How hot is too hot for how long?

[williamsl77]

So I had 3 thermometers in with my eggs. Two digital, one that read 98 and one that read 93 (hmmm... big difference). I also had one mercury thermometer that was reading 100. I bumped up the temp very, very slightly last night. I bought two thermometers today from Walmart that are the aquarium thermometers that BYCers recommended. Put those in and they both read 101!!! So I bumped the temp back down as soon as I saw that. The eggs were probably at that temperature for overnight and part of this morning. It is day #4 and I do see slight veining on most of the eggs. Most likely the eggs will be ok, right? The mercury thermometer was probably right, right? It agrees most closely with the aquarium thermometers that I got this morning.

I've read quite a few thermometer threads on here and it seems they are far, far from accurate. Seems the digital ones are off the most. Unfortunately. Hope I didn't cook the eggos last night.

 

[Melissa Rose]

101 is fine

It just might make your eggs hatch a little sooner

It's 103 for a prolonged period that would cause damage

I always trust mercury over digital

 

[Sphinx]

What kind of incubator do you have?

I know my brinsea mini advance wants it to be 99.5 which I think is ideal for forced air.

I'm borrowing my neighbor's ancient Brower 845. The directions on it suggest 101-102, which I think is typical for still air.

 

[blessedchick]

Right now I have chickies hatching from what I am referring to as my "miracle hatch"!
I had trouble with the temp and humidity one morning, thought that I had it all cleared up and left for work.
When I returned from work about 10 hours later both thermometers read 104* !!! I just about had a heart attack...I quickly pushed the temp down to 100 again and spent the evening crying over my cooked eggs

Well, lo and behold, my eggs started to hatch 3 days later; 1 day past their due date. I now have 3 perfect chickies and one was pipped this morning when I left...out of 6 eggs that I was just too heartbroken about to throw away - Praise God!!

 

[RareBreedFancier]

x 2 on 'What kind of incubator do you have?'

I don't think 101f would do much harm anyway as it's not terribly hot but if you have a still air it should be up there.

 

[loupan]

I have defo learnt to go by the mercury thermom to be honest i have used so many digital ones now they never show the same as the mercury i tested the mercury ,digital and my hospital ones in a glas of hot water the mercury one and the hospital one were bang on accurate with each other and the digital was out by quite alot

, i went by the digital one on my first hatch and it was a disaster didnt have no chicks hatch

,im just using the digital one for the humidity reading ,STICK WITH THE MERCURY I SAY good luck im on day 3 with my polish eggs

 

[williamsl77]

I have a hovabator 1602. I have it in my finished basement where we also run a dehumidifier, so temperature and humidity are pretty constant. It has a fan and automatic egg turner, too.

Thanks for the reassurance!!!

 

[loupan]

Sounds like you got it well sorted im sure everything will be just fine

think sometimes we put a bit to much pressure on ourselves im sure the momma hens dont get so stressed

 

[williamsl77]

Well, I have to admit that it seems like the getting it down to an exact science seems pretty difficult. Getting it in the right ballpark seems to be the most important part. Though I know some folks have had tough luck. Maybe if it the hatch doesn't go well, then I will have reconfigure more?

 

[cmom]

Quote:
I have a 1602 with fan and turner also. 101 is ok. I try to keep my temp around 100ºF. What is your humidity? Good luck...