Hi I purchased a few simple mini incubator to incubate some chicken eggs in and the temperature is continuously fluctuating and I'm not really sure what to do. The egg something incubating for four days and during those four days the incubators have hit extreme highs of 120 and extremely lows of 86 I am ordering new eggs as it is important these eggs hatch by a certain date for a projectand I don't have the time or the money to go out and buy a nicer better incubator at this point and I really need some suggestions on how to regulate this temperature anything would be great thank you so much.
Is this because of you opening the incubator to turn the eggs, and the air temp drops low? If there is room, place a glass jar filled with warm water (100 degrees or so) with a tight fitting lid. That will act as a temperature buffer and keep it more steady as you open. You should NOT try to increase the temp after opening the incubator...just let it raise back on its own. You should have had the incubator running a day or two without opening so you could set the temp to the right spot. OR, is it sitting in a drafty area where an air vent is blowing on it, or by a window where sunlight is hitting it? If so, move it to a spot where it won't get hit by sunlight or be hit by a draft from an air vent. Both of these will cause drastic heating or cooling.
To add to davemonkey's great advice, if you're adding water for humidity, make sure you add warm water. If you add cold water it can bring the surrounding temp down.
