Confessions of a first time nervous wreck

[youngbiddy]

Okay, I admit it. I thought that the people who had nightmares during a hatch were, well, a little off. And the people who candle obsessively..yeah, totally OCD.

I'm on day 4 and I've had two nightmares and just candled for the first time. (and won't do it again till day 10!!)

What's killing me is this. I read up on the still-air LG (yes, I've got the cheat sheet link) because it's the only one sold locally and I started buying eBay eggs as soon as our tax refund showed up in the bank. I've got three thermometers, all of which agree when lying side by side next to our furnace thermostat. They all agreed that our furnace thermo is two degrees off.

Then when you get them in the bator they tell me there's a 4 degree difference between the tops of the eggs and the middle. They also tell me the left side of the bator runs about 1.5 degrees warmer than the right.

Yes, yes I did just order the GD fan kit.

 

[pawtraitart]

Hang in there! I go through incubation stress every time! It doesn't matter how many hatches I have behind me. It's pure joy and nerve wracking at the same time. LOL

Welcome to the hatching club! Watch out....it's quite addictive.

 

[gryeyes]

Quote:
Amazing. There must be a "GD" brand, sorta like the "Acme" things favored by Wily Coyote. I believe I have used several, various GD items since I got into chickens and incubating.....

 

[youngbiddy]

Ah yes, the 'GD' brand. They make a lot of car parts, too.

I've taken the two GD mercury thermometers that came with the bator and turner out, they were driving me nuts. The digital probe is hovering just below the tops of the eggs reading 99.3. I like that digital thermometer, it's telling me what I want to hear. It also laughs at my jokes, definitely a keeper.

 

[Kathryn4629]

I have the same incubator and I have 4 different thermometers in there and they all have different temps.

I feel your pain!!

If you like, us first timers have a thread going. Feel free to come on over. We are all in the same boat.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=453111&p=1

 

[youngbiddy]

You all are way ahead of me! I've been reading about this for a long time; I would have liked to build my own incubator but I've got 4 children 5 and under so I was afraid I'd never get around to a project like that. And I'd be second guessing myself the whole time.

I've given birth to four children without so much as an aspirin, three of them at home unassisted. I never dreamed I'd be such a nervous wreck over incubating some eggs. I saw some little dark patches in the yolks of some of the eggs I candled, so I felt better after that. The GD incubator is running all kinds of wonky according to the two mercury thermos, but I suspect they're jerking me around. The temp feels good when I put my hand in there and the eggs feel just a tad cooler than they should be even when the mercury thermos were telling me the tops were 104 degrees..and the digital was telling me the middle of the egg was 98.

I'm going with the digital; the digital is my friend. I think.

 

[galanie]

GD makes all sorts of products. All my workshop tools and fasteners are made by them, I think. And yes, car parts and especially the incubator parts!!

I have had 6 of 8 eggs pip today and I'm a wreck.

 

[chicmom]

Oh, I feel your pain! I'm using a Brinsea Octagon 20 Eco for the first time. (Not the advanced.) I've had three different thermometers in there showing temps from 99.1 to 102! I'm about to lose my mind. LOL

I will continue to worry until the hatch is OVER! I'm convinced NOTHING will hatch!

I may become an alcoholic! LOL

 

[macdoogle]

When I asked the same question, someone on here sent me this link that says that there should be a temp difference between top of egg and bottom. Put your thermometer on top of the eggs. If I can find the link I'l try to post it. Keep in mind that I am computer and link challenged.

 

[youngbiddy]

Quote:
The top of the egg should read 101.5 with the middle reading 99.5. (in a still air POS) When the mercury thermos indicated that the tops were 101.5 the digital would read around 97.8.

It was killing me. I took them out and I'm going by the digital one and how the eggs feel to the touch. I had a hen go broody last summer so I know how her eggs felt when I would haul her out of the doghouse and make her eat.