EDUCATIONAL INCUBATION & HATCHING CHAT THREAD, w/ Sally Sunshine Shipped Eggs

[BullChick]

Sounds like you need... A SNAKE!!

 

[JadeFarms]

Snakes are the best! I am not scared of them at all, and I don’t understand why people don’t like them.

 

[darajosami]

Hi, my incubator arrived today and I currently have it on and trying to remember how to calibrate, etc. I have three thermometers in it including the one it came with and not sure which one to trust. Do the mercury ones every become inaccurate? If not I will trust that one wholly. I cannot get the humidity right though as the machine is saying one thing and my portable one is saying another

 

[BullChick]

I think any incubator having an accurate built-in hygrometer is a fallacy. Thermometers/thermostats are possible.
Yes, mercury thermometers can be wrong.

 

[BullChick]

 

[BullChick]

A simple, easy to do at home means of calibrating hygrometers uses standard salt and a sealed container. Table salt, when used properly, will maintain an exact 75% humidity in a perfectly sealed environment. So, to do this, you'll need three items. First, obtain an airtight container such as a see-through tub with a tight fitting snap-on lid (the kind usually found in most kitchens). Alternately, a heavy-duty zip-lock bag will do. Second, you'll need about a teaspoon of salt. Third, any small, shallow open container is needed (to hold the salt in) such as a screw cap from a plastic bottle.

Place the salt in its small container and add a few drops of water to moisten it. Don't dissolve it yet. With just a few drops of water, you'll get what you need, which is damp salt. Next, carefully place the salt in its small container, along with your hygrometer, into the airtight container. Please do not get any moistened salt on the gauge. Also, check to see that the starting point (current reading) is anywhere in the 40% to 80% range.

Seal the container tightly. Note: if you have any doubt as to whether or not it is a perfectly sealed environment, double-it-up by putting it in a second container, or into a second baggie. Do not try to remove the remaining air trapped inside. Now, wait for at least 5 or 6 hours until the environment has stabilized. Do not open the container. Read the gauge's humidity % level. It should be exactly 75%. If it is not, note the deviation as being the amount your hygrometer is out of calibration. If for example, it reads 68%, the gauge is 7% low. If on the other hand it reads 80%, the gauge is 5% high.

Now, remove the gauge from the container and locate a very small jeweler’s flathead screwdriver. If it fits through the small hole in the center of the rear plate, it should work well. Put it in that hole, and turn it slowly while watching the dial on the front. If your gauge was low by 4%, turn the screwdriver clockwise and make the dial rest 4% points higher than it did previously. Conversely, if your gauge was high by 6%, turn the screwdriver counter-clockwise and make the dial rest 6% points lower than it did previously. That's it. Your gauge is now calibrated and you should feel very comfortable with its accuracy from this point on.

 

[Don 27]

I use the same method to calibrate my hydrometer and thermometer. So far I have not had to adjust them.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Hey y'all. So, work ate my brain. Then I left because they wouldn't change some very important things. Now I'm working again. At TSC.

I'm the unofficial chicken expert for my store.

At lot of stuff has been going on that's had me down, but I don't want to think about it right now. Cause chickens.

You havent saved any fowl have you? lol I hope things look up very soon Raz! I wont go into a lecture on life for you, hugs and chin up!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

My Ebay egg didn't make it. I had a feeling it wouldn't, but I'm still really bummed. It was a "penguin" chick, so it would have been mottled, and I desperately want more of those in my flock because they are so pretty and I only have one so far. It was perfectly formed but very small. It was in a good position, veins were receding and yolk halfway absorbed. It was alive day before yesterday; I am guessing it died this morning.

So, I'm done for the year. I was very tempted to try again, but I talked to the person I got my local eggs from and she told me she would have two dozen for me this spring if I wanted to wait...how do I make myself wait till April?!

I never waited, I did what I wanted to lol Sorry about the peepers

 

[Sally Sunshine]

I also ordered some hermit crabs and supplies. It’s a pain trying to find reputable sources for that stuff!
My current two crabs are ... hmmmmmmmmmm. Three years, and two. I ordered three more crabs and 29,764 shells. I think I picked nine.
I’m only telling you because; it’s a dead thread, it’s late, and because someone does care, but won’t ask.

Ours always died humidity I think how do you keep yours alive