Quick help please..

[cattbird]

Hello,



I have 7 miniature Silkie eggs settling, they are due to go in the incubator this pm. I have had the incubator - a Covatutto 7 - running for two days but the teperature is too high. I have got a thermo-hygrometer on order. I don't know if anyone is familiar with this incubator, but the thermometer has no numbers just lines and doesnt seem very accurate, also it's near impossible to read. I have to take the thermometer out and hold it against a white background.
The instruction booklet says ithe temperature shouldnt need turning up or down, so i'm not sure if the thermometer is just inaccurate - should I leave it or turn it? I'd be devestated if I cooked my eggs

I have turned it down quite alot this morning and it's still above the line that is suppossed to read 100 f.

Has anyone used this incubator before? and were you sucessful?

Can you tell i'm a first time hatcher!

Thanks in advance.

 

[ranchhand]

Run to the nearest store and get 2-3 inexpensive thermometers, they will be worth their weight in gold. I'n not familiar with your incubator, but you want to check the temp at the top and bottom level of the eggs.

Good luck, happy hatching!

ETA, Is it a forced air or still incubator? They require different temps.

 

[gumpsgirl]

I have found my little thermometer that came with my Hova Bator to be inaccurate too, so I wouldn't trust it. You really need something that will be able to measure your humidity level in the bator as well, so I would go and get a digital thermometer / hygrometer to put in there. They work well and are much easier to read or see while in the bator. If you find that the temp. is off once you put a digital thermometer in the bator, then I would adjust it but not until then.

 

[ranchhand]

I just looked you incubator up online. Still air, so your temps will be higher. Get a spare light bulb, they burn out at the worst times!

 

[Intheswamp]

Howdy.
Just some thoughts here...

Purchase a digital thermometer like you would use to measure your house or outdoor temperature with. Also purchase (if you don't already have one) a digital medical thermometer...the kind you use to check for a fever.

Place the house thermometer inside the incubator and also a small glass of lukewarm water. Let both of them set there a couple of hours to stabilize.

At the end of the couple of hours and if you can see through the cover of the incubator, make a note of the reading on the house thermometer before taking the top off. If you can't see the reading through the top of the incubator take the top off and immediately note down the temperature of the house thermometer. Next, using the medical thermometer check the temperature of the water in the small cup.

The medical thermometer should give the most precise measurement. If the house thermometer is measuring low or high compared to the house thermometer then you need to mentally adjust the reading on it so that it equals the measurement of the medical thermometer. For example...

If the house thermometer measures 37.6C and the medical thermometer reads 38.6C then you know you need to add 1 degree to the house thermometer reading. Of course if the house thermometer is reading 39.6C and the medical is reading 38.6C then you know that you need to subtract 1 degree from the house thermometer.

The material that the cover of your incubator is made from looks semi-transparent which might make it difficult to see a thermometer inside of it. A digital house thermometer that has a probe on it would work well there...stick the probe inside the incubator placed at the "top of egg" level, run the wire outside of the incubator and keep the display unit itself on the outside for easy reading.

I hope this helped some and that I wasn't too confusing.
Best wishes,
Ed