How stable do incubator temperatures need to be?

[Featherland]

I am setting up my incubator before I get eggs. Right now I have 1 thermometer reading 100.4 and an accurite reading 99.9. The probe is in the water wiggler and it is reading 99.0. The temperatures vary from about 99.9 to 101.5 and the probe varies from 99 to 99.9. I have been working on this for 4 days before I order eggs. It is a still air and the thermometers are at egg level. I have it in the basement where the temperature is 65. It seems I am adjusting it often to keep it stable. My question is how much can the temperature vary and still be safe for the eggs?

 

[jkcove08]

With a still air bator it is best to try and keep it between 100 and 102. A little variations wont hurt but huge jumps either way can be hazardous. If you have a jump it is better to be down and not up. If your temp goes to 103 or 104 for a couple of hours you might still be OK but if it is over night or longer then they will probably not hatch. I would truely suggest to try to find local eggs for the first couple hatches so that you can get the hang of it without having the shipping as one of the variables for a no or low hatch. If you cant find eggs local try to get some cheaper eggs like mixed eggs so that you dont loose a lot of money right off the bat. It can be very frustrating to loose expensive eggs and it is going to happen. You will not have all good hatches no matter what kind of hator you have. I even had a couple new broodies loose all of the eggs they were on. My biggest suggestion is to make a journal so that you can watch to see if there are things that are making them good or bad. I plan on doing this since I didnt and now keep trying to think back what was good and bad with my hatches. Good luck. Jenn

 

[tiffanyh]

I agree, my still air I kept at 100.5 air temp and got no hatch or late weak hatches. Once I got my wiggler, I learned that in order to keep the temp in the wiggler at 99.5-100.0, I had to keep my still air close to 103.

102 is a safe bet for the still air.