Although I can't argue the success that has been had with still air incubators or with fan equipped incubators, I am trying a hybrid model out.
My hatcher is a still air Little Giant with a computer fan running at 9v mounted to the lid, with spacers and a grille for diffusion and safety.
My incubator is also a Little Giant, older model, with the AC fan wired to the input. When the Little Giant controller was in use, the fan ran all the time, and humidity control was impossible...I would see 16% to 60% in a day, and the old model has only two small reservoirs in the center of the incubator so I had to rely on a wet sponge.
Now that I have equipped both boxes with STC controllers, the hatcher is absolutely rock solid 98F and ideal humidity with the water chambers filled (dry air here with central heat). The incubator is now a hybrid...the fan runs while the incubator is heating, and still air while not heating. This has created much more even egg temps from center to edge than it ever had before, and rock solid temps.
The trick to success was to attach the STC's temperature probes to an inert object. In the incubator, a block of closed cell foam. In the hatcher, an empty pill bottle. These allow for calibration that is not affected by contact with eggs, side walls, black drawer liner floor, wire grid, thermometer, or anything else in the incubator.
I am three days into incubation on 29 turkey eggs and I can see development. I'll wait a couple of days before candling more, as it is very hard to see through turkey egg shells, but so far I am very happy with the consistency of temps with this change. I've upped the incubator temp setting to 100F, 37.8C, a hybrid between fan and still air settings.
My hatcher is a still air Little Giant with a computer fan running at 9v mounted to the lid, with spacers and a grille for diffusion and safety.
My incubator is also a Little Giant, older model, with the AC fan wired to the input. When the Little Giant controller was in use, the fan ran all the time, and humidity control was impossible...I would see 16% to 60% in a day, and the old model has only two small reservoirs in the center of the incubator so I had to rely on a wet sponge.
Now that I have equipped both boxes with STC controllers, the hatcher is absolutely rock solid 98F and ideal humidity with the water chambers filled (dry air here with central heat). The incubator is now a hybrid...the fan runs while the incubator is heating, and still air while not heating. This has created much more even egg temps from center to edge than it ever had before, and rock solid temps.
The trick to success was to attach the STC's temperature probes to an inert object. In the incubator, a block of closed cell foam. In the hatcher, an empty pill bottle. These allow for calibration that is not affected by contact with eggs, side walls, black drawer liner floor, wire grid, thermometer, or anything else in the incubator.
I am three days into incubation on 29 turkey eggs and I can see development. I'll wait a couple of days before candling more, as it is very hard to see through turkey egg shells, but so far I am very happy with the consistency of temps with this change. I've upped the incubator temp setting to 100F, 37.8C, a hybrid between fan and still air settings.
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