Hands on hatching and help

[BigWeenMachine]

does your bator have a temp probe attached to a wire? like this: can you see the "L" shaped probe? that is the heat thermometer. is yours like this? if so, i use to have temp spikes until i make sure i place the probe directly under the heater. does this make sense? try this and see if it makes a diff w/your temp spikes.

That is exactly like mine. Right now I have it near a cool spot to keep the temp a lil higher in bator. That cool spot was reading 94.5 and now that I have it there it is reading better throughout. I dunno if I tried directly below the heater though I know I've at least been close. I almost wonder if the fan is just not blowing but I don't wanna remove the lid that long to check and drop my humidity too low.

 

[BigWeenMachine]

I've seen people use golf balls or something similar to anchor it down so that it stays in one place to stop temp fluctuations.

Maybe I need to just put some weight on in to prevent air leaks then

 

[pipAchick]

I've seen people use golf balls or something similar to anchor it down so that it stays in one place to stop temp fluctuations.

Same one I got! Lids are a pain to securly shut too! That black wire can't rest on eggs either or I find it screws up temp reading.

 

[pipAchick]

That is exactly like mine.  Right now I have it near a cool spot to keep the temp a lil higher in bator.  That cool spot was reading 94.5 and now that I have it there it is reading better throughout.  I dunno if I tried directly below the heater though I know I've at least been close.  I almost wonder if the fan is just not blowing but I don't wanna remove the lid that long to check and drop my humidity too low.

If you sit for about 15mins you should hear the fam cutting on&off(least that's how we check,ours)

 

[pipAchick]

Fan* not fam

 

[pipAchick]

does your bator have a temp probe attached to a wire? like this:

can you see the "L" shaped probe? that is the heat thermometer. is yours like this? if so, i use to have temp spikes until i make sure i place the probe directly under the heater. does this make sense? try this and see if it makes a diff w/your temp spikes.

Agree on not&cool spots. Mine seems furthest row on right side(near Moter for turner) stays low. IF turning moter runs it gets way too hot we found,so I'm hand turning this batch.
Just sharing what I been learning past few weeks.

 

[CyndiD]

I've seen people use golf balls or something similar to anchor it down so that it stays in one place to stop temp fluctuations.

when i open the bator or take off the id the probe comes w/the lid, if i attached a golf ball to the probe it would wack my eggs and possibly break one. i dont think that would be fun for the eggs. i do enough damage to them. if i am misunderstanding you, please explain in more detail for me...thanks

 

[Blooie]

Oh, Aaa----meeee. Some-----body....Yep, another dumb question. Day 15. Most of eggs are dark now, but I can still see veins and movement in all 8 of them.

But some of the air sacs are looking pretty doggone big to me, not that I have a ton of experience in these matters..... I've kept the humidity fairly low (I think the most it ever got up to was like 50) but I've been more comfortable in that 35-40 range because I read somewhere that with detached air cells you stand a better chance of them reattaching if the humidity isn't real high all the time, you don't turn them for a couple of days, and they are kept upright in the incubator rather than laying flat. I've done all that.

Anyway, like I said today is Day 15, and I wondered if raising the humidity up a bit at this point might slow that evaporation down a bit so the chicks don't end up getting shrink wrapped because of air cells that were too big. Or is it kinda too little too late at this point? Or do I need to re-read your article again because I missed something - I ain't the brightest crayon in the box here.

 

[CyndiD]

That is exactly like mine.  Right now I have it near a cool spot to keep the temp a lil higher in bator.  That cool spot was reading 94.5 and now that I have it there it is reading better throughout.  I dunno if I tried directly below the heater though I know I've at least been close.  I almost wonder if the fan is just not blowing but I don't wanna remove the lid that long to check and drop my humidity too low.

my fan is very light. you could alway tape some little pieces of tissue paper near the fan to see if it is blowing. im sure it is, however, unless it is broken. is it a new bator? I have 4 thermometers throughout the bator and they all usually read different temps. there are colder spots in mine also. I sometimes move my eggs around after candling them and give them a turn in the warmer spots and give them time away form the warmer spots. kwim? right now my bator is set at 102.5, and the thermometers inside read at 99, 101, 98 & 91.. the 91 is in the far left corner and there are only a few eggs there. the rest of the eggs are near the higher temps. If my temps get too low, i just raise the bator temp on the heating unit, kwim? when i had my probe in a corner away from the heater that is when i got temp spikes. this is my story and im sticking to it, tee hee

 

[FridayYet]

Oh, Aaa----meeee. Some-----body....Yep, another dumb question. Day 15. Most of eggs are dark now, but I can still see veins and movement in all 8 of them.

But some of the air sacs are looking pretty doggone big to me, not that I have a ton of experience in these matters..... I've kept the humidity fairly low (I think the most it ever got up to was like 50) but I've been more comfortable in that 35-40 range because I read somewhere that with detached air cells you stand a better chance of them reattaching if the humidity isn't real high all the time, you don't turn them for a couple of days, and they are kept upright in the incubator rather than laying flat. I've done all that.

Anyway, like I said today is Day 15, and I wondered if raising the humidity up a bit at this point might slow that evaporation down a bit so the chicks don't end up getting shrink wrapped because of air cells that were too big. Or is it kinda too little too late at this point? Or do I need to re-read your article again because I missed something - I ain't the brightest crayon in the box here.

If your air cells, on average, are big like the day 18 line, I'd go ahead and start raising humidity to slow them down. It's a great question!