Problems with GQF thermometer that comes with Hovabator??

[Cowgirl71]

Quote:
Yeah, broody hens are the best! Best hatch I ever got was when I had a broody sit on eggs until day 18 and then transferred them to an incubator for hatching. I got 11 chicks and a 100% success rate!!!

 

[Erica]

DMSrabbit, it's terribly disappointing when eggs don't hatch. It sounds like you had a lot against you to start with.

But try not to give up right away. We all buy thermometers on trust, so our first hatches are the ones that show us if the thermometer is correct. Too slow to hatch: it's reading too high. Too early to hatch and perhaps crooked toes: it's reading too low (and we therefore set our temperature too high). Unfortunately yours was way out so it resulted in no hatch.

It's true the GQF thermometers are unreliable. The glass (which is unmarked) can slide up and down against the card (where the markings are). That's about as el cheapo as it gets, but if you get a decent thermometer there's no other reason why the incubator won't work reliably.

If it was me, I would buy a more expensive incubation thermometer and try with cheap eggs next time. If the hatch rate is good then trust that thermometer. If not, work out by the hatch results whether it was too high or too low, and try another batch of eggs, adjusting the incubator temperature upward or downward. If that result is good then mark on the thermometer what the setting is. (That's if it's not digital.) Once you know what setting the incubator needs you can make just about any non-digital thermometer reliable, as long as you mark the glass. After all, we only need to know one temperature... The perfect one.

As for hygrometers, I never use one, and have good hatch rates. But if you're concerned and plan to hatch expensive eggs then perhaps it would pay to have one. I just follow the instructions that came with the incubator, and don't have humidity problems.

 

[Buck Creek Chickens]

broodies are best, but if you don't get a broody till october then what? yes my 'scovy ducks did that to me last year all 3 went broody the end of sept and early oct, and not before, i do not incubat ducks, you every have ducklings in late fall

 

[Cowgirl71]

Quote:
Sounds to me like you need some Buff Orps from McMurray and/or some GLWs from Cackle... I always had at least one broody hen (and often five or six, once even had eight) from April through October, despite my attempts to break them.

And I wanted eggs, go figure.

Finally figured out the easiest way to break them was give them eggs. Didn't matter what kind of eggs, as long as they'd hatch!

 

[rancher hicks]

Quote:
Sounds to me like you need some Buff Orps from McMurray and/or some GLWs from Cackle... I always had at least one broody hen (and often five or six, once even had eight) from April through October, despite my attempts to break them.

And I wanted eggs, go figure.

Finally figured out the easiest way to break them was give them eggs. Didn't matter what kind of eggs, as long as they'd hatch!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/48412_liesls_pics_524.jpg

Very nice but lets she her teach them to swim..

Lover it.

Rancher

 

[Cowgirl71]

Quote:
True. I took them away from her right away cause I didn't have a place for her to raise them that was barn cat proof... She missed them so much. She liked them better than the six chicks that hatched the next day.

 

[DMSrabbit]

Very nice but lets she her teach them to swim..

Lover it.

Rancher

 

[admhotel]

One thing I learned long ago in science class was how to calibrate a glass thermometer. The way I was taught was to put it in a glass of Ice water. Ice water should read 32*. At that point you can adjust the thermometer or mark how far it is off. Hope that helps somebody get a more acurate hatch.

 

[SilkieTime]

Not that it will help you right now but get you a spot check on line or a egg O meter. I have the spot check love it