- Apr 27, 2013
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These are the best tips I have for ANYONE who is incubating. I haven't been doing it for years, but I am a Chemist and Chemical Engineer. Temperature controls and measurement is something I do every day. Good luck and enjoy!
Incubation tips...
First, the single most important factor in incubation is Temperature. It must be set to 99.5 for most eggs and it must remain stable throughout the incubation cycle across the entire incubator (all eggs should be the same temp). Eggs are really not affected much if you open it once a day for a short time, but large fluctuations in temperature over the course of the entire incubation cycle can result in many not hatching and those that do hatch may be deformed or have health problems. A thermometer probably came with your incubator, if you look, I'm pretty certain that there is a statement in the instructions or on the thermometer itself that states it is not factory calibrated or that you need to calibrate it. Many buy digital cooking thermometers or they buy thermometers intended for use outdoors. Problem is, NONE of them are factory calibrated, while some will be will be dead on, most will be off by some amount (may be more than 1 degree off).
You MUST use a factory-calibrated thermometer if you want the best results. As a Chemist and Engineer, I can tell you, we pay $100 or more for a basic calibrated thermometer at work. For incubation, I have found a trick that will get you the accuracy you need at home for very little costs. The BEST thing to use is a simple digital PHARMACY Thermometer, the kind you check fever with. They are factory calibrated! Otherwise, they would be worthless! I paid less than $5 for the ones we use. Get one, check it on yourself (you should get 99.5) and then install it in your incubator where you can leave it all the time. Hit the button and test the temp a few times a day.
Now, many of the smaller styrofoam incubators do not come with a fan. Without a fan, the air at the top of the incubator will be warmer than the air at the bottom of the incubator. Also, eggs across the incubator from front to back or side to side may not get the same temperature without a fan. My strong reccomendation is that you install a fan. Either purchase the one designed for that incubator or you can install 2 12 volt computer fans. I used computer fans and I power them using a 12volt, 1-amp dc adapter. They hang in the front middle and back middle of the little giant incubator. They hang about one inch from the top and blow upward using 6X32 screws. The wires run out and tie together and then go to the AC adapter. Without fans, you must run the incubator at a warmer temperature and I have no experience with that. Again, best results will come from a forced draft design, meaning install a fan!
Now that you know what you need to measure the temp, now you have to work on how to measure it. Placement is everything. If you place it near or above a heating element, you will get a false high reading and it will lead you to run the incubator colder than it should be. You must place it in a hole near the outlet of your fan and away from any heat source. Now, all bets are off on a still-air incubator. (Please go buy the fan or add computer fans to it, very easy and makes much better incubator and much easier to set the temp). Now, the pharmacy thermometer will only work over a narrow range, but it is very accurate within that range. Of course, incubation temp is right in the middle! So, buy one, or buy two, check it/them on yourself and then install it in the incubator. Let it set for at least 10 minutes and then hit the button. Ta-da! That is how you get great hatching results!
Insulation.
Small stirofoam incubators suffer from a number of issues. The first is that the controls are a simple thermostat. The thermostat turns power on to the element when the temperature drops down too low and then turns the power off when the temp gets too high. Wait a second, that sets the whole system up for a constant temperature swing! Yep, it does. The important thing is the core temperature of the eggs. As long as the temperature doesn't swing too much, the inside of the egg will remain a fairly constant temperature. As they age, they may swing more or they may drift off whatever the setpoint was. So, when you measure the temperature, remember that any one measurement may be the high side of that swing or the low side. You really need to take multiple measurements over the course of a few days before you add eggs. Also note, digital pharmacy thermometers are designed and intended to record and display the HIGHEST temperature that it is exposed to. So, if your temperature is going up, it will count up with the temperature. If the temperature is going down, it will NOT count down. It will simply display the highest temp. So, leave it in the incubator permenantly. Note also, when you turn the Pharmacy thermometer on, most of them will display the highest temperature previsouly recorded. Wait until that goes away and the real temp comes up before you record your measurement. Keep a log of time and temperature so you can ensure your average temp is 99.5.
Note, with many of these styrofoam incubators, very small changes to the knob can be HUGE changes in temperature. It is wise to make all your adjustments BEFORE adding eggs. If you "tweak" it after adding eggs, it may go too high or too low and can lead to problems with your eggs. You have to get it right to start with and then, leave it alone unless it is REALLY off. Eggs can hatch if the temp is slighty high or slightly low. The best results are always going to be when it's dead on 99.5. Also note, with styrofoam incubators, they are very succeptable to drafts. When the AC comes on, the temp will drift low. Turn the celing fan on, the temp will drift low. So, beware of such things and place it in a good location before you start calibrating the temp. If your temp is a little low, then the eggs will hatch late, if it is a little high, the eggs hatch a bit early. Very high or very low and you will get very few if any eggs to hatch.
Humidity? We run a continuous incubator and hatcher. So, we add eggs every week and take the eggs that are ready out and put them in the hatcher to hatch. My wife has been steadily decreasing humidity over the past few months in the incubator cause she suspected high humidity was hurting our hatch rates. We had a lot of chicks that quit at the very end, just before hatch and of those that did hatch, they were very "gooey". This was at around 40% humidity. Over time, we slowly lowered it and are now down to around 25%. Hatch rates increased as we dropped humidity. I recommend NO added humidity to the incubator until it's time to hatch and then you should use around 60%. We use 4 or 5 baby food jars filled with water with a sponge stuck in each one to get the humidity up in our hatcher. Hatcher is an old little giant incubator with fans installed. We hatch tons of eggs in it and it keeps the mess out of my nice, clean incubator.
Ventalation?
So, why are all those holes in my incubator? Maybe I should plug them to keep the humidity up? The answer to that is a resounding NO! Believe it or not, eggs breath as they develop through the shell. The shell is actually very porous and the developing chick needs quite a bit of oxygen to develop. The further along it gets, the more air it needs. Of course, like all other animals, they give off carbon dioxide. If the carbon dioxide builds up too much, they will all suffocate and die. Those air holes are there for a reason. LEAVE THEM OPEN!
Incubation tips...
First, the single most important factor in incubation is Temperature. It must be set to 99.5 for most eggs and it must remain stable throughout the incubation cycle across the entire incubator (all eggs should be the same temp). Eggs are really not affected much if you open it once a day for a short time, but large fluctuations in temperature over the course of the entire incubation cycle can result in many not hatching and those that do hatch may be deformed or have health problems. A thermometer probably came with your incubator, if you look, I'm pretty certain that there is a statement in the instructions or on the thermometer itself that states it is not factory calibrated or that you need to calibrate it. Many buy digital cooking thermometers or they buy thermometers intended for use outdoors. Problem is, NONE of them are factory calibrated, while some will be will be dead on, most will be off by some amount (may be more than 1 degree off).
You MUST use a factory-calibrated thermometer if you want the best results. As a Chemist and Engineer, I can tell you, we pay $100 or more for a basic calibrated thermometer at work. For incubation, I have found a trick that will get you the accuracy you need at home for very little costs. The BEST thing to use is a simple digital PHARMACY Thermometer, the kind you check fever with. They are factory calibrated! Otherwise, they would be worthless! I paid less than $5 for the ones we use. Get one, check it on yourself (you should get 99.5) and then install it in your incubator where you can leave it all the time. Hit the button and test the temp a few times a day.
Now, many of the smaller styrofoam incubators do not come with a fan. Without a fan, the air at the top of the incubator will be warmer than the air at the bottom of the incubator. Also, eggs across the incubator from front to back or side to side may not get the same temperature without a fan. My strong reccomendation is that you install a fan. Either purchase the one designed for that incubator or you can install 2 12 volt computer fans. I used computer fans and I power them using a 12volt, 1-amp dc adapter. They hang in the front middle and back middle of the little giant incubator. They hang about one inch from the top and blow upward using 6X32 screws. The wires run out and tie together and then go to the AC adapter. Without fans, you must run the incubator at a warmer temperature and I have no experience with that. Again, best results will come from a forced draft design, meaning install a fan!
Now that you know what you need to measure the temp, now you have to work on how to measure it. Placement is everything. If you place it near or above a heating element, you will get a false high reading and it will lead you to run the incubator colder than it should be. You must place it in a hole near the outlet of your fan and away from any heat source. Now, all bets are off on a still-air incubator. (Please go buy the fan or add computer fans to it, very easy and makes much better incubator and much easier to set the temp). Now, the pharmacy thermometer will only work over a narrow range, but it is very accurate within that range. Of course, incubation temp is right in the middle! So, buy one, or buy two, check it/them on yourself and then install it in the incubator. Let it set for at least 10 minutes and then hit the button. Ta-da! That is how you get great hatching results!
Insulation.
Small stirofoam incubators suffer from a number of issues. The first is that the controls are a simple thermostat. The thermostat turns power on to the element when the temperature drops down too low and then turns the power off when the temp gets too high. Wait a second, that sets the whole system up for a constant temperature swing! Yep, it does. The important thing is the core temperature of the eggs. As long as the temperature doesn't swing too much, the inside of the egg will remain a fairly constant temperature. As they age, they may swing more or they may drift off whatever the setpoint was. So, when you measure the temperature, remember that any one measurement may be the high side of that swing or the low side. You really need to take multiple measurements over the course of a few days before you add eggs. Also note, digital pharmacy thermometers are designed and intended to record and display the HIGHEST temperature that it is exposed to. So, if your temperature is going up, it will count up with the temperature. If the temperature is going down, it will NOT count down. It will simply display the highest temp. So, leave it in the incubator permenantly. Note also, when you turn the Pharmacy thermometer on, most of them will display the highest temperature previsouly recorded. Wait until that goes away and the real temp comes up before you record your measurement. Keep a log of time and temperature so you can ensure your average temp is 99.5.
Note, with many of these styrofoam incubators, very small changes to the knob can be HUGE changes in temperature. It is wise to make all your adjustments BEFORE adding eggs. If you "tweak" it after adding eggs, it may go too high or too low and can lead to problems with your eggs. You have to get it right to start with and then, leave it alone unless it is REALLY off. Eggs can hatch if the temp is slighty high or slightly low. The best results are always going to be when it's dead on 99.5. Also note, with styrofoam incubators, they are very succeptable to drafts. When the AC comes on, the temp will drift low. Turn the celing fan on, the temp will drift low. So, beware of such things and place it in a good location before you start calibrating the temp. If your temp is a little low, then the eggs will hatch late, if it is a little high, the eggs hatch a bit early. Very high or very low and you will get very few if any eggs to hatch.
Humidity? We run a continuous incubator and hatcher. So, we add eggs every week and take the eggs that are ready out and put them in the hatcher to hatch. My wife has been steadily decreasing humidity over the past few months in the incubator cause she suspected high humidity was hurting our hatch rates. We had a lot of chicks that quit at the very end, just before hatch and of those that did hatch, they were very "gooey". This was at around 40% humidity. Over time, we slowly lowered it and are now down to around 25%. Hatch rates increased as we dropped humidity. I recommend NO added humidity to the incubator until it's time to hatch and then you should use around 60%. We use 4 or 5 baby food jars filled with water with a sponge stuck in each one to get the humidity up in our hatcher. Hatcher is an old little giant incubator with fans installed. We hatch tons of eggs in it and it keeps the mess out of my nice, clean incubator.
Ventalation?
So, why are all those holes in my incubator? Maybe I should plug them to keep the humidity up? The answer to that is a resounding NO! Believe it or not, eggs breath as they develop through the shell. The shell is actually very porous and the developing chick needs quite a bit of oxygen to develop. The further along it gets, the more air it needs. Of course, like all other animals, they give off carbon dioxide. If the carbon dioxide builds up too much, they will all suffocate and die. Those air holes are there for a reason. LEAVE THEM OPEN!
