smelling bad incubator

[scbatz33]

Yes. Those temps are across the board for any incubator.

I have a 1588 forced air - maintains a steady 99.5

I also have a LG still air. I keep it right at the 101 mark. If it drops a bit, that can prolong the hatch time. It's not a horrible thing, but it makes things less messy all around for it to stay up around 101.

 

[Equilibrium]

Ah.... thank you..... you may not realize it but you caught my error in an unrelated thread and helped me already. Thank God you caught that. I had no idea and followed the instructions that came with the unit. Next time I'll kick it up a notch. Since you're so sharp.... can you spare a moment telling me if I keep the trough at the bottom of the incubator filled with water throughout the whole 21 days or if I should hold off until the end when they need higher humidity to hatch? I'm finding differences of opinion on this and the instructions say to keep the trough filled with water throughout but.... the instructions also told me to keep the temps at a level 99.5 so I'd prefer to run with what you suggest. Also too.... what on earth do I do with all the eggs that didn't hatch>>>>? Can I compost them?

 

[greening]

if you have a rotten egg, you would definitely be able to tell which one it is and you would be able to smell it outside of the incubator, trust me, ive had one go bad on me before and the smell was so bad it burned your eyes

 

[scbatz33]

Quote:
There are as many opinions on this as people have, well, opinions!

This is what I do. It's what works for me.

I live in the south - more or less. Therefore, I do not add one single drop of water from day 1 thru day 18. I "dry incubate". My ambient humidity is such that adding water before day 18 is unnecessary.

On day 18, I add warm to hot water in all 3 wells. That usually will bump the humidity to around 65-70%. If it is a cooler day/time of year, I will add a wet sponge as well.

Now, that being said, I have a friend in AZ who has to add tons of water all the time because her ambient humidity is non-existent. It's that whole "dry heat" thing they have going on out there in the south west. Location means a lot.

If you chose to add water, remember humidity is based on surface area, not depth. The more surface area you have exposed the higher the humidity you will have. So, if you fill all 3 wells, your humidity level will be higher than if you only fill the side wells, or even just one well.

If you fill all the wells and then cover them with say a piece of plastic, your humidity will not go up. Again, it's because you've covered the surface area and are not allowing for evaporation. It wouldn't matter how much water you added, because it's covered.

Make sense?

 

[heathersboers]

Quote:
There are as many opinions on this as people have, well, opinions!

This is what I do. It's what works for me.

I live in the south - more or less. Therefore, I do not add one single drop of water from day 1 thru day 18. I "dry incubate". My ambient humidity is such that adding water before day 18 is unnecessary.

On day 18, I add warm to hot water in all 3 wells. That usually will bump the humidity to around 65-70%. If it is a cooler day/time of year, I will add a wet sponge as well.

Now, that being said, I have a friend in AZ who has to add tons of water all the time because her ambient humidity is non-existent. It's that whole "dry heat" thing they have going on out there in the south west. Location means a lot.

If you chose to add water, remember humidity is based on surface area, not depth. The more surface area you have exposed the higher the humidity you will have. So, if you fill all 3 wells, your humidity level will be higher than if you only fill the side wells, or even just one well.

If you fill all the wells and then cover them with say a piece of plastic, your humidity will not go up. Again, it's because you've covered the surface area and are not allowing for evaporation. It wouldn't matter how much water you added, because it's covered.

Make sense?

Agreed...I love our styrofoams. .we have 8 and do not add water either until lockdown. Our temps stay at 100 and we usually have a good hatch. ...cleaning them is tough and they do tend to smell more than the sportsman's....we use purple power and Clorox to clean ours And sprinkle some carpet fresh in them when we are not using them....helps a lot with the hatch smell.

 

[jvls1942]

steady as she goes.

I would not attempt to adjust any temp at this late in the game..

the ideal temp for hatching eggs is 99.5F period.. 50 years ago we did not have forced air incubators and the temp was 99.5F then also.. I do not know when the memo came out to raise the temp to 101F for still air bators.. Anyway, I did not receive that memo..

 

[scbatz33]

Quote:
I would imagine it's because the still air has pockets of temp fluctuation unlike in a forced air. 50 years ago a lot of technology and understanding of said technology was different.

I have seen a lot of hatches going bad and of folks saying "Help I'm on day 23 (or 25 or whatever) and nothing is happening" And INEVITABLY their temp is too low. For the current model, ie in the last 5 years, LGs 101 at the top of the egg is the perfect temp to have a good day 21 hatch with fewest complications.

However, if running at 99.5 works for you, then do what works.

 

[jvls1942]

funny, I have been using the same formula all this time, and it still works.. 99.5F 30% to 40% until the last 3 days and raise it to 60% and even a little higher for the hatch.. (a lot higher for goose eggs)

Other than on this group, I have not seen the 101F theory.. I would like to read a college or technical study about the change in hatching temps.. could somebody point me to a source?

EDIT: I forgot to mention.. at one time I was running a combination of 8 LG and Hovas at a time (99.5F).. then I had to increase my capacity , to 3 GQF Sportsmans.. Now I also have four 2000 egg incubators also.. I use all of them.. until now, I thought I was doing it correctly..

 

[scbatz33]

Quote:
Again, if it works for you then don't change it.

There are plenty of sites with information. You are more than welcome to google "still air incubator temps". Mississippi State U has a great instructional article as does the University of Illinois. There are articles on feathersite as well as information on the sites of the manufacturers of the incubators.

What you will find, if you bother to read, is a variation of opinions for temp operation of still air and forced air. It's not real hard to find the information. You just have to be willing to look.

ETA: unless all you really want to do is argue, then You are on your own.

 

[Griffin Nest]

Quote:
yeah rotten eggs smell horrible, but i actually like the smell of hatching eggs... am i weird? because my family all hate the smell.