New to hatching

[Johnsons hungry hens]

Hi all- I’m new to hatching chicks in an incubator as my last hatch (which was a few years ago) was with a broody hen in a cage in my dining room!!!
I have purchased a Brinsea 20 octagon eco and currently have 24 Marian eggs in.
my question is I’m on day 8 and the last 2 nights it has been colder than previous nights and in the morning when I’ve checked the temperature the incubator has dropped down to just under 37 degrees from 37.5
Will this small drop in temperature effect the eggs in any way??

 

[nchls school]

Hi all- I’m new to hatching chicks in an incubator as my last hatch (which was a few years ago) was with a broody hen in a cage in my dining room!!!
I have purchased a Brinsea 20 octagon eco and currently have 24 Marian eggs in.
my question is I’m on day 8 and the last 2 nights it has been colder than previous nights and in the morning when I’ve checked the temperature the incubator has dropped down to just under 37 degrees from 37.5
Will this small drop in temperature effect the eggs in any way??

I am not familiar with Brinsea... My little Intelligent recommends 38C and does not have more than two tenths of a degree variation regardless of room temperature. Room temperature sounds to be your problem. Try to set your room temperature so there isn't big variations that affect your incubator. While 37C is not ideal, your eggs are probably OK, but you should try to eliminate it from happening. If temperatures are too low chick development could be affected; from death to deformities to a late hatch. Good luck.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Will this small drop in temperature effect the eggs in any way??

I really doubt any harm if your temperature reading is accurate. Not all factory presets are that accurate, even with the normally high quality Brinsea incubators. It's generally a good idea to confirm those readings by independent calibration, but that's a different topic.

If the average incubating temperature is a bit low hatching can be delayed a bit. If the average is high, hatching can be a bit early. An occasional 0.5 degree C dip will probably not be noticeable. If your incubation temperature were set and held constant at 37.0 C you'd probably get just as good a hatch as if it were set at 37.5 but it would probably be a day or so late. If it were set on 38.0 C you should still be OK but hatch would likely be a bit early.

I'd want to know why it is cooling off like that, just in case there might be a problem. Just how cold is it getting in there. Most incubators claim to be able to keep up as long as the background temperature is 21 C (70 F). If it is getting that cold you might want to wrap it in a blanket or something for better insulation. Do not block vents, the developing chicks will need fresh air to breath through that porous shell.

I copied this link form the Brinsea site. I'm not familiar with the specific incubator you are using, perhaps Brinsea has it set for a cooling period. I am convinced a cooling period is not necessary and I'm not convinced it really is helpful, but I am also sure a bit of cooling won't hurt unless it gets extreme. What's important is the temperature inside the egg where the embryo is, not the air temperature around it. It takes a while for the inside of the egg to cool off.

https://www.brinsea.com/articles/news/cooling.aspx
One reason I'm not convinced cooling actually helps is that, as far as I know, the commercial hatcheries that use incubators that hold maybe 120,000 eggs each and hatch maybe 1,000,000 chicks every week don't use the cooling cycle. They have to have heard of this cooling theory and may have even paid for the studies. Two of the referenced studies are for geese, not chickens.

To sum up, your eggs are fine.

 

[Johnsons hungry hens]

I really doubt any harm if your temperature reading is accurate. Not all factory presets are that accurate, even with the normally high quality Brinsea incubators. It's generally a good idea to confirm those readings by independent calibration, but that's a different topic.

If the average incubating temperature is a bit low hatching can be delayed a bit. If the average is high, hatching can be a bit early. An occasional 0.5 degree C dip will probably not be noticeable. If your incubation temperature were set and held constant at 37.0 C you'd probably get just as good a hatch as if it were set at 37.5 but it would probably be a day or so late. If it were set on 38.0 C you should still be OK but hatch would likely be a bit early.

I'd want to know why it is cooling off like that, just in case there might be a problem. Just how cold is it getting in there. Most incubators claim to be able to keep up as long as the background temperature is 21 C (70 F). If it is getting that cold you might want to wrap it in a blanket or something for better insulation. Do not block vents, the developing chicks will need fresh air to breath through that porous shell.

I copied this link form the Brinsea site. I'm not familiar with the specific incubator you are using, perhaps Brinsea has it set for a cooling period. I am convinced a cooling period is not necessary and I'm not convinced it really is helpful, but I am also sure a bit of cooling won't hurt unless it gets extreme. What's important is the temperature inside the egg where the embryo is, not the air temperature around it. It takes a while for the inside of the egg to cool off.

https://www.brinsea.com/articles/news/cooling.aspx
One reason I'm not convinced cooling actually helps is that, as far as I know, the commercial hatcheries that use incubators that hold maybe 120,000 eggs each and hatch maybe 1,000,000 chicks every week don't use the cooling cycle. They have to have heard of this cooling theory and may have even paid for the studies. Two of the referenced studies are for geese, not chickens.

To sum up, your eggs are fine.

Thank you for your responses- day 9 tomorrow so we will see how many are fertile. we have a good batch.