fluctuating temp in styrofoam bator

[bburn]

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See! Thinking of having an auction on here and getting rid of some of my thermometers! Sticking with my average...oh, and only have three thermometers in there now!

Am now nutso!

 

[kstaven]

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See! Thinking of having an auction on here and getting rid of some of my thermometers! Sticking with my average...oh, and only have three thermometers in there now!

Am now nutso!

Don't worry. Everyone goes through these stages with poultry.

Most people with incubators see the temp drop a degree and then turn it up, which causes the temp to rise a degree or two too high. Then they turn it way down which causes a severe drop. Then they turn it up which causes a bigger swing.

Best thing a person can do is start in incubator with a bottle of water in it and get the temp in the stable range for 24 hours before introducing eggs. Once adding eggs DO NOT even look at the thermometer again for at least 12 hours. Do not check temperatures for at least 4 hours after opening the lid and adding water or candling.

 

[ChooksChick]

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According to your your "incubator cheater" you hatched "hundreds of thousands of chicks"

You mean you hatched "hundreds of thousands of chicks" in your Hovabator or LG whatever your picture shows?

LOL


100 000 chicks divided by 42 eggs assuming 100% hatch rate equals 2380 hatches on one month base.

2380 monthly hatches equals 198 years.


Very impressive.

Her page says "hundreds or thousands", actually. Perhaps you should read more carefully before sneering.

Ha! Thanks guys- I've got a basement full of these things and I hatch constantly...it's okay to sneer...when the addiction hits you you'll understand!

Life is too short to take ourselves seriously, and chickens are fun, not a competition. Mwah! :* for the laugh! *\\o/*

I hope Wal-Mart appreciates how much we rely on these little cheapo thermometers- they're the only ones that stay consistent despite the massive humidity fluctuations- the temp notations being sealed in glass is the key.

 

[artathart]

I am sticking with 2 for now. One that came with the LG which seems to read the closet to correct and the accubrite digital one from walmart. I have the sensor hung thru the vent hole at eg level and I am getting pretty steady reading till this morning. I went to sleep with 100 temps but my husband forgot to load the wood stove this morning and the temp in the house dropped a bit. Im not too worried, its at 99.9 and its upstairs where all the heat ends up. I am NEVER touching the thermastate again. I know where I have it is perfect so I just wrapped the incubator in a towel until the room temp heats up again. Had a towel over it for 5 mins and had the temp back up to 102 so I took it off. My new goal is to try and enjoy this and not stress out too much. All I can do is keep it warm in there and dont ever cook them. Anything else....Is for the birds!!! Ha ha ha.

My humidity is still at 37%. Since I do have the center ting full of water, I am not sure how I will get the humidity up to 65-75% when its time except to add the rest of the water and put the plugs in.

EDIT- NO MORE TOWEL. I placed a towel over half the incubator for 15 mins and it jumped to 103.5. No more towel for me. Its down to 100.4 in just a min now so I dont think the eggs had enough time to heat up.

 

[bburn]

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Read Chookschick's incubation cheater.....about the papertowels....I am going with that! And I am not gonna worry anymore. I am however going to look for blood rings and get those eggs out. I found one already. But....I also saw little black moving dots in the others! Yeah, me!!!

 

[thatcrazychickenlady]

I bought a $45 bator from Tractor Supply and have been amazed at how steady the temp holds.

 

[bburn]

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That is where mine came from. You would not be quite so amazed if you had two of the thermometers. That is what we have all been talking about. I bought the egg turner also and there was a second thermometer in there so I had both of them in the incubator. Two different temps always. So then I thought this would be simple and went out and bought a couple more. Paid quite a bit for a couple of them. Now I have as many different temps as I have thermometers. Go figure!

So, I am at the point where I am happy to get an average that is the right temp! Silly things!

 

[artathart]

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That is where mine came from. You would not be quite so amazed if you had two of the thermometers. That is what we have all been talking about. I bought the egg turner also and there was a second thermometer in there so I had both of them in the incubator. Two different temps always. So then I thought this would be simple and went out and bought a couple more. Paid quite a bit for a couple of them. Now I have as many different temps as I have thermometers. Go figure!

So, I am at the point where I am happy to get an average that is the right temp! Silly things!

Same boat here. Sure your $45 bator may seem to holding temps if you are NOT simply relying on the Thermometer that came with it. I had two since I got the turner as well (Wish it hadnt come with one) and now I have 5 because they all read different.

 

[Tucket Chic]

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How do you know which thermometer is off? I know you can calibrate the humidity part but how can you be sure about the temperature? How high is too high is my real question.

 

[youngbiddy]

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You don't want your temp to go above 102 and stay there. Don't trust the thermometers that came with the bator. I bought one of these..

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270728590583

..and it works great for me. I've heard great things about the Brinsea SpotCheck, if you want to be super sure.

http://dblrsupply.pinnaclecart.com/products/Brinsea_Spot_Check_Thermometer-351-63.html

I probably would have gotten that one if I had heard about it before I ordered the other one.