Duck eggs generating their own heat?

[casportpony]

Can you get one of those Braun thermometers and measure the shell temp?

 

[PaulX]

Can you get one of those Braun thermometers and measure the shell temp?

First time hearing that name. Well I just looked up and I can probably get one shipped here within a week, but the price is much higher than the generic infrared thermometer, so the latter is more preferable.

Either way a week will be already 2 days after hatch date... so maybe not.

 

[Ridgerunner]

How are your vents arranged? Are the plugs out?

 

[PaulX]

How are your vents arranged? Are the plugs out?

I was gonna answer that I have 6 vents of the width of and half the thickness of my finger, but I just found out that even when I unplugged the incubator and opened the incubator lid completely, it didn't speed up the loss of heat by any one bit. The day time temperature has reached 35 C 95 F and will reach 36 C 96.8 F tomorrow. At night this went down a bit and it is only at night that I could bring the egg shell temperature below 38 C 100.4 F. The thermometer is supposedly already accurate too, the eggs definitely feel warmer than when I feel my body at, say, my crotch or my neck.

Yeah, I remind you, as I posted in another thread, that this is really winter temperature here. I assure you I'm not in the southern hemisphere. The winter used to be cooler when I was a kid, with median day time temperature maybe as 'low' as 25 C 77 F. Oh how I miss living somewhere with 'proper' winter, with snow and all.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

It's possible what you have been experiencing is the difference in sampling and response times between the various thermometers.
As was noted, the heat element will be energized when the thermostat calls for heat. If the thermometer has a rapid response, it will climb quickly and then read much lower as it cools. By the same token, if the read time is slower, read a more average temperature.

I'm curious where you are located that is so hot now. I was guessing Australia or South Africa. I certainly wouldn't want to experience summer there with those temps in December.