first hatch a fail

[MeepBeep]

A medical thermometer is already calibrated.

If you use a glass medical thermometer make sure to be sure it's not a "maximum thermometer" (most are) as they need to be shook down before every reading or else they will only show the high temp, and won't go back down... I do like keeping a "maximum thermometer" in my incubator so that I can verify there is never a spike it temps as it will always show a the highest temp, so they do have a use but not as a primary temp monitor...

I have really come to like the one I linked above from Walmart, it's only $1.68 at my local Walmart and it's pretty much dead on... And because the tip is filled with steel beads, it's slower to react to sudden temp changes so you get a more average temp (the important one) not the immediate air temp fluctuations...

 

[Ridgerunner]

I meant the medical thermometer as a way to help calibrate the other one. Looking back I wasn't very clear on that.

That's a good point to. It's not an instantaneous air temperature that's important but the temperature at the center of the egg. That is pretty slow to react to instantaneous changes in the air temperature either peaks or valleys.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

For one thing I had bought a thermometer that wasn't digital so it wasn't to the tenth of the degree, plus I did not calibrate it or check it in anyway whatsoever...you live and learn I guess. I trusted that it was 'close enough to being right'. I know, naive. I am buying a digital for this try and checking BOTH for accuracy as I am going to use both in the incubator as the non digital has the humidity on it. And I hate to admit this but I was reading a candling page and it was showing what they were supposed to look like each night during the last week before lockdown so I was candling them every night to see how close they were (admittedly when we went into lockdown I thought they looked a couple days behind, but was hoping I was wrong). After the failed hatch I dug deeper into it and found that you should candle at abt 10, 14 and 18 days at lockdown. So ya, in my stupidity and over excitement I was probably causing the demise of our chicks by over candling them thus causing regular heat loss every night. And yes, I feel totally stupid for doing it especially when I had done so much "research" during the start of incubation. Apparently I missed a couple of the important things. We did have a power outtage halfway through incubation, but it was only an hour so I doubt that played a big factor.
So hopefully with this knowledge and better thermometers I've learned my lesson and can correct what I screwed up.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Don't beat yourself up about the candling. It takes quite a while for the center of the egg to cool off even when out of the incubator. Your candling did not make any difference.

 

[MeepBeep]

And I hate to admit this but I was reading a candling page and it was showing what they were supposed to look like each night during the last week before lockdown so I was candling them every night to see how close they were (admittedly when we went into lockdown I thought they looked a couple days behind, but was hoping I was wrong).  After the failed hatch I dug deeper into it and found that you should candle at abt 10, 14 and 18 days at lockdown.

I beg to differ on candling being harmful even if you do it every single day and even up until or even after they pip on hatch day... Your real concern is the extra handling during candling, wash your hands well, and take extra care when handing the eggs and you can candle away at your will with no harmful effects...

 

[AmyLynn2374]

You don't think it was the candling? I was certain that's what did them in. Maybe it was the thermometer then, I'll know more this week when I buy the other one and calibrate them. Thanks a lot.

 

[MeepBeep]

No I highly doubt candling was the issue, I regularly candle (every other day) to monitor air sack development and my average hatch rate is in the 90% or better range with good eggs...

Also a 1/10th of a degree thermometer is certainly nice but not necessary to get good results... Temporary up and downs in 'air' temp are not important and you need to ignore those and not stress over them, it's the internal temp of the egg that is important...

My DIY incubator floats between about 98° and 101° at any given movement that is if I watch air temps, but measuring faux internal egg temp using a small water bottle (I use a 2oz or 4oz baby bottle) I know that the fluctuating air temp creates averages out and creates an average internal egg temp pretty much dead on to 99.5° and I can read that fine on a glass thermometer, anywhere in between 99° and 100° is pretty much a wash... It really doesn't matter one bit if it's 99.2° , 99.5° or 99.8°...

 

[AmyLynn2374]

measuring faux internal egg temp using a small water bottle (I use a 2oz or 4oz baby bottle) I know that the fluctuating air temp creates averages out and creates an average internal egg temp pretty much dead on to 99.5°

I'm unfamiliar with that.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Then unless my thermometer is that much off, I am at a loss. Because we stayed at between 98-100 usually right before the 100 mark (according to the thermometer.) It'll be interesting to see if the thermometer is really that much off.

 

[MeepBeep]

Then unless my thermometer is that much off, I am at a loss. Because we stayed at between 98-100 usually right before the 100 mark (according to the thermometer.) It'll be interesting to see if the thermometer is really that much off.

Well if the internal egg temp got to 103° death is a pretty much a given, or at least the hatch rate will be deplorable... So if your thermometer was off by +3° or more that very well could have been the issue...

The installed dial thermometer on my foam incubator was off by something like -8° out of the box (aka when it said 100° it was actually 108°) and even after I took it apart and tried to calibrate/adjusted it, the thing on it's best day was +/- 3° over what every other thermometer said... For the first week it would give me a scare, as I would first glance at it and see something like 104° all the while the other three thermometers inside were reading 99° or 100° finally I just ignored it, even put a piece of tape over it so I wouldn't get that inadvertent heart skip... The humidity part of it was even worse, probably in the +/- 20% range at any given time basically useless...