incubator help

[chicken farmers]

i just bought a new hova bator 1602 with egg turner i set it all up it ran all night long at 100 degrees this morning it was down to 98 is it normal to have to adjust on a daily basis or does it take a couple of days to stabilize i would apprec. all feedback my eggs are on the way and would like to get it dialed in before they arrive

 

[Pumpkinpup]

It may take you a day or two to get it dialed in proper. they can be a headache. Sounds like you are real close though!

 

[swtangel321]

I'm sure you will find lots of great info on here.

Give it a little more time to adjust before you start playing with it, Within 2 days it should be pretty stable and you should know weather you need to fix it.

Hope you have a great hatch

 

[BeardedChick]

Its alot easier to get them to stabilize if there is something in there to retain heat - ex. some small jars of water or rocks. The eggs will help to stabilize the temperature, too.

 

[Sissy]

I am using an electric skillet filled
with water and a tin pie pan a float in the water
with a washcloth and the eggs on the wash cloth in th pie tin.
have the temp on lowest setting and humitiy is about 60-65
temp drops from 100 to 98 but I have heard its better to have lower then higher temps. hope this helps.
and we both will be lucky with our hatch.

 

[Sissy]

opps have humidity on 35 not 65
frozen fingers .. just got in from tucking my ladies to bed,

 

[chicken farmers]

finally got it to stabilize eggs arrived today let them set for 2 hrs to bring to room temp put them in the incubator they have been in for 2 3/4 hrs and my incubator has still not reached 100 seems to be at 97 should i give it more time or increase temp . by the way my egg order was 2doz

 

[panner123]

If the temp was stable before you put the eggs in, give it time to warm the eggs up. I let my eggs set in the room for at least 8 hours before I put them in the bator. This is noon when I put them in, I don't even look at the bator until I get up the next morning. BINGO!!!! the temp is right at 100 agian. My temp will ranage between 99 and 101 as a rule. I use a thermometer-hydrometer that monitors and records the highs and lows. If either gets out of wack, an alarm sounds.

 

[chicken farmers]

i think its finally woking temp. is 99-101 can i leave the lid off long enough to candle all 24 eggs or would it be better to do 12 one day and 12 the next day

 

[shelleyd2008]

You can leave the lid off. I have heard to set the lid down on the floor/table/etc. with the heating element on the bottom, rather than propping it on it's side. It is supposed to help the bator get back to temp faster. But after you candle them, do not adjust the temp at all for at least 4-6 hours!