Incubator Blues

[crazyfeathers]

Hello,
I put 9 eggs in the incubator only 2 were fertile, I candled and everything appeared to be going fine. Day 18 I locked them down and turned up humidity a bit. Day 21 arrived then day 22 and on day 23 I candled and opened the eggs when there was no movement seen. One chick was a quitter and the other was formed but dead in the egg. I don't think it was a humidity problem as there was liquid inside of the egg shell. Does anyone have any ideas on why they both quit on me? I have read the incubating for newbies thread and any other thread I could find on incubating (tons). I have a Farm Innovators 2400 Incubator. I have 12 eggs in now and have humidity at 40-45 and temp at 99.5 which should be right according to what I read although there is a lot of conflicting information out there. Any suggestions would be appreciated, please keep negative comments off of this thread as well as the term newbie.
Thank you in Advance

 

[WalnutHill]

The foam incubators are fairly good at holding in heat and humidity, but the controllers are VERY susceptible to ambient temperatures.

I found that mine would vary as much as 10 degrees over a 24 hour period depending on whether I had the heat on in the room, whether the sun was shining, whether I had just my laptop on or my server too. Unless you are fortunate enough to be able to check the temperature every hour, you may never see the swings.

A digital controller with a remote temperature probe, which are available in a "finish it yourself" style like the STC1000, or in a plug and play version (easily found on reptile sites) will solve a lot of temperature control issues. Just turn the incubator's control all the way up to the hottest setting, and let the digital controller manage the temperatures.

As for humidity, the best thing to do is watch the air cells. There isn't a set plan that will get the results you need. Last month I struggled to maintain 70% in my turkey hatcher, today it is 75% at my desk. When I set my next (last) clutch of eggs for the season, I don't expect to need to add water until hatch time.

My first few sets (usually 3 or 4 eggs) did no better than 25-35% hatch rate. I then added a digital controller and a fan. My last hatch had 100% hatch that were viable at 21 days (28 days incubation cycle). The digital controller and air cell monitoring made all the difference.

A fan and turner are not necessary for success, but are convenient.

99.5 is the ideal temperature at the top of the eggs when using a forced air incubator. 100.5 for incubator with fan. Good luck to you.