first time hatcher- havinng trouble regulating my new bator temp

[aubreynoramarie]

okay i have never done this before and i only have room in my coop to do one hatch so i need to do this right. My boyfriend bought me a bator for my birthday, and i have been trying for two days to get the temperature regulated! i didnt know it was going to be this hard!
(it is a "little giant circulated air incubator with forced fan kit". the only incubator they had that hold more than three chicks.)

I seriously have four thermometers in there right now and they all say something different. i am so frustrated and confused. Is it imperitive that the temperature in there be 99.5 exactly? I have one reading 98 degrees, one at 103, one at 95 and on at 99.

my eggs will hopefully be here within the next week and im so nervous that im going to screw this up!


..and i havent even put the water in to measure the humidity yet!

*sigh* someone please help and make me feel better

 

[aubreynoramarie]

 

[RareBreedFancier]

Your going to need to know what it actually is in there and obviously your thermometers are reading different.

There is info on here about how to calibrate them but you'd have to search for it because I haven't done it. Then pick ONE to use or they will drive you crazy.

I have two bought from the same place, same batch and they read different. I made sure I put the second one in the 'bator with the first to check the reading and then moved it to the hatcher and made sure it read the same as it did in the 'bator. Looks like I'll have a perfect hatch (6 of 7 out so far) but according to the thermometer the temp has been off all lockdown.

 

[Baralak]

Well.. To be honest, you need to put some water in it to get a good temp reading... Between 102-99 is a good temp.. The main thing to look at is the consistancy of your temps. Let it run for a few hours and take readings every hour. Make sure your temps are stable... For the test that I'm running, I have 4 thermometers in one of my bators, and 5 in the other... ALL of them have a different reading, so yes, that will happen. To test your thermometers, (glass ones) see if any of them have a reading that is around 30 degrees. Make a glass of Iced water ( Crushed ice filled to the brim, then filled with water) your thermometer should read around 32 degrees. By doing this what ever they read, you will know how far off they are.

Here is a pic of my two bators with all of their thermometers..

 

[aubreynoramarie]

thanks alot for your advice. will find out how to calibrate them. I know i can put them in ice water and whichever one temp closest to freezing should be the right one. I want to trust the digital thermometer because it has the humidity thingy on it too, but who knows?!!

also there is the whole problem with the bator not actually staying at temp, but ive moved it upstairs where its warmer and the air temperature fluxuates alot less. i hope that works

 

[aubreynoramarie]

Quote:
ah, i wrote my last post before i saw yours.

i just put some water in it and the humidity is at 45% and climbing but the temperature does seem to have stabled as of now. I guess i will have to wait and let some of that water evaporate...45 is bad right?

anyways im really glad you gave me about three degrees of play, that makes me feel ALOT better.

 

[kimfeatherfriends123]

Nice set up what type of thermometers do you recommend....

 

[Baralak]

Very good!!! The digital use as a reference. Do the thermometer iced water test, then put the thermometer in the bator knowing how much off it is. Then reference that to your digital and that's how off it will be.

 

[deerman]

i use a medical thermometer , place in and see which one is right. thing about thermometer , i found checking them most are only accurateto +/- 1 degree some even +/- 2 degree. That info i got off of the package of new ones.

 

[Baralak]

I like the ones that have probes the best.. Because you can dip them in iced water and get an idea of how far they are off. If you have all the money in the world, Fluke makes a nice calibrated thermometer, and a laser thermometer.. but those are very costly. Brinsea also makes a nice thermometer, but I've heard of a couple that seem to drift.