Hatching problem with new incubator

[dtimoth]

I have been a member of BYC for a couple of years but have enjoyed reading the threads from afar. Now I thought it was time to seek some advice. If anyone can help me, I would really appreciate it, as I'm absolutely puzzled about my situation. Although I've incubated and raised chickens for ten years with a foam Little Giant, I'm completely stumped with this hatch. Please help, as I'm quite discouraged.

I bought a new Brinsea 20 Advance in May. Here are the facts of my situation:

* I set three varieties of eggs. Ten eggs were ordered by mail from the midwest (Penedesencas--I'm in Arizona), six Cream Legbars were bought from a local breeder, and eight were from my own flock of Spitzhaubens. I have read so many excellent reviews about the Brinsea that I knew I would be getting a great hatch from these eggs, even with the vagaries of mailed eggs in mind.
* I did everything right with the mailed eggs (24 hr rest) and the other eggs before setting.
* During the entire incubation period, the temperature remained at 99.6-99.8 at all times, the humidity level was always between 40 and 45 percent, and the turner worked beautifully. Everything was as perfect as it could possibly have been during incubation, so I thought. It was the most careful and accurate incubation I've ever done, and conditions seemed to be just right.
* The only issue I could see is that the temperature was always 99.6-99.8, rather than 99.5, which I didn't think would matter much, but maybe...
* Day 18, turning was stopped.
* Day 21, no pipping
* Day 22, three of my own eggs pipped late on the 22nd day
* Day 23, three have hatched and two are still pipping
* None of the shipped eggs have pipped, nor have any of the ones bought locally...only my own eggs have, and two days late.

Here's what I'm puzzled about:
* I understand that shipped eggs are typically not as viable as local eggs, but none at all pipped even though everything seemed to be perfect
* None of the locally purchased eggs pipped
* Five of my own eight eggs pipped and a few are hatching, but 2-3 days late.
* I have learned over the years that eggs incubated slightly cooler than 99.5 will hatch late, while those over 99.5 will hatch early. My bater always had a slightly higher temp reading, but the eggs are hatching late, but only my own eggs.

The ONLY possibly issue I can fathom is that my new Brinsea built-in thermometer is off and that I might need to incubate at a higher temperature from now on. CAN ANYBODY HELP with advice? I hope I didn't waste $400 on the new machine. Thanks for any advice you can give.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Brinsea makes a good incubator but for any of them, you need to get your own instruments and calibrate them or confirm that the ones that came with the incubator are working right. You can use a medical thermometer to check that Brinsea one. I think you got it right, the temperature was too low.

As far as shipped eggs, I’ve had 100% hatches and horrible hatches. I’ve had perfect hatches with my own eggs and recently had a total failure with mine under a broody. I didn’t think that was possible but for some reason most quit at about a week and a half, and eggs hardly ever quit at a week and a half. It’s usually earlier or later. I had a horrible (30%) hatch with local eggs, but I think I shook them up on country roads getting them home. I don’t know what happened with your shipped eggs or local eggs, but those were not in your control for part of the time. Each and every hatch is different even when you don’t know of anything that is different.

I suggest you open the unhatched eggs and see what went wrong. See if you can tell at what stage they died if they developed at all. Good luck with it. I know from experience it can be frustrating.

 

[dtimoth]

Thank you for the fast response and input, Ridgerunner. I now have had five of the eight Spitzhaubens from my own hens hatch, two days late. The idea of a medical thermometer is a great idea--they are probably the most accurate. Would you suggest an old-fashion mercury thermometer? I think I just trusted the bater brand too naively, that it would be set accurately. Just to double check, so if I calibrate with a different thermometer and find that say on my bater 101.2 is actually 99.5, then I would need to set the eggs at 101.2 the entire 21 days. Would you agree? I don't think Brinsea has any refund/return policy on this matter, so I'm hoping I can still use it but just with the temperature adjusted. The incubator itself seems to work really well, I just might have to change the temperature each time I hatch based on the calibration?

Sorry for the childlike questions...I've always just used the old Little Giant incubater, which has worked great for me until lately.

Again, I really appreciate your feedback. It helps put my mind at ease, even though I have lost some other expensive eggs. I'll open them the day after tomorrow and see what's inside.

 

[Ridgerunner]

so if I calibrate with a different thermometer and find that say on my bater 101.2 is actually 99.5, then I would need to set the eggs at 101.2 the entire 21 days. Would you agree?

Yes

There are two possible problems with thermometers, accuracy and repeatability. Accuracy is why we calibrate them. Like you said, if 101.2 is actually 99.5, then you set it at 101.2.

Repeatability is a bit harder to explain. Say a thermometer reads 101.2 one time and you take it out then put it back. If its repeatability is good, it will read 101.2. But if repeatability is a problem, it might read 99.8 or 103.3 although the temperature hasn’t really changed.

Many thermometers are designed to read within 1 or 2 degrees each time. These are the type that we often put outside to check the temperature. If it is 75 degrees out they might read 73 one time and 75 the next. They call it accuracy but I call it repeatability. If you are checking to see if you need long sleeves or a jacket one or two degrees is not a big deal, but if you are incubating it gets pretty critical. For an incubator you need a thermometer that is accurate (repeatable) to within 0.1 degree, either Fahrenheit or Celsius.

A medical thermometer will be accurate to within 0.1 degrees but the problem with them is that they only record a high. You have to shake them back down to check to see if it drops.

 

[dtimoth]

Thank you for the erudite reply. It is great information and will be helpful in the future. I can probably do another test run of common eggs (e.g. Australorps) from my own layers later this summer before investing again in the expensive shipped eggs. I'll be sure to do the calibration and check on the repeatability in mind when doing it. Your advice is much appreciated. Maybe my new bater will work great once it's calibrated for each hatch. I'm now up to five chicks from my own hens and one more pipping...that's six out of eight. Not too bad for a too-low temperature gestation. Still disappointed in the shipped and locally purchased eggs but will try again in the fall. Now it's too hot...will be up to 112-115 degrees in the next week or so here. Again, Ridgerunner, you don't know how much I appreciate you taking time to help!