Setting 41 on 6-15, 7-8, 7-31, and 8-23 feel free to join in at any time

[sjturner79]

Oh and the incubator I'm using doesn't come with a set temp indicator, just a heat dial. I'm using a digital probe thermometer and hydrometer so I can take readings at egg level, and around the bator.

 

[NTBugtraq]

Where's the heater located on the Bator?

I assume its in the top as there are no wires going elsewhere.

Well that seems to show that the brinsea may not be all that much better than the newer run Chinese plastic models. They display and check the temp at the to of the incubator , not at egg level , and even with a fan you get differences.

How long has it been at that set temp and what day are the eggs on?

Actually, I just discovered the calibration menu in the brinsea, so I can make a change myself and re-check it. I have no eggs in that bator now.

 

[sjturner79]

I assume its in the top as there are no wires going elsewhere.


Actually, I just discovered the calibration menu in the brinsea, so I can make a change myself and re-check it. I have no eggs in that bator now.

It's good that they give a calibration option. Now you know it's there you should check it before each setting of eggs.

 

[WVduckchick]

I've read that some people use little jars filled with water, or rocks and such, to simulate eggs in the bator while calibrating. I don't know that it would be necessary, or even change anything, but you could try multiple things, if the calibration is that easy. Or just do it when you set your next batch?

 

[NTBugtraq]

I'm currently feeding layer feed as it's cheaper here and I'm in egg production mode still, with only a few that I'm hatching.
If I have a large flock of roosters or young birds, when they come off chick starter I switch to poultry finisher for everyone.

The reason I do this is because after doing a large amount of research I found that it has everything that that whole flock needs except for calcium. Since my yard is full of limestone and the water has calcite formations when you let it sit the hens gets plenty of calcium from other sources, so the use very little of the crushed shells or shellgrit.

That way it save on try to keep track of which feed is for which group.

That's interesting about the finisher, I will have to look that up. I found that my original layers got huge on layer feed.

I'm hoping this batch will give me the hen I need to cross my roo with to give an adequate start point for my project. There are only 3 eggs for it but I might get it. If not it will have to wait until I can set eggs again in February or March. After this batch I have to stop for the season as I don't have an air conditioned brooder so I won't be able to keep the chicks below 80f for long enough to grow to full size to handle the 125f summer days.

Best of luck, here's hoping for a hen.

 

[NTBugtraq]

I called Brinsea about the fact the "factory calibrated" temperature sensor was off by nearly 2F, and they told me if it came in contact with magnets during shipping that could throw it off. Sounds a bit lame to me, but the stupider thing is what I did...

I bought the Brinsea spot checker at the same time as the bator...but I bought it to check the Styrofoam bator and completely did not even think to check the Brinsea bator. So clearly running an entire hatch at 2F higher temp than I thought I was could clearly cause the poor results.

 

[FridayYet]

Oh yeah, way better. They went into the brooder with the other 12 from my last hatch who are a week old. The combination seems to really be good, as the day olds quickly learned how to eat and drink from the 1 week olds. Wish I could always have such a combination.


Well, I just discovered something interesting and a bit disconcerting. I put my Brinsea spot check thermometer into the bator. The bator is currently set for 99.5F. I left it for over an hour, and just checked. The spot check thermo says it is 100F at egg level, while the bator says its holding at 99.4F. I could understand the egg level temp being lower than the reading on the bator, but hotter?? If it matters, the humidity is at 79%.

So the bator was running 0.6 degrees off? If you had it set for 100.5, then it was a bit over 101. sounds pretty hot.

I called Brinsea about the fact the "factory calibrated" temperature sensor was off by nearly 2F, and they told me if it came in contact with magnets during shipping that could throw it off. Sounds a bit lame to me, but the stupider thing is what I did...

I bought the Brinsea spot checker at the same time as the bator...but I bought it to check the Styrofoam bator and completely did not even think to check the Brinsea bator. So clearly running an entire hatch at 2F higher temp than I thought I was could clearly cause the poor results.

You had a higher reading with the spot check? The reason I'm asking is so that I know what to look for when starting my next run. Mine was 0.4 off, so I used the 99.6 setting to compensate. (Didn't even think to look for a calibration menu - thanks for pointing that out.)

 

[NTBugtraq]

So the bator was running 0.6 degrees off? If you had it set for 100.5, then it was a bit over 101. sounds pretty hot.


You had a higher reading with the spot check? The reason I'm asking is so that I know what to look for when starting my next run. Mine was 0.4 off, so I used the 99.6 setting to compensate. (Didn't even think to look for a calibration menu - thanks for pointing that out.)

At my last check, the spot check at egg level was 2F lower than the readout. There was water in most of the wells at that point, and the manual says to do calibration with no water in the wells. So I have been waiting for the cleaned bator to dry out, I should be able to take a more accurate measurement tomorrow.

 

[FridayYet]

Do you like the spot check? I need to order a better thermometer.

 

[bantam brood 17]

Do you like the spot check? I need to order a better thermometer.

You would think that the cost of incubators you would not have to buy extra items to check temps