Can anyone help with the Genesis Incubator thermostat?

[LiL John]

I would suggest more thermometers that will fluctuate with the temp. The medical thermometers I have come across only go up to the highest temp and stop, they do not come down unless "shook".
Also, all thermometers vary a little. I use several and give an educated guess. From my experience, it is best to have temp a little lower than higher.

 

[adrian]

Quote:
My medical thermometer is stuck through a small hole in the incubator so that the sensor is in the incubator and the button is not.

I'm a little angry, because none of the other thermometers want to read the same as the medical thermometer, which is guaranteed. But the medical thermometer reads 99 - 99.3 at the setting '3', and 99.5-99.9 at the setting '4'. And while one or two others do read about the same, the others read 100 at setting 3 and 101 at setting 4.

I don't know which to trust.

 

[DANNY]

I know what you are talking about. I have a box full of thermometers. The way i do it is believe the one i trust and use it as a reference for the others. For instance if the one i trust says 99.5 and the other one says 101 i write on it that it needs to read 101 to be correct. This is a common problem even with the $50 digital thermo/hygro's. I have about 8 of them and they rarely read the same. If i were you i would leave it on 4 and i think you will be fine.

 

[adrian]

Quote:
Thank you for your help. It is annoying that no matter how many thermometers you seem to buy, you still face problems. The incubator apparently comes pre-set to the right temperature, but I did not observe that. It got right up to 102. I'm a bit worried because these eggs are expensive and not available for the rest of this year. I really don't want to kill them with temperatures that are too high.

 

[DANNY]

You have to get pretty hot to kill them. You are probably ok. Even if you are little hot they will just hatch a little early. I would just monitor the days exactly it takes for this batch to hatch and adjust from there if needed. The eggs will always tell you what you need to do if anything. Your goal should be for them to be finished hatching at the end of 21 full days.

 

[adrian]

Quote:
Well, these are geese.

Partially why they are so expensive and hard to come by... Seems like geese really don't lay much at all, to me.

But see, that's why the lower temperature gets my attention. It's supposedly better for geese to be around 99F. The incubation temperature guide sent with this even said so. That in mind, should I put it to setting 3? From what I've been told, later hatches are better than early ones... But what do you think?

 

[DANNY]

Late hatches are never better. They tend to have deformities and pip and die in the egg as well as just die before they ever pip. Geese are a little trickier than chickens as well as any 28 day egg. I have not had as much experience hatching geese in a bator i always used chickens to hatch them. I have hatched quite a few in a bator but prefer mother nature. If i were you i would not do anything to it. I once could not hatch a 28 day egg in an incubator but5 i guess over the last 40 years i have learned enough to have good hatches on my peafowl, gunea and turkey eggs. That said i am still struggling with show call duck eggs but i can't seem to get a good hatch in the incubator, under chickens or under duck.
Good Luck

 

[adrian]

Quote:
From what I've heard, call duck eggs are so hard to hatch because of their beak shape. This is especially true in show quality ones. Some of them just can't pip the air cells.

I've hatched geese before, just two years ago in a Hova-bator. I don't recall the exact temperatures I used. I only had one or two thermometers at most and wasn't nearly as careful. So I should put them in even if some thermometers say 101? I'm just so unsure.

 

[Intheswamp]

<sigh> I'm gettin' that "deja vu" feeling. Adrian, didn't we have a similar discussion about thermometers with k625????