New to cabinet hatching...

[LocoPollo]

I just bought a Dickey incubator and got it all calibrated to the right temp. then I added the water for humidity and it dropped the temp two degrees. THat was last night. Ths morning it is not any better. Will it eventually get back to 99.5? I am stumped. I will call Mr Dickey later today.

 

[hinkjc]

Whenever you increase humidity, the temp decreases. I'm not familiar with a Dickey, but is there a way to adjust the temp to set it based on with the water in? It could also be that your humidity is too high. What is the hygrometer reading?

 

[HappyHatch'en]

I'm envious....congrats on owning a Dickey...an incubator that size is like a Battleship in the harbor....it takes awhile to turn it around. Just wait till you put the eggs in and watch the temp...humidity, volume in the incubator will keep you busy adjusting, I guess that is why I hear people putting small water bottles in the incubator to fill the room for small batches (volume and hold heat)....but how sweet it is.
I've been playing with a used laboratory incubator with a microprocessor thermostat... I got this week...and have 3 different temperature gauges all reading different temps inside the incubator.
Keep playing with the your Dickey, you will figure it out and have many happy hatch'ens.

 

[jvls1942]

Quote:
well , now you learned something.
add the water bfore you calibrate.

was it cold water?? take it out and add warm water.. I always add warm water after the eggs are set and I have to add water later on..

 

[LocoPollo]

Quote:
The humidity is reading 40 degrees now, up from 22 when there was no water in it. It is just a pan filled with water. I can recalibrate for sure if that is what is needed. I wasnt sure if that is how it worked or not.

 

[LocoPollo]

i talked to mr dickey, who is great with answering all my many questions! Anyway basically said what yall said that I should have had the water in there to begin with, so I guess I will be starting over with calibrating the temp lol! Weee!
(Good thing I dont have any eggs waiting... yet!)

 

[jvls1942]

Quote:
situations like this are exactly why we recommend setting the bator up way ahead of time..

you are doing it right..

 

[twigg]

Also, you will get much more predictable and consistent hatch rates with a larger incubator.

Size really does matter

..... well, not *matter*, but help.