I have the new RCOM max 20 incubator. I just had to get a new one as my old one from 2007 wouldn't regulate humidity so the manufacturers sold me a newer model since they no longer carried the parts...anyway. I brought the incubator to my sons class to let the class hatch the eggs (4th grade). I initially set the temp and humidity on the machine and watched it for an hour. The machine it self was reading much lower than my little gauge I had put in. I had the teacher watch the temp and humidity all day and when it had stabilized to 99.5 on the external gauge I bought, I told her she could put the eggs in (3:30 pm) The temp had been staying at 99.5-was higher on the actual incubator digital read out, but I went with my gauge and it was more accurate at the time. Fast forward to this morning I texted her to see the readings and she said both gauges were reading identical but high at 100.5 and 100.4. I told her to lower the temps down to 99.5 and it went down within 5 minutes and its been stable since. Should I worry? And the humidity gauges are reading slightly different (incubator says 60% and external one says 51%) not sure where I should aim for. Any thoughts and tips would be great. If we stuck them in at 3:30 pm on April 4 when should I turn off the turner and expect them to hatch? Thanks, sorry its been about 7 years since I hatched any eggs I am rusty.
Hi Nursebay. I wouldn't worry about the slight elevation in temp, the eggs will be fine. Your humidity seems a bit high though, and the eggs may not lose enough moisture at that level. Many people have better success with dryer incubating humidity - more like 30-40%. A good way to tell is to monitor the air cells. If the cell is too small, decrease the humidity. If it's growing too rapidly, increase the humidity to aim for markings similar to this chart. Good luck!
Thanks! That gal I bought my eggs at said 60 it's been so long I had the teacher reduce it to 50 for now
