Incubator temperatures

[fullgallop 55]

Hey there my name is Mel
I need help my incubator temperature is sitting at 39 degrees but the humidity is sitting at 30 %
I have put sponges in there and even blocked a hole too keep it warm but it is not helping
What can I do
Pls help

 

[NatJ]

Hey there my name is Mel
I need help my incubator temperature is sitting at 39 degrees but the humidity is sitting at 30 %
I have put sponges in there and even blocked a hole too keep it warm but it is not helping
What can I do
Pls help

Temperature:
Is that 39 degrees in Celsius or Fahrenheit?

If it is celsius, your incubator is a little too warm, and the temperature needs to be turned down a little bit. Chicken eggs are supposed to be incubated at 37-38 degrees celsius.

If it is fahrenheit, that is about as cold as a refrigerator. If you have the incubator inside a house, it should not be possible for it to be that cold unless the house is also as cold as a refrigerator. An incubator that cold inside is probably not making any heat at all, so that would mean a broken heating element.

Humidity:
Have you checked the humidity gauge to see if it is accurate? Some styles can be calibrated (to see if they are right, and fix them if they are wrong.)

You can also check humidity just by incubating eggs, and candling them at intervals. There are charts showing how big the air cell is supposed to be at 1 week, 2 weeks, and just before hatch. If you candle the eggs and the air cell is the right size, then you know the humidity was right. If the air cell is the wrong size, then you know the humidity was wrong. An extra-big air cell means it was too dry, so add more moisture: maybe more sponges or a cup of water. A too-small air cell means too humid, so add less humidity.

Incubator-specific:
If you can post a picture of your incubator, or list the brand and model, someone may have advice for that specific kind of incubator.

 

[fullgallop 55]

Temperature:
Is that 39 degrees in Celsius or Fahrenheit?

If it is celsius, your incubator is a little too warm, and the temperature needs to be turned down a little bit. Chicken eggs are supposed to be incubated at 37-38 degrees celsius.

If it is fahrenheit, that is about as cold as a refrigerator. If you have the incubator inside a house, it should not be possible for it to be that cold unless the house is also as cold as a refrigerator. An incubator that cold inside is probably not making any heat at all, so that would mean a broken heating element.

Humidity:
Have you checked the humidity gauge to see if it is accurate? Some styles can be calibrated (to see if they are right, and fix them if they are wrong.)

You can also check humidity just by incubating eggs, and candling them at intervals. There are charts showing how big the air cell is supposed to be at 1 week, 2 weeks, and just before hatch. If you candle the eggs and the air cell is the right size, then you know the humidity was right. If the air cell is the wrong size, then you know the humidity was wrong. An extra-big air cell means it was too dry, so add more moisture: maybe more sponges or a cup of water. A too-small air cell means too humid, so add less humidity.

Incubator-specific:
If you can post a picture of your incubator, or list the brand and model, someone may have advice for that specific kind of incubator.

Hey there
Thankyou for replying.
It is celsius but I put another temp gauge in there and the temp in the incubator is different too the incubator temp .
I will take a photo of the incubator tomorrow
There is condensation on the incubator inside but I think it is broken I can't trust the temp or the humidity
I hope the eggs survive till I can get another one
Do you have any tips till I get a new incubator or temp gauge

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

Hey there
Thankyou for replying.
It is celsius but I put another temp gauge in there and the temp in the incubator is different too the incubator temp .
I will take a photo of the incubator tomorrow
There is condensation on the incubator inside but I think it is broken I can't trust the temp or the humidity
I hope the eggs survive till I can get another one
Do you have any tips till I get a new incubator or temp gauge

Condensation on the inside of the incubator means your humidity is very high, you don't want to drown the chicks before they hatch.

 

[NatJ]

Hey there
Thankyou for replying.
It is celsius but I put another temp gauge in there and the temp in the incubator is different too the incubator temp.

If it is 39 celsius then it is a bit too warm, but not by very much.

If you have different temp gauges showing different temperatures, then you can make a guess about which is accurate, or you can start testing them. There are ways to test thermometers if they are not part of the incubator (using things like icewater or boiling water, or something else where you know what temperature it must be. Or comparing with other thermometers that you think are more likely to be correct.)

If the eggs have already been growing and developing (have you candled?), then the temperature is not too badly wrong, so you might just leave it set the same way until you can get a new temperature gauge.

There is condensation on the incubator inside but I think it is broken I can't trust the temp or the humidity

If there is condensation, then you have more than enough humidity. So assume the humidity gauge is broken and you will have to figure it out another way.

Candling eggs to check the size of the air cell is a way to check whether the humidity has been high or low so far (overall average.) Then you can adjust to have less or more water to make the humidity go down or up.

Eggs can be fine if the humidity bobbles up and down sometimes. It seems more important to have the right amount of water loss by hatching time (not a lot more or a lot less), and to have the humidity high during the actual hatch.

It will not cause a problem if you do keep the humidity just right the whole time, but it will probably not cause trouble to have some periods of high or low humidity either, as long as the eggs still lose the right amount of water by hatch time (correct size air cell at candling.)

I will take a photo of the incubator tomorrow

Then we will see if anyone has advice about that specific incubator.

I hope the eggs survive till I can get another one

I hope so too

I think there is a good chance, because eggs are surprisingly tough sometimes.