You know, I think I figured out why some of us, getting eggs from the same sources, using decent incubators, and following guidelines and advice, can still have drastically different outcomes! In most things a degree or two in temperatures makes no difference. Neither do a few percentage points in humidity. But in incubation they can make all the difference!
Calibrating meters is critical, and pretty effective with those that can handle being put in ice water. Others say "Test for accuracy with a thermometer you know to be accurate." But how the heck do you manage that when you have this many thermometers, side by side, and they still don't agree? Which one IS accurate and can be safely used as the benchmark reading? Is a puzzlement! At one time over the last 3 incubations, two different thermometers were out of this assortment were used at the same time and I couldn't trust any of them. Going by the photo below, I can ASSUME it's 75 degrees where they are sitting, but what if I'm wrong over 21 days? No wonder this is hard sometimes!!
Calibrating meters is critical, and pretty effective with those that can handle being put in ice water. Others say "Test for accuracy with a thermometer you know to be accurate." But how the heck do you manage that when you have this many thermometers, side by side, and they still don't agree? Which one IS accurate and can be safely used as the benchmark reading? Is a puzzlement! At one time over the last 3 incubations, two different thermometers were out of this assortment were used at the same time and I couldn't trust any of them. Going by the photo below, I can ASSUME it's 75 degrees where they are sitting, but what if I'm wrong over 21 days? No wonder this is hard sometimes!!