First incubation ever - hot spots?

[Coolbreeze89]

I have 2 Farm Innovators 4250. I ran them both for 2 days, and the bator temp versus backup thermometer were within half a degree of each other (99.5-100). I put 20 eggs in each bator today (didn’t want all my eggs in one “basket”!). Using an infrared thermometer six hours later, one bator is running cool (egg surface temps 96-98) and the other has surface temps of 98-104!?! I upped the temp setting of the cooler bator by 0.5 degrees. I moved the hottest eggs in the second bator to the “cooler” area.

Any thoughts? Is surface temp different than bator temp? I am inclined to trust the infrared thermometer over the other two...

I knew this would be nerve wracking process, but I thought I’d make it more than 6 hours!

Thanks!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi.

As far as I am concerned ALL bators have hot and cool spots... so I always move my eggs to a new location inside the bator once daily to help ensure even development.

I'm not 100% about relying egg shell temperature though as different surfaces seem to have different readings. For example in my home that has the SAME over all temp... my tile floor is cooler FEELING than my wood floor, and MUCH cooler feeling than my carpeted floor. I'm not sure if that is what is being referred to as egg shell conductane or not but let me share my FAVORITE hatching resource with you..
https://www.hubbardbreeders.com/media/incubation_guideen__053407700_1525_26062017.pdf

I feel as though it's your air temp that matters more than your egg shell temp... but I AM here to learn as well as share what I can.

It's fun to see different ideas... while it's true that putting all your egg in one bator can be risky... to ME putting them in two... doubles the chance of something going wrong.
But make NO mistake... I have at least 3 running usually! They are not the same batches though.

Happy hatching!

 

[Coolbreeze89]

Hi.

As far as I am concerned ALL bators have hot and cool spots... so I always move my eggs to a new location inside the bator once daily to help ensure even development.

I'm not 100% about relying egg shell temperature though as different surfaces seem to have different readings. For example in my home that has the SAME over all temp... my tile floor is cooler FEELING than my wood floor, and MUCH cooler feeling than my carpeted floor. I'm not sure if that is what is being referred to as egg shell conductane or not but let me share my FAVORITE hatching resource with you..
https://www.hubbardbreeders.com/media/incubation_guideen__053407700_1525_26062017.pdf

I feel as though it's your air temp that matters more than your egg shell temp... but I AM here to learn as well as share what I can.

It's fun to see different ideas... while it's true that putting all your egg in one bator can be risky... to ME putting them in two... doubles the chance of something going wrong.
But make NO mistake... I have at least 3 running usually! They are not the same batches though.

Happy hatching!

Thank you so much. I wondered about shell versus air, but I have no experience and am worried about cooking my chicks! I will rotate the eggs, and rye to remain calm. Thanks!

 

[aart]

Go by air temp not shell surface temp....
....tho measuring shell surface with an infrared is interesting.
Tho keep in mind of you're using the infrared thru the incubator lid it may skew the reading.

Oh, and, test/calibrate your thermometers and hygrometers!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...incubator-thermometers-and-hygrometers.73634/