I Am An Idiot

[Solsken Farm]

Sounds a little low for a still air. That is the desired temp for my genesis. If that was the temp, that very well may slow your hatch.

 

[ninjapoodles]

Quote:
Yeah, I found this out just recently--that still air temps need to be higher than forced-air. We followed the directions for chicken eggs that came with the incubator. I'm starting to wonder if they use the same directions for all their incubators.

 

[PurpleChicken]

That is low NP. Plus we don't know the accuracy of that thermometer. I have
3 digitals that all read different temps.

It's probably best to leave the temp the same for now. Once you get through
this hatch you can try a few things out.

A water wiggler and cheap oral/digital thermometer will cost less than $10 bucks
at Walmart. You may find that the thermo you have now needs to read 102 to have
a 99.5 degree egg temp.

 

[klf73]

I don't like the damp cloth thing, it dries out and you have to keep opening the bator which may affect the humidity for the rest of your hatch. I did the same thing and opened the egg on top. Depending on where you opened it you can use scotch tape to cover the hole. If it is high enough on the egg is won't affect the chicks ability to pip, it worked great for me. It keeps the moisture in the egg and the membrane doesn't dry out

Krista

 

[PurpleChicken]

Quote:
If you fill all the water wells and put part of the cloth in the water it wicks the water
and takes longer than 3 days to dry out. I use a good quality napkin or paper towel.

 

[klf73]

In that case I would be worried it would get too much water....
Good luck however you handle it

Krista

 

[ginasmarans]

Hoping you get some little chickies. Any progress today?

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

Quote:
Wanna know a secret? It doesn't take a candler to see inside! I use a mini-mag flashlight.

Go to Walmart or any hardware store and pick up a Mini-Mag Light. They are about 6 inches long and made of a steel case. They are the miniature versions of those long post looking flashlights that police officers use, and they have a high intensity beam of light.

Take the flashlight and hold it in your palm. Then wrap your index finger and your thumb around the bulb area and turn the light on. With your free hand hold the egg on the circle created by your thumb and index finger that is wrapped around the flashlight. Your fingers act like a cushion for the egg, and the high intensity of the flashlight allow you to see whats going on inside the egg. I candle at night or in a dark room for a good view.

Doesn't take anything special to candle an egg....

 

[bluey]

Ninja...don't feel bad. I'm a biochemist and I'm also embarrassed to say that I couldn't candle an egg either. People make it out to be so easy and it really is not (or maybe were both dolts).

I bought the recommended flashlight, using MP's wonderful instructions and looked and still saw nada...nothing...zip...nil...

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

Quote:
Are you sure you didn't see anything, or were you eggs just infertile?

Even if you have dont have bright light, when you illuminate the egg, there will be a dark blob inside. With brighter light you can see the blood vessels. If the egg is infertile, it will just look like plain light through an egg....

When you have a fertile egg, there really isn't any mistaking it if you can get any amount of light through it....