-chook-
Chirping
- Jul 21, 2024
- 73
- 88
- 86
So... I bought an incubator. I put eggs into it 14 days ago. I have hatched eggs under a broody hen before, but I have not ever used an incubator. I read the instructions to my incubator and followed them all, and I already knew the temperature/humidity requirements as well. However, I did NOT know that incubators are notorious for reading temperature incorrectly until today! I do not have an extra thermometer lying around, and I live in a rural area where I do not have a store accessible to get one. My incubator reads 37.9C - 38.0C consistently. I used a calibrated meat thermometer a few minutes ago and it read 97F. I know it may not be super accurate, but I went ahead and raised the temperature of the incubator to 38.2C, so the meat thermometer is now reading 99F. It does not read half points, and I do not want to raise too much at once to where it stresses the chicks out or hurts them. I candled the eggs about an hour after the temperature increase and all are developing and moving. Humidity has been consistently at 39-41% for the last 14 days. I know to up the humidity on day 18. Are my chicks going to hatch and be okay? Sorry, I am new to incubating and this is a lot.
