How long until using incubator?

[Hmenzi]

Hi! Just got an incubator and am super excited to use it!

My question is how long do you let the incubator sit while turned on until you add eggs? A day? A few? A week?

Thanks!

 

[GodLovesU]

Just about 24 hours as long as it’s keeping the temperature steady.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I do not trust a brand new incubator to be properly calibrated, whether it is cheap or expensive. Do you have a calibrated thermometer you can use to confirm the temperature settings are right? Similarly, does it have a built in hygrometer?

How does yours manage humidity levels? Is it a water reservoir with a gauge or do you have separate reservoirs where you manage the humidity by filling different reservoirs? I'd want to understand how that works before starting eggs. Mine has four different sized reservoirs. I'd fill one and let it stabilize and see what I had. Then dry that one and fill a different one and let that stabilize. Then I filled two and saw what happened. It took me a few days before I was comfortable I knew what to do to manage humidity.

After that first time setting it up and I'm comfortable I know how to manage it I put the eggs in and then turn it on. But the first time I want to learn how to use it before I put eggs in.