March Hatch-A-Long.( How is it gettting here so quick ? LOL )

[kallnojoy]

Well - the new and improved "cooler-bator" is working almost too well... very stable so there is nothing to tinker with and it's driving me nuts!

I think I may set another batch in my old cooler just to give me something to do while I wait!

I guess I could show off my improvised water wiggle egg thermometer...

 

[Cynthia12]

Oohhh...my eggs are waiting for me at the PO. Can't wait to get outta work!!

 

[christine9]

Oohhh...my eggs are waiting for me at the PO. Can't wait to get outta work!!

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They're beautiful!!

 

[christine9]

So I thought when I got a good thermometer, it would make me feel more confident about the temp in my bator. HOWEVER, I feel like I have no idea what's going on. My bator is still air. The temp on the bator's therm is 110. The two therms inside at what will be egg level say 100 and 105. The meat therm I stuck through the center reads 116. What's going on. Too close to heat elements? How do you decide which one to pay attention to?

 

[kallnojoy]

What finally set my mind at ease was taking a medical oral thermometer and putting it in a "water wiggle" at egg center height.

Since the oral thermometer doesn't decline (always shows max temp reached) it lets me know if I've had hot periods that were long enough to reach the center of an egg - and disregard the many short lived temp spikes that occur as the incubator rewarms after being opened/vented/etc.

FWIW - I made my "water wiggle" above, by taking a certain latex tube shaped item and filling it about 3/4 the way with water - then double knotting the end and pushing that knot back through the middle towards the tip. Then grabbing both the tip and the knot, I secured a small rubber band around the knot and tip which keeps the whole affair in place. This creates a thin skinned egg shaped wiggle with a center channel you can slip the thermometer into. I was initially worried about it breaking, but believe that if it did so it would only increase the fertility rate.

 

[christine9]

What finally set my mind at ease was taking a medical oral thermometer and putting it in a "water wiggle" at egg center height.

Since the oral thermometer doesn't decline (always shows max temp reached) it lets me know if I've had hot periods that were long enough to reach the center of an egg - and disregard the many short lived temp spikes that occur as the incubator rewarms after being opened/vented/etc.

FWIW - I made my "water wiggle" above, by taking a certain latex tube shaped item and filling it about 3/4 the way with water - then double knotting the end and pushing that knot back through the middle towards the tip.  Then grabbing both the tip and the knot, I secured a small rubber band around the knot and tip which keeps the whole affair in place.  This creates a thin skinned egg shaped wiggle with a center channel you can slip the thermometer into.  I was initially worried about it breaking, but believe that if it did so it would only increase the fertility rate.   

LOL! Thanks so much. Gonna try it!

 

[Cynthia12]

They're beautiful!!

Oh man, love the color. I need some blue out there, I have an EE..that turned into an Olive Egger, a real pretty Olive color. Not real dark. I had an Olive Egger that laid a Khaki color. Too dark for me.

 

[christine9]

Oh man, love the color.  I need some blue out there, I have an EE..that turned into an Olive Egger, a real pretty Olive color.  Not real dark.  I had an Olive Egger that laid a Khaki color.  Too dark for me. 

Hopefully I can hatch chicks from these eggs. Hopefully one of those chicks will be a girl. Then we'll see if I finally get my blue egg. There's a lot of ifs in this!

 

[Cynthia12]

Hopefully I can hatch chicks from these eggs. Hopefully one of those chicks will be a girl. Then we'll see if I finally get my blue egg. There's a lot of ifs in this!

Yep, we don't count our chicks before they hatch.

 

[sonderah]

Well I'm on day 15, & still see NOTHING in my bantam chocolate Orpington eggs I paid like $50 for. I finally gave in and pulled one. Cracked it open, and it was scrambled!!! I could cry!