Classroom hatching gone downhill

[Debbie292d]

When I 'salt test' calibrate my Accurite Hygrometers, I will calibrate them 3 times and take the average for determining the true %Rh....very rarely will any hygrometer read exactly the same % every time it's calibrated....I only have one that is that reliable, out of 12.

It's a good thing the humidity isn't as critical as the temp. +/- 5% each way either during hatch or lockdown at least isn't going to kill 'em but +/- 5F one way or the other would.

 

[UrbanHomesteadTX]

Thought I'd throw an update in!
Put the eggs on lockdown yesterday. I've brought my own Brinsea up to hatch them out in, mainly because I know its reliable and having a clear lid will allow the students to see them.
The Little Giant styrofoam incubator is definitely iffy. I noticed the Student Thermometer inside the incubator was four degrees colder than the incubator Thermometer. After candling the eggs, I could tell they're a little behind and may hatch a few days late, but most all the eggs from my homestead are still going strong! Fourteen made it to Lockdown. Now we'll see when they hatch... hopefully before the weekend! The school is completely locked down on the weekend and we wont be able to come up and monitor. We'll see.

I also went out and bought quail eggs this weekend to try to hatch out a few. Since the Brinsea is my only incubator at this time, I'm having to start the quail eggs in the Little Giant styrofoam bator until the chicks hatch and I can move them over. I spent a couple of hours messing with the incubator and find it more irritating the more I mess with it. For one, it's a still air, there's no circulation through the incubator resulting in really cold spots, and really hot spots. I think I discovered potentially nearly 4 degrees difference throughout the whole thing. The incubator's thermometer is movable (piece of plastic at the end of a few wires) and I kept moving it around until I was satisfied that the incubator would for the most part be at a decent temperature... and then I walked in this morning and saw the student thermometer in the incubator was reading 102. Messed with it some more to try to bring the temperature down a bit, when I left it was reading around 100.
Man, the moment those chicks hatch I'm moving the quail out of that thing. Let's just hope those eggs make it past the first few days... I probably should have waited until my Brinsea was available again, but I'd already had the eggs since Friday and wanted to get them in while they were sure to still be fertile.

 

[Ridgerunner]

it's a still air, there's no circulation through the incubator resulting in really cold spots, and really hot spots.

Warm air rises. In a good forced air the fan stirs things up so it is the same temperature throughout but in a still air the temperature changes with the elevation. In a forced air the general recommendation is 99.5 F (37.5 C) throughout but in a still air the recommendation is 101.5 F (38.6 C) taken at the top of the eggs.

 

[UrbanHomesteadTX]

Warm air rises. In a good forced air the fan stirs things up so it is the same temperature throughout but in a still air the temperature changes with the elevation. In a forced air the general recommendation is 99.5 F (37.5 C) throughout but in a still air the recommendation is 101.5 F (38.6 C) taken at the top of the eggs.

Thanks for the recommendation! I'll keep that in mind