temperature problems

[waitwhoslucas]

hey! as im getting ready for my quail eggs to come, I decide to test my still air incubator out. I placed an egg there and placed my temperature at 99.8°F. I also placed a digital thermometer inside just in case. Which one would I trust more? I also had a temp gun, so the temperature the incubator displayed was 100° F and the digital said 101°, but when I checked the temperature of the egg itself, it read 95° F. I don’t know why the egg was almost six degrees off when the temperature of the incubator was at 100-101° F. HELP!!

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Temp guns aren't very accurate unless they are calibrated to the surface they are measuring and used correctly. Put a piece of white paper and a piece of black paper in the sunlight, and they'll have different readings. You should also keep them away from electronic devices, as that could mess with the readings. And it should be acclimated to the environment where it's being used for at least 30 minutes prior to taking readings --- but they don't work well in damp or humid environments, either. So... incubator eggs probably won't give you an accurate reading. You could check this out by placing a few different things in the incubator with different surface texture, density, moisture content, etc. (small potato, a rock, metal spoon, bar of soap, ceramic egg, piece of wood, piece of bread, etc.), wait 30 minutes, then test them.

Since your other two thermometers are close in readings, I'd trust them more. They measure the temperature of the air. The temp gun only measures infrared light emitted from the object, not the actual internal temperature of the object.

 

[waitwhoslucas]

Temp guns aren't very accurate unless they are calibrated to the surface they are measuring and used correctly. Put a piece of white paper and a piece of black paper in the sunlight, and they'll have different readings. You should also keep them away from electronic devices, as that could mess with the readings. And it should be acclimated to the environment where it's being used for at least 30 minutes prior to taking readings --- but they don't work well in damp or humid environments, either. So... incubator eggs probably won't give you an accurate reading. You could check this out by placing a few different things in the incubator with different surface texture, density, moisture content, etc. (small potato, a rock, metal spoon, bar of soap, ceramic egg, piece of wood, piece of bread, etc.), wait 30 minutes, then test them.

Since your other two thermometers are close in readings, I'd trust them more. They measure the temperature of the air. The temp gun only measures infrared light emitted from the object, not the actual internal temperature of the object.

Thanks for your reply! So, my temp gun also has a body temperature setting which read closer to the temperature of the incubator so I am now changing the temperature of the incubator closer to 101-103° F, so they eggs could reach 99°. Thanks! So far, I have seen veins in the eggs, but since they were shipped, I have opened some, but the yolk was everywhere, like it had been ruptured. Hopefully most aren’t like this

 

[BrandonsBirbs]

Thanks for your reply! So, my temp gun also has a body temperature setting which read closer to the temperature of the incubator so I am now changing the temperature of the incubator closer to 101-103° F, so they eggs could reach 99°. Thanks! So far, I have seen veins in the eggs, but since they were shipped, I have opened some, but the yolk was everywhere, like it had been ruptured. Hopefully most aren’t like this

If they're quail eggs and you're cracking them open, chances are that you've ruptured them. Get some quail egg scissors, literally a pound/dollar and they're amazing. I've personally not had any issues with ruptured yolks from eggs being shipped, but that is just my personal experience... I think quail egg membranes are super good at holding everything together.

Yeah, I'd recommend against the gun and just use regular calibrated thermometers. If you find certain spots are a different temperature to others then every 5 or so days move all the eggs around. They won't mind!

 

[waitwhoslucas]

If they're quail eggs and you're cracking them open, chances are that you've ruptured them. Get some quail egg scissors, literally a pound/dollar and they're amazing. I've personally not had any issues with ruptured yolks from eggs being shipped, but that is just my personal experience... I think quail egg membranes are super good at holding everything together.

Yeah, I'd recommend against the gun and just use regular calibrated thermometers. If you find certain spots are a different temperature to others then every 5 or so days move all the eggs around. They won't mind!

Great! But, I’m pretty sure it was already ruptured. When I opened the egg, the egg whites weren’t clear, but they seemed like they had little speckles of something and looked mucky. I’m using a refrigerator thermometer and a thermometer you can use to measure your temperature using your mouth. I’ll definitely try moving them around!

Also, in some eggs, (day 3), I don’t really see much, but the eggs look more red than other eggs. I don’t know what that could mean?

In some other eggs, I only see one vein, seems like it’s growing, but it’s only day three and I don’t want to think they quit yet.

 

[BrandonsBirbs]

Great! But, I’m pretty sure it was already ruptured. When I opened the egg, the egg whites weren’t clear, but they seemed like they had little speckles of something and looked mucky. I’m using a refrigerator thermometer and a thermometer you can use to measure your temperature using your mouth. I’ll definitely try moving them around!

Also, in some eggs, (day 3), I don’t really see much, but the eggs look more red than other eggs. I don’t know what that could mean?

In some other eggs, I only see one vein, seems like it’s growing, but it’s only day three and I don’t want to think they quit yet.

It's possible it was ruptured sorry I'm not trying to imply you're lying, there is just a possibility that it was from cracking them open.

The redness can be due to the colour of the eggs, half my eggs were very red this time around and it's just because of the shell's colour. One vein is good, that's their heart and you can even see it beat if you look carefully. By day 3 some eggs won't show much, maybe due to shell colouring or just a little slower.

I never throw eggs out before day 7 unless they're cracked badly.

This was one egg on day 4, meanwhile all the other eggs had littler or no growth (could just be quail eggs are tricky to see into!)

A day 12 egg, super red!!
All my eggs hatched btw, the red and the fast grower. Even the slow growers!

 

[BrandonsBirbs]

All day 3 eggs.

 

[waitwhoslucas]

View attachment 3174187View attachment 3174188View attachment 3174191View attachment 3174190All day 3 eggs.

Thanks for all this information! I candled them today again and the red egg still showed nothing the eggs that only had one vein looked like it showed little to no improvement. one of them had something attached to it, and when you moved the egg slightly, it dangled along. another one looked like it make a blood ring from 18 eggs, only three look like they could potentially make it. im hoping for the best

 

[BrandonsBirbs]

Try again on day 7