Best Source for Accurate Thermomator?

[silkiepjsg]

I had a great hatch when I first got my incubator (still air, styrofoam) of about 90%. Since then I have had three sessions of ZERO hatches. I think that my thermomator is not accurate. Where do you find a good one? I've got another set of eggs going, and I just don't want to mess them up! Thanks!

 

[Llysse]

I was worried about the same thing with my still air. What I did was use three just to make sure they were all reading close to the same temperature. One is consistently a degree higher, but it was the expensive one--figures! Because I'm just not absolutely sure which of the three is closer to the truth, I've got my incubator set so that both temperatures I'm getting stay right in the safe range for still air incubators.

Maybe someone else knows if there's a better way to make sure your temp is on target...?

 

[silkiepjsg]

Thanks for the suggestion. Where do you buy a thermomoter from? Has anyone used a digital one? I have a digital in along with the one that came with the incubator, and when the glass one reads 99.5, the digital reads 94. I don't know which to trust.

 

[silkiechicken]

The location of the thermistor or thermocouple of a digital thermometer can make a big difference on what it reads the temperature as. Glass thermometers are usually pretty accurate but if they are right under the light or heating element while the digitals sensor is under it near the bottom of the cube that is called a thermometer, that could cause a big difference. Personally I don't trust cheap made in china electronics because they are full of bad calibrations. Get a third and hopefully they will read the same.

Also for the eggs, when in development are they dying? That may be another clue to what the problem is.

If you are willing to sacrafice a few eggs, you can stage them according to hamburger and hamilton and see if they are lining up at different times.

 

[silkiepjsg]

Thanks for your reply, that makes sence. The eggs are only 3 days old, but rather important to me, as they are bantum auracana which I won on auction. I am not familiar with the H & H study -suggestion. Where can I look that up at? I have other more common eggs that I could ck the thermometer on to see if it is even warm enough. I've heard of cracking an egg and putting it in a plastic baggie to see if a chick starts to form. I thought that was weird, but now it makes sence in my situation, to see if the 'bator is working.

 

[JudyMcKinn]

One suggestion, when picking out a thermometer at the store,--if it is one that you can tell the reading on without buying it, see what all the ones of that type read, and pic one that reads like most of them. Some will be off a few degrees usually, and you will know they are flawed.

 

[silkiepjsg]

Thanks - good advice. I ended up getting a terrarium, or what I call a lizzard thermomator. I am hoping it is accurate. I did look at the others, and they were mostly all the same. My other Therm. was low, so I am hoping it didn't end up killing the chicks. Now the lizzard therm reads 99 and the other reads 102. The other was reading 99.5 - which means it was probably at 96 or so. It was that way for about 2 days. I will try and candle tomorrow, or the next day - or Sat at the latest. The shells being blue may be harder to see through.

 

[silkiechicken]

http://embryology.med.unsw.edu.au/OtherEmb/chick1.htm

Here is a link to a site that summarizes what each stage is. To get at the original article which has very detailed pictures, it is a scientific paper, you need to go to your local university and look into the deep depths of the library for the paper.

http://www.swarthmore.edu/NatSci/sgilber1/DB_lab/Chick/chick_stage.html

Here is a link with some pics that are stained.

 

[silkiepjsg]

Well the H & H sites are interesting. I'm not sure that I would go to the effort to try and figure out the stages that the embryos are in. I'm more lazy than thatjavascript:insert_text('

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