Help! All 3 thermometers reading different.

[Knigge]

I have the LG 10300 with an Acurite hygrometer/thermometer that I got at Home depot and I just received the IncuTherm+. I had adjusted the LG to coincide with the Acurite and temps were holding steady at 99-100 (there is no digit after the . on the Acurite). When I first put the IncuTherm in there it started reading 104-106!

I put it at the top, just a little away from the heater/fan element and touching the empty turner tray (maybe that caused a bad reading). The humidity reading was crazy high too and I know the humidity isn't that far off. The Acurite and LG had been reading fairly similarly as far as temp goes up until the IncuTherm was put in. So I moved the IncuTherm to a more central location in the incubator (it is supposed to be the best of the 3 right?!?!) I am now getting a reading for 100.8 on the IncuTherm, 98.7 on the LG and 97 on the Acurite. The Humdiity on the IncuTherm is 27%, LG is 46% and Acurite is 30%. These are all after they have had time to sit and settle on temps. I haven't really been paying much attention to the humidity reading on the LG as I have read multiple posts saying that it doesn't work well unless it is between 50%-60%. This is the Accurite that I got. Before I got the IncuTherm I also had a mercury thermometer in there that was reading right around 99-100 along with the Acurite.



As far as calibrating these thermometers I am not sure how to do that since the Acurite is a whole unit so I can't really submerge that, and I am not sure that I can submerge the probe on the IncuTherm. From the website it says that the IncuTherm is supposed to be accurate within a degree. If that is the case then I need to drop the temp a few degrees and see where that gets me on the IncuTherm, but that will make the Acurite read way low I am afraid and what if that is the one that is actually right! Someone help! This is the first hatch I have ever done and stupidly I ordered 12 silkie eggs since I couldn't find the colors I wanted locally and I picked up 12 Olive Egger eggs locally, but the girl said they were sort of cool because they had been in the fridge!!!! Why were they in the fridge if they are hatching eggs, could that cause them to not be fertile?

I did candle a few eggs (day 3) and there seems to be a darker area in the top then there was so I am thinking they are progressing. My eyes hadn't adjusted to the dark and my hubs has the good flashlight to really be able to look for veining. I am planning on candling at day 7 (Saturday). How do I go about that? Do I take one egg out at a time and then replace the rest or do I take them all out to a egg carton and then take them in the dark bathroom and candle them that way? My eyes have a hard time adjusting to be able to really see anything if I go in and out of the room

Here is my set up and the different readings I am getting. I know there are a lot of questions in this post but I know you all can help me out a ton. (for clarity I couldn't locate my old password, but this is not my first post every, contrary to what it might say

)

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Almost all thermometers are only supposed to be accurate to ±2.0°F. That is wishful thinking. I've seen them off by 5 or more.
For the time being, use the average of all for your adjustment.
I highly recommend the following 2 thermometers that are very accurate yet don't cost an alarm and a leg.
http://thermoworks.com/products/low_cost/rt301wa.html
https://www.brinsea.com/p-394-spot-check-digital-incubator-thermometer.aspx
I wouldn't give the Accurite any undue credibility.

Hygrometers are even less reliable than thermometers and always need calibration.

 

[kuchchicks]

The digital thermometer that you have on top is the one that have. I actually have 2 that I use at the same time. Both of mine are slightly different and read within a degree of each other. When I tested mine, I set them all out on the counter next to each other for about 15 minutes to allow them to adjust. That will give you a baseline reading. Hopefully they will all be the same, but I have yet to have 2 or more thermometers read exactly the same. If you are not sure if you can put your one thermometer in water, what you can do is place them all next to each other in your fridge for 15 minutes and take another reading. If you have a thermometer that you KNOW is accurate, compare the ones that you are using for your incubation to that. If not, you can get a mercury medical thermometer and add that to the mix. If you get a medical grade thermometer they do tend to be pretty accurate. Like I said, I have the same digital that you have sitting on top of your bator and I trust both of mine (though I do test them before each use).

Now with that said I started out with a LG and never had good luck. Even with the fan in mine I had a hard time getting the same temp in different parts of the bator. AmyLynn (Humidity Queen) uses an LG and has great success. You may want to PM her and get some tips. But a few suggestions that I would have if you find a temp variation in different parts of the bator would be to 1. keep it in a room that the temp is very stable/no drafts 2. you could consider wrapping a blanket around the seems in case there is air entering/escaping 3. get the eggs on a rotation to each have time in different parts of your bator.... I did this when I had my LG and it did seem to help.

As for candling it can sometimes be difficult to see veins on day 3. By day 7 though you will be able to on the silkies. The olive eggs may be hard to see veins. Sometimes on the colored eggs it can be a little tricky. As for the fridge, I personally do no refrigerate my hatching eggs but I know I have seen some posts on here where people have successfully used fertile eggs that were placed in the fridge. With that said keep in mind that it could negatively impact your hatch rate, as can having your eggs shipped.

Candling yours eggs is done best in a dark room. Typically when I do mine I do put about a dozen in a carton at a time, take them into my bathroom and candle them. I draw my air cell lines and mark if I see movement. Then when all 12 are done I put them back in the bator and do the next set. Keep in mind when the momma hen is sitting on her eggs she does get up everyday to eat, drink and poop. She can be gone for 15-30 and the eggs are not heated during this time. So you do have some time that you can take them out of the bator and not hurt them. You just want to do it in a timely manner. There are also some of the newer bators that are coming out with a cooling period built into the bator and it automatically cools the eggs everyday. Some research is suggesting that it actually gives a better hatch rate (I think I read somewhere 1 more successful hatch in 40... don't know if that is correct but for some reason that sticks in my head).

Looking at your bator, is the heating element a metal ring that runs around the inside on the top? Or is the heating element located in the black box and it blows outward? If it is the metal ring I would not be surprised if you do have hot/cold spots inside. That was ultimately why I gave up on my LG. No matter what I did I could not get it the same through out. If your heating element is in the black box and blowing outward I would suspect your thermometers may be off. Your digital on top says 100 so that is good. I place my probe on the turner in between the eggs and try to keep it right at 100 so that way if it goes up or down a degree I'm still good.

Welcome to BYC!!!

 

[Knigge]

Thank you all. I am keeping an average of all 3 on a spreadsheet recording Temps and humidity 3 times a day. My averages are right around 100 so that's good. My humidity I am trying to keep between 30-45% range.

I do not have the one with the metal ring I have the newest one with the box. I'm still rotating eggs every few days so they aren't sitting in hot spots or cold spots.

I have a question about canceling. When I hold the egg over the light do I put the small end on the light or the side or the big end near the air cell? Where is the best spot to see what exactly I want to see? Also if an egg is clear at 18 days I should pitch it right? I should see a dark mass in there above the air cell? I'm keeping track of air cell growth at 7, 14 and 18 days. This is my first hatch in an incubator. I did candle some eggs I had a hen laying on this summer. The ones that didn't hatch were clear and the ones that did were dark.

 

[kuchchicks]

I have the best luck candling at the air sac side. And yes if clear at day 18 no hope for those ones. Typically day 18 they are very dark but still see air cell.

 

[Knigge]

Thanks! It seems like the Temps have stabilized right about 100 on both. I don't trust the LG and change it only to adjust the readings on the other 2. I added some water today to bring my humidity up closers to 40% approx how often do you need to add water. I know when humidity drops but typically how frequent is that for you all? I'm hopeful we will have some good veins on Saturday when we candle.

 

[seventreesfarm]

I usually have 5 or so thermo/hygrometers running in my homemade cabinet incubator - the IncuKit sensor, Spot Check, Acurite like the one in the pic, Acurite 'tower' sensor that transmits to a base station, and one from Incubator Warehouse.

They almost all read differently. The Spot Check seems the most accurate, so I have it closest to the IncuKit thermostat sensor. The others I move around to get an average, and that seems to work ok.

The Incubator Warehouse one reads very low, and I think that's why I had rough hatches when I first started using a foam LG bator. Acurite aren't very precise, but good for a ballpark.

 

[kuchchicks]

My humidity is different based on time of year. I typically have to add water every couple of days.

 

[Knigge]

My humidity is different based on time of year. I typically have to add water every couple of days.

That's where we are right now. Adding everyother day or so. Fingers crossed that all goes well. Guess I can check progress in a few days.

 

[Knigge]

I candled my eggs! It looks like I have 7 for sure good growing eggs. We even got to see movement and eyes on a few of them. The kids were really excited. I had 1 that had a blood ring for sure and we opened it up and sure enough there was a blood ring all the way around and the yolk was all over the place. What would cause that? I know it happens but wondered exactly what causes it. Oddly enough the shipped eggs I got are better than the ones I picked up locally, but the shipped are silkies and the local eggs are olive eggers. They are sort of hard to look through and this is the first time I have ever candled or hatched eggs so that changes things too. I am feeling pretty good about our hatch so far. Now we wait until next Friday to candle again and see where we are then. Why does it seem like 21 days is so short, but when we are waiting for candle time or hatch time it seems like it takes forever. How did I ever wait 9 months lol. Here is a blurry picture of the egg, but you can see the eye dot!