She said/He said Who's right? Who's wrong? No one!

[Ravynscroft]

Very true! She said none broke, so that's a start. I'll check air cells when I get home.

Good luck!!

 

[frmboyinthecity]

Good luck!!

Thank you

 

[Storybook Farm]

Well, I'm reporting in on my hatch of shipped eggs, and it's a sad one. I received 14 eggs. 3 of them were cracked (tho all were well packed), and all had jiggly air cells. I threw out one, cracked egg. I tried to seal the other two. I left them to settle 24 hours, put them upright in egg cartons with bottoms cut out so that there was air flow, and put them into my 'bator, with humidity in the 30s, and hand turning, and rotating position 3-5 times daily.

Did my 7-day candling last night. All but 3 have large, mobile air sacks, and (I think?) blood rings. (Can someone here describe a blood ring?)

Besides this failure with these particular shipped eggs, I am so frustrated by the lack of precise measuring tools for humidity and temperature. My incubator's factory settings for temperature were off by at least a degree to a degree and a half during my first hatch, which meant that I had a 42% hatch rate and all that did hatch came 24 hours early, on day 20. It's analog guage for humidity is totally off.

With my Incuview, I bought an incubator temperature / humidity gauge from Incubator warehouse and thought it was accurate. (I had a hard time testing or calibrating it because the probe could not be submerged in water to do a 32 degree temperature test.) During the first hatch, many wet chicks sat on this probe and I believe threw off its accuracy for humidity is well because I did a salt test after the hatch was all done, as I Was preparing for this new hatch, and the reading was off by 20 percentage points at least. It reads totally low. But, it is my most accurate gauge for temperature.

So, I bought a different probe that is a wireless unit intended to go outside. I have been able to test that one. I found it to be three percentage points off of humidity doing the salt test, and a degree or two low for temperature.GRRRRR!

So I have one gauge for temperature and another for humidity and neither of them is dead on accurate. What do you folks use, specifically, to measure temperature in your incubator? And what do you use for humidity? Is there anything that works accurately??!

 

[scflock]

Well, I'm reporting in on my hatch of shipped eggs, and it's a sad one. I received 14 eggs. 3 of them were cracked (tho all were well packed), and all had jiggly air cells. I threw out one, cracked egg. I tried to seal the other two. I left them to settle 24 hours, put them upright in egg cartons with bottoms cut out so that there was air flow, and put them into my 'bator, with humidity in the 30s, and hand turning, and rotating position 3-5 times daily.

Did my 7-day candling last night. All but 3 have large, mobile air sacks, and (I think?) blood rings. (Can someone here describe a blood ring?)

Besides this failure with these particular shipped eggs, I am so frustrated by the lack of precise measuring tools for humidity and temperature. My incubator's factory settings for temperature were off by at least a degree to a degree and a half during my first hatch, which meant that I had a 42% hatch rate and all that did hatch came 24 hours early, on day 20. It's analog guage for humidity is totally off.

With my Incuview, I bought an incubator temperature / humidity gauge from Incubator warehouse and thought it was accurate. (I had a hard time testing or calibrating it because the probe could not be submerged in water to do a 32 degree temperature test.) During the first hatch, many wet chicks sat on this probe and I believe threw off its accuracy for humidity is well because I did a salt test after the hatch was all done, as I Was preparing for this new hatch, and the reading was off by 20 percentage points at least. It reads totally low. But, it is my most accurate gauge for temperature.

So, I bought a different probe that is a wireless unit intended to go outside. I have been able to test that one. I found it to be three percentage points off of humidity doing the salt test, and a degree or two low for temperature.GRRRRR!

So I have one gauge for temperature and another for humidity and neither of them is dead on accurate. What do you folks use, specifically, to measure temperature in your incubator? And what do you use for humidity? Is there anything that works accurately??!

The Brinsea Spot Check is a hard thermometer to beat. As far as humidity, I go with the readout on my incubator and it has worked so far. One day I may kick myself for trusting it, but I have incubated enough now that I know how much water I need and when I need it, so the humidity isn't a big deal for me.
I like the Spot Check because the readings are instantaneous once it comes up to incubator temperature, and the malleable lead wire allows you to run it through an air vent and "drive" it to different areas in the incubator

 

[WalnutHill]

I don't measure humidity any longer, I simply go by air cell size. I've found it to be more reliable, especially as the Michigan climate changes daily especially in spring.

My cabinet incubator specifies a temperature taken at the factory thermometer hole. I take this temperature with a Spot Check rather than the analog thermometer that came with it. I quit taking readings on the shelves as they were reported to be too low for incubation, yet I get good development.

I have six thermometers and three hygrometers and none agree. I'd drive myself nuts trying. So I chose the "factory calibrated" one and that is my authority. It reads 1F higher than the thermometer that came with the incubator.

I do keep a smoker thermometer hanging on the incubator, with one probe on the top shelf. It reads 2F high, so I just compensate for that. It does have a remote that I can see from my desk so that I can be comfortable knowing it's working.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

So this is my first time incubating. We didn't realize how staggering hatches could pose a problem. So we put 2 bantam eggs in and then 6 days later we put 33 more eggs in. We are on day 12 with the first two and day 6 with the remaining eggs. So what do I do at lockdown for the first two? I obviously don't wanna lose any of the eggs, should I turn up the humidity just a little and hope for the best for the first two? Or will that hurt the remaining eggs? Thanks for your guys Input I really appreciate it

Welcome to the thread! I'd go with Ravyn on this one.

Wait til first pip, then up the humidity til they're done hatching... just don't forget to lower it back down... good luck!!

xs 2

Well, I'm reporting in on my hatch of shipped eggs, and it's a sad one. I received 14 eggs. 3 of them were cracked (tho all were well packed), and all had jiggly air cells. I threw out one, cracked egg. I tried to seal the other two. I left them to settle 24 hours, put them upright in egg cartons with bottoms cut out so that there was air flow, and put them into my 'bator, with humidity in the 30s, and hand turning, and rotating position 3-5 times daily.

Did my 7-day candling last night. All but 3 have large, mobile air sacks, and (I think?) blood rings. (Can someone here describe a blood ring?)

Besides this failure with these particular shipped eggs, I am so frustrated by the lack of precise measuring tools for humidity and temperature. My incubator's factory settings for temperature were off by at least a degree to a degree and a half during my first hatch, which meant that I had a 42% hatch rate and all that did hatch came 24 hours early, on day 20. It's analog guage for humidity is totally off.

With my Incuview, I bought an incubator temperature / humidity gauge from Incubator warehouse and thought it was accurate. (I had a hard time testing or calibrating it because the probe could not be submerged in water to do a 32 degree temperature test.) During the first hatch, many wet chicks sat on this probe and I believe threw off its accuracy for humidity is well because I did a salt test after the hatch was all done, as I Was preparing for this new hatch, and the reading was off by 20 percentage points at least. It reads totally low. But, it is my most accurate gauge for temperature.

So, I bought a different probe that is a wireless unit intended to go outside. I have been able to test that one. I found it to be three percentage points off of humidity doing the salt test, and a degree or two low for temperature.GRRRRR!

So I have one gauge for temperature and another for humidity and neither of them is dead on accurate. What do you folks use, specifically, to measure temperature in your incubator? And what do you use for humidity? Is there anything that works accurately??!

I use 2 Springfield digitals I bought for $5 at our Kinneys. They are pretty accurate which surprises me because I lost my first hatch to a Springfield (non digital) that was 6 degrees off. I also have an accurite temp/hygrometer combo in there. The temp is alright, but it takes longer to read the changes and the hygrometer is off, but I only use it as a rough guide anyway because I monitor my cells to know how to and when to adjust for humidity changes. At lockdown I just fill everything up and add sponges.

The Brinsea Spot Check is a hard thermometer to beat. As far as humidity, I go with the readout on my incubator and it has worked so far. One day I may kick myself for trusting it, but I have incubated enough now that I know how much water I need and when I need it, so the humidity isn't a big deal for me.
I like the Spot Check because the readings are instantaneous once it comes up to incubator temperature, and the malleable lead wire allows you to run it through an air vent and "drive" it to different areas in the incubator

Brinsea spot check is a favorite for many hatchers.

On the hands on hatching thread Kathy shared some stuff on using a medical ear thermometer to measure the shell temp and I think I'm going to try that with my Spitz eggs that I will be setting with Ruby's silkies.

 

[Storybook Farm]

I don't measure humidity any longer, I simply go by air cell size.  I've found it to be more reliable, especially as the Michigan climate changes daily especially in spring.

This idea makes the most sense to me. How often do you candle? So far, in my experience, which is very, very limited, I have seen that my humidity runs low when compared with the size and speed that the air sacs develop. In other words, they seem to grow pretty big pretty fast. Then I spend the rest of the hatch trying to put the brakes on their growth. I'm thinking that I should start higher. By my measuring devices, that would have me starting in the 45% range, since right now I keep it in the 35% range according to my instruments. Is there any way that I can check on the air sac development more often that would be meaningful?

 

[AmyLynn2374]

This idea makes the most sense to me. How often do you candle? So far, in my experience, which is very, very limited, I have seen that my humidity runs low when compared with the size and speed that the air sacs develop. In other words, they seem to grow pretty big pretty fast. Then I spend the rest of the hatch trying to put the brakes on their growth. I'm thinking that I should start higher. By my measuring devices, that would have me starting in the 45% range, since right now I keep it in the 35% range according to my instruments. Is there any way that I can check on the air sac development more often that would be meaningful?

I do spot check every night, because I am a candling addict. I usally do 4-5 different eggs nightly, but I think between 7-16 days is the best to really get a feel for what's going on and still have plenty of time to correct it.
I use the chart on here: http://letsraisechickens.weebly.com...anuals-understanding-and-controlling-humidity

 

[mixedUPturk]

This idea makes the most sense to me. How often do you candle? So far, in my experience, which is very, very limited, I have seen that my humidity runs low when compared with the size and speed that the air sacs develop. In other words, they seem to grow pretty big pretty fast. Then I spend the rest of the hatch trying to put the brakes on their growth. I'm thinking that I should start higher. By my measuring devices, that would have me starting in the 45% range, since right now I keep it in the 35% range according to my instruments. Is there any way that I can check on the air sac development more often that would be meaningful?

When i first started with the same nervousness, i was weighing the eggs and looking for an overall 13-16% water weight loss. Do u have an egg scale?

 

[WalnutHill]

This idea makes the most sense to me. How often do you candle? So far, in my experience, which is very, very limited, I have seen that my humidity runs low when compared with the size and speed that the air sacs develop. In other words, they seem to grow pretty big pretty fast. Then I spend the rest of the hatch trying to put the brakes on their growth. I'm thinking that I should start higher. By my measuring devices, that would have me starting in the 45% range, since right now I keep it in the 35% range according to my instruments. Is there any way that I can check on the air sac development more often that would be meaningful?

I check the incubator the day after setting to be sure that the turner is working.

Around day 7 for chickens or 10 for turkeys, I'll check air cells. By day 7 the air cell should be about the diameter of a nickel when viewed from the big end, and one nickel thick for chickens or two nickels thick for turkeys. If the eggs were shipped there will likely be many with larger diameter air cells. Disregard those, that's shipping damage. Too small, drop the humidity to ambient room humidity by removing the water tray or sponging out the water.

Around day 14 for chickens or 19 for turkeys, I'll check the air cells again. I also pull clears and blood rings, if any, because it's very obvious that they are not as developed even with dark eggs. Air cells should be the diameter of a quarter, and about three quarters thick for chickens or 4 quarters thick for turkeys.

Day 18 is time to move to the hatcher or prepare for hatch. A quick candling should show a nearly dark egg with about 20-25% of the egg air cell, and with a tilt to the air cell. Mark the point where the air cell is closest to the midpoint of the egg, this is where the pip should appear. If the air cell is not saddled, I put this mark up. If it's saddled, I put it sideways so that the pip will not be on the bottom.

I don't raise humidity until the first pip appears. I then add a pad or sponge moistened with 100F water, and shut the lid.

Every incubator is different. My GQF runs 45% throughout incubation and the air cells progress nicely. My foam incubator did better at 28%.

https://www.brinsea.com/Brochures/BrinseaHandbook.pdf