was REALLY hard to tell where the air cell was. The saddled and detached ones were obvious, because of all the movement and odd shapes, but the okay eggs were really hard to see... The ones I did make out were very small. Probably a good sign, meaning the eggs were fresh, right?

 

[aart]

The ones I did make out were very small. Probably a good sign, meaning the eggs were fresh, right?

Yes, they are very small when fresh.
Be sure to candle in a completely dark room...much easier to see.

 

[K0k0shka]

Yes, they are very small when fresh.
Be sure to candle in a completely dark room...much easier to see.

Yep. The eggs were still in the basement then, I candled at night with the lights off and it was pitch black. I bought myself an actual candler, too. They looked really cool. Just hard to tell where those air cells were. One of the saddles was the coolest to look at, though it's probably been f-ed beyond hope. It looked like its air cell exploded and spilled all over one side of the egg, but part of it was still holding on to the fat end, so it was stretching and spilling in little bubbles all over the surface...

Now I need to figure out how to candle AND take pictures, since my candler is hand-held (doesn't have a stand) and I need about 3-4 hands to do everything at once... May need to enlist help.

 

[K0k0shka]

Question... and a potential problem I noticed a change after I plugged the auto turner in. The temperature had been steady and fairly even between the three probes up until then (varying by no more than one degree between the three of them), but after I plugged the turner in, the temperature has been drifting a lot more between the three probes, and overall seems to be cycling up and down. Right now it reads 98, 99 and 100, but earlier it was 99, 100 and 101... yet earlier the coolest one dropped to 97, even. Then it goes back up again. This seems cyclical. I know the motor gives off a little heat, so if anything, I expected it to raise the overall temperature a bit, but the drops don't make any sense (it never dropped below 99 until the turner was plugged in), and also, the diverging readings between the probes make no sense given that the fan is still working.

What do you guys think? Should I worry? I'm afraid that if I up the temperature to keep it from dipping too low, it will also push the high readings even higher. The lowest reading is from the probe at the far edge, farthest from the heating element. I knew that that was going to be the potential problem row, so I only put the eggs that are not mine there (I told the lady and she's fine with it, she's not invested in these eggs and they're just a "meh, if it works it works" for her). So I won't be devastated if they don't make it, but the second lowest reading is where my eggs are, and that one has been dropping to 98 (when the lowest is at 97).

What should I do?

 

[aart]

Better a bit low than higher.
How long since you plugged in the turner?
Can take a couple-few hours for things to balance out.