incubator temp question

[seabreeze]

Try as we will, our hatches have been hit n miss. My question is this, how much influence does the outside room temps and fluctuations affect the incubator since it is controlled thermostatically to adjust for those variations?

I live in western Oregon where its been cool and very damp, more so than normal it seems and the tack house where the incubators are is warmed by a wood stove which of course gives inconsistent heat. Would I have better luck moving the bator(s) to my house that is well insulated, kept at a constant 60 degrees and has an electric heat controlled by thermostat on the wall? Its also a two story house so upstairs is quite constant at 60 degrees. I do not function very well above 60 degrees in the house with heater on.

So am I basically screwed or can I move the bators to where temp is more constant and maybe have higher successes on hatch rates?

Thanks.

 

[Komaki]

Bad as this may sound, I belive you are going to be better off in the house. Reason being, constant / fluctuation equals guess work. And when I set up my bators I always looked for the most stable environ. That being said, my lovely wife did NOT want the bator in the house lately. So I mored them to my office. NOT GOOD! my hatch rate is and has always been in the 70s to 80s. Out in the office, 30%. It devistated her! So.......................I have it (only one for now) in the house. I hope that helps some.

 

[seabreeze]

Thanks Komaki, I am going to give it a try esp before summer temps set in

 

[Komaki]

I subscribed, so please don't ignore this thread. And I love your sticktoitness.

 

[seabreeze]

We've been trying hatches using three styro incubators (2 are Hovabators, another is a knockoff) for the past 6 months and hatch rates are so spotty its depressing. So I will move at least one bator to my house and set up in my bedroom to give it another shot. Otherwise, I will just contract with a new friend who has chicken addiction to hatch my eggs out for me and give him some Marans in exchange. He is incubating blue Birchen Marans eggs for me at the moment. Thanks again for the encouragement

 

[Komaki]

Does your bedroom keep the same temp as the rest of the house? Steady

 

[seabreeze]

Yes, it does.

 

[Komaki]

K..............Good to go. keep us posted, ya may need more enablers.

 

[Strader]

I was just wondering what outside humidity levels are good for hatching times of the year. Here in Yakima, washingtong looks like 34% humidity inside home and 24% outside.
was going to do my hatching in cement basement with sheetrocked walls.

 

[youngbiddy]

Hey, I've found that the styrofoam bators function best in a 70+ degree environment. Mine wouldn't keep a steady temp till we had a warm spell and the bathroom went from a steady 65 to a steady 72. Once the temp in the room was above 70 the bator's fluctuations went from 3 degrees to .2 degrees.

Also, I've had excellent results with the dry incubation method.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/LC-DryIncubation.html