New hatcher question about temps...

[Faso]

Hello!

After having chickens for almost 2 years now and gaining so much info from this site we are going to hatch our own this time!

I bought th brinsea advance mini. It came yesterday and I'm getting my eggs tonight...I read a ton and set it all up.It was at a stable 99.5 last night for 3-4 hours.

At night, we sleep upstairs and the heat goes down to 58 in the living areas. So, I woke up this morning and the temp was 98. It WAS near a window with a little draft as well and probably won't stay in that spot but my question is....Is this ok?

If not, Do I need to heat my house 24/7 for this to work?(When we are at work, the temp is also set to 58...) i can't say how many hours it was low for or how low the temp got before it started to come back up. I just know it was 98 at 6:30am this morning.

Anyone have any info on this or advice?

Thanks a bunch!

 

[love2grinchicke]

I don't think 98 is too low. I would move it away from the window, though.

 

[Faso]

what if it stayed at 98 for 10 hours a day though? the weather is getting warmer here in NJ but I don't want to chance anything.

Thanks!
Mike

 

[love2grinchicke]

I would turn it up just a tiny little bit.

 

[lazy gardener]

You can also put a bit of insulation around it. I have wood heat, so get a bit of fluctuation. In addition to the thermostat, I keep a lot of towels handy, and just snug them up around the incubator quite a bit at night, loosen them during the day if the fire gets cranking.

 

[Faso]

I wish I didn't have to do that but if it works I will because I don't want to keep the heat on 24/7 in the house. So a drop in temp at night isn't going to cause problems? I can't seem to find the real answer anywhere... What if it got to 97 and then it was back to 98 when I looked at 6:30am?