Newbie question

[tejanopirate]

So a couple of weeks ago (more like a month) a friend on Facebook was selling an incubator and I thought "cool!" so I sent her the $ for it and she sent me the incubator. It's a Hovabator with a fan. I didn't want my wife to know I'd bought it so I proposed to a fellow teacher at my school that we hatch eggs in her classroom (that way I could pass it off as school related to my wife). Last week we set up the incubator (with egg turner) and got the temperature and humidity figured out (saw online that we need to keep the temperature @ 99.5 =/- 1 degree and the humidity between 40-50% for the first 2 weeks or so. With those numbers dialed in, we were ready to put in the eggs.
Anyhow, we (my wife and I) ordered some eggs online and they arrived Monday at the post office before school. I immediately went to pick them up and put them in the incubator. We put them in cups to hold the big end up for the first 18 or so hours. Then we took them out of the cups and let them sit for another day before turning on the automatic turner. I turned that on yesterday. So, does it sound like I've let anything get too screwy? The temperature has spiked to 102 a couple of times and dropped as low as 97.9 once but otherwise we've kept it fairly stable. The humidity has averaged out to around 47%.
This is my first batch of eggs (or chickens for that matter) and I'm really hoping that this whole experiment doesn't turn into an episode of Highlander or worse (In the end there can be only one). I'd like this to succeed both for my students and for my wife and I. As a backup for the house (which we're getting ready to move into) I've ordered some day old chicks to be delivered in a couple of weeks.
Glad to be here and learning from you all.

Cheers,

Nate

 

[Lazy Farmer]

The temp should stabilize after the eggs come up to temp. Also the room temperature has a great effect on stabilization. I have mine set up in a draft free/non climate controlled room to maintain a consistent temp.

 

[oregonkat]

Welcome to BYC Nate, you are in for a fun time!! It seems like you have pretty much everything dialed in the way it needs to be. Big question though, are you using an independent, calibrated thermometer and hygrometer? These are important as most incubators are incorrect. Spikes in temp. are not good, worse than a drop so try hard to keep spikes at a minimum, hopefully none at all, barring the ones you have already encountered. It is early in the incubation so you are fine right now. Humidity range needs to be in the 35 - 40% for the first 18 days.

Good luck with your first introduction to hatching and chickens. Remember there are many people here who are very knowledgeable and willing to help if you run into trouble. Don't panic, try to keep yourself from messing with the eggs too much, candle day 7 or 10, 14 and then again before lockdown if you want to. Keep us posted on your progress please. I hope your kids truly enjoy this experience, it is a wild and wonderful ride.

 

[Kiki]

Oh Nate you are about to have some serious fun!

Make sure you have extra calibrated thermometers in that bator.
You may want to move the eggs around each day...into different spots.


Is the bator in the classroom or at home with you?
Are you going to be able to keep a close eye on it?

 

[tejanopirate]

I bought an extra thermometer/hygrometer combo that has a remote probe.

 

[tejanopirate]

Oh Nate you are about to have some serious fun!

Make sure you have extra calibrated thermometers in that bator.
You may want to move the eggs around each day...into different spots.


Is the bator in the classroom or at home with you?
Are you going to be able to keep a close eye on it?

The bator is in a classroom and I check it a minimum of 3 times per day.... often times I"m in the classroom long before school starts just to look and well after school ends to take one final look before I head home for the evening.

I bought an extra incubator for at home hatching. That one I spent a bit more $ on (it's a Brinsea.... and I also purchased the quail egg turner plate so that I can do several quail).

 

[Kiki]

I bought an extra thermometer/hygrometer combo that has a remote probe.

BUT...did you calibrate it?


I learned the hard way.
You can not trust these products to read correctly even if you just bought it at the store.

 

[tejanopirate]

BUT...did you calibrate it?


I learned the hard way.
You can not trust these products to read correctly even if you just bought it at the store.

oops, did not calibrate it. the instructions did not have a way to calibrate it.

 

[Kiki]

oops, did not calibrate it. the instructions did not have a way to calibrate it.

Of course the instructions don't...then they would be admitting that their product may not read correctly.


I can help with calibrating the humidity part of your dual device.
Not sure there is a way to calibrate that thermometer.
I would suggest you run to Walmart and pick up a few of these:

Thermometer Calibrating:
Testing/calibrating incubator thermometers and hygrometers.



Humidity calibrating:
Pictures in links below.
#2222
#2948
#2962

Basically make a regular table salt slurry in a small dish.
Put that dish and the humidity gauge in a zip lock bag and leave it over night.
It should read 75%...if it doesn't its off by how ever many degrees below 75 it is reading.