Confessions of a City Slicker

[mortie]

It just seems weird to me thinking about them hatching out of eggs that are standing up. Maybe it's not weird at all, just different from the picture I had in my mind. I'll need to look for some youtube videos of chicks hatching from eggs in cartons. Thank goodness for youtube!

When I got up this morning, I checked my remote thermometer....92. No way. I went down and looked at the one in the bator and it reads 99. I guess my dream of using a remote sensor thermometer for easy monitoring of the conditions in the bator is going out the window. I mean it's one thing to be off a couple degrees, that I could compensate for. This thing is just plain inconsistent. Sometimes it reads 2 degrees high, sometimes 6 degrees high. I have yet to check the humnidity calibration, I'll do that today. I may still be able to use it to monitor the RH if it is accurate at all. That'll at least be something.

 

[mortie]

I brought the sensor upstairs to check the RH calibration and look at this. Unbelievable. I think the thing just hates me!


When I put it in the bator, it reads several degrees low from what I can tell from a comparison to my cooking probe thermometer and my handy dandy laser thermometer (what can I say, I like gadgets!). At room temp, it seems fairly consistent and accurate but around 100 degrees it likes to get wacky. It has an operating range well above 100 degrees but this just will not do. I have the sensor in with a salt slurry to check the hygro capabilities and if that isn't in the ballpark, this thing is going back to the store. So much for my remote monitoring plan.

Unless.....I hook up a web cam.....

(did I mention I like gadgets?)

Or I suppose I could just...you know....go downstairs to check it.

I will be doing plenty of that anyway, but the idea of being able to constantly monitor it appealed to me. It's in the basement because there is very little temperature swing there. Due to our energy efficiency, the house cools off quite a bit at night and can swing several degrees during the day as our gas forced air heating tries to combat the near zero temps outside.

 

[mortie]

One of my reef tanks has a nice thermometer in it so I took that out and stuck it in the bator and went back after an hour to check it. It reads 10ths of a degree as well which is nice. It's reading 99.3 and the cooking one reads 99. Super. I'm going to go with that. Making minute adjustments to the dial now to just dial it in right where I want it. I've got plenty of time to be patient and get it just right before the eggs come on the 23rd.

 

[mortie]

After 24 hrs in the calibration chamber (aka ziploc bag with salt paste) the hygrometer part of my acurite brand thermometer thingie says 68%, which is unfortunately not what we are looking for. Goodbye, Acurite, we barely knew you. 100 degrees even in the bator this morning. Last night it was 101.5. I have yet to get it to reach appropriate humidity for lockdown but I suspect with some sponge or paper towel, I can increase the humidity to where I want it. I just need to get a working hygrometer. I feel a petco trip coming on.

 

[aart]

Just note the differences after testing the hygrometer in the salt slurry.....and adjust your readings during incubation.
Same with the thermometer you tested in the ice water.

 

[mortie]

Just note the differences after testing the hygrometer in the salt slurry.....and adjust your readings during incubation.
Same with the thermometer you tested in the ice water.

I would have just done that but it was really wild. Sometimes it would be right and other times it would be low, then it would be high. There was no simple "just add 2 degrees to what it says" way to deal with this one. It might have been less wild with the RH, but since I had to use a different thermometer, I just took it back. I have 2 thermometers in there now that are working perfectly and making me really happy.

The bator has been holding between 99.9 and 100.2 for over 24 hours now. I bought a lower teach hygro that is in the slurry bag now and it looks like it's dead on so we're good to go there!

Also I may have found some more eggs to put in. Likely barnyard mutts but I will be thrilled if they hatch. Can't wait for my eggs to get here Sunday! I feel like I am ready to go. All the kinks worked out with the bator and it's right where I want it temp-wise.

 

[glendaschicks]

How exciting! I've never hatched eggs, so it seems to me you are doing a great job of preparing. Good luck with your new adventure!

 

[aart]

I would have just done that but it was really wild. Sometimes it would be right and other times it would be low, then it would be high. There was no simple "just add 2 degrees to what it says" way to deal with this one. It might have been less wild with the RH, but since I had to use a different thermometer, I just took it back. I have 2 thermometers in there now that are working perfectly and making me really happy.

The bator has been holding between 99.9 and 100.2 for over 24 hours now. I bought a lower teach hygro that is in the slurry bag now and it looks like it's dead on so we're good to go there!

Also I may have found some more eggs to put in. Likely barnyard mutts but I will be thrilled if they hatch. Can't wait for my eggs to get here Sunday! I feel like I am ready to go. All the kinks worked out with the bator and it's right where I want it temp-wise.

I must have missed that part.

 

[mortie]

I must have missed that part.

Yeah, the thing was really off the wall. I didn't expect that, usually it's like you said - you can just read it and know that it's 2 degrees high or whatever. This one it was anyone's guess. I have no room for that kind of crazy in my already crazy little adventure...

 

[mortie]

I was browsing on here last night and was reading a thread about what temp to keep hatching eggs at before incubation and realized that I had not turned my eggs at all that I have here. I went back down to the kitchen where my box of potential chickens is sitting in a quiet corner and turned them and then worried I had ruined them. It had only been a little over 24 hours though and I've read about people sitting shipped eggs for that long without turning them to help stabilize the air cells so I think I am ok.

Then I went to sleep and dreamed that I had broken a couple of them when I turned them and they had small but fully formed chicks in them that were alive...oy. No more nachos before bed for me!

My LG has been holding 100 degrees super duper steadily for several days now. I opened it yesterday to put my hygrometer in and noticed a little bit of an aroma. Not a bad smell just a little musty so I am going to clean it today. It is used and I am just borrowing it and it wasn't the cleanest when I got it so I'm just going to spiff it up. 48 hours to go until I pick up my eggs from the breeder and then everyone can go in. The waiting is killing me.