OH NO!!! Temp changed on me. UPDATE.... They are hatching

[Grampa with chickens]

Hi Folks,

Last week I had 12 eggs in my bator and only hatched one. Such is life and the one is getting along great.
My temp in the bator was great and stayed steady. On sunday I put 28 more eggs in the same bator and made no adjustments. I had a humidity problem and got that straighten out. But now my temp is low. I had no room for a water wiggler and I figured the temp was great for the last hatch and I made no changes, so I didn't pay much attention to it.
This morning I thought the therometer was a little low, so I checked my Min/Max on my guage and I was hitting a max of 103 ish. Now it said maxof 99 and min of 92.

Does putting more eggs in change things that much or do I have problems? I'm using a water heater thermostat and it was working great. I'm in day 4. How much damage did I do so far?

Darn!!

 

[Josie]

I am no expert, but I think putting the eggs does lower the temps. I know that that is the case with cooking. Has anything else changed, like the air temps outside the bator?

 

[Grampa with chickens]

If anything, it warmer in that room.

 

[BeardedChick]

My temps swing around quite a bit when I add new eggs - especially if storms are coming through and the barometric pressure is all over the place.

I tracked it on a spreadsheet for a while - what the barometer readings were and how much I had to adjust the temperature - and there seemed to be a correlation.

In my bator, there is enough mass (three bottles of rocks) that temperatures eventually get pretty steady, but it does take a few days to completely stabilize.

Really annoying, isn't it? Seems like it should just work and be trouble free.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

You were reading wiggler temperature now your reading air temperature right?? If that what ya did then you may be still fine. Having more eggs may affect the airflow around the thermostat but most likely its the air flow around the thermometer that is giving ya funny readings. I would stuff the wiggler back in there.

 

[Grampa with chickens]

I must have got lucky with the first try, because I didn't have to play with it much. And watched it like a hawk even though I didn't have too. THis one is definitily different.

Good point about air flow. I was peaking air temps of 103 and the eggs were good. But with more eggs the air flow around the thermometer is restricted. I'll try to make some room and stick the wiggler back in.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Grampa with chickens]

Update..............................

Well I played around with my bator last night and decided to take out the rack liner I had in there. I have the eggs in cartons. The air flow was so much better. I put in a small jar of water with a lid as I had no room for my wiggler. This morning I had my temp about where it needs to be. Maybe a little hotter, but I feel more comfortable where it's at. Running around 100.5. I'll check it this afternoon and maybe have to tweak it down a little bit.
I'm still learning, but when my girls start to lay again (soon I hope, they're killing me) I will be ready to get myself a younger flock. I got some (mutt) eggs from my daughters boyfriend to test again until I get it right.
"The Colonel" (Sanders), my only hatchling from the first batch, is doing great. My other daughter has adopted him ( I think he's a roo) and plays with him all the time. He follows her around like a puppy. He sits on her shoulder and snuggles in her hair. He thinks he's a parrot. Anyway, I think I have this brooder thing licked. Now to get the incubating thing down pat.


Thanks for all the input and

for this nexted batch. They are due the 3rd of January. So we will see what happens.

 

[Grampa with chickens]

Well it's been nail biting time here.

The day has come and the hatch survived. Two were out of the shell this morning and 6 more are pipped. The last one I haven't seen any progress, but we are just on day 21 today. I would get to worried yet.
This hatch has been more successful then the last hatch as I'm still learning what I'm doing.

These chicks are a mutt breed. I was using some eggs just to test and get right before my girls start laying.

I have a 29 Dominiques in the first bator on day 6. These I got while on vacation in North Carolina visiting family. I can't wait to get these hatched. It will be fun to add to the flock.

Back to check on progress...................

 

[UrbanMama]

Yay! Congrats on the new babies!

 

[bullrider]

congrats hope the others hatch soon

PIC please