Temperature regulation. I need help.

[evangjames89]

Ok, so I recently purchased a Farm Innovators Circulated Air 2250 Model Styrofoam Incubator. I also purchased the Farm Innovators 3200 model automatic egg turner. It has a digital thermostat which shows internal relative humidity, internal temperature, and days to hatch. I have read reviews which state, as usual, that you should not go by the built in digital thermometer reading. With that said, I have placed 4 glass tube aquarium thermometers wedged between eggs in the 4 main areas of the incubator (top left, bottom left, top right, and bottom right). I also use a digital zoo-med thermometer with probe to go down through the vent holes and spot check different areas of the incubator. I have the thermostat set at 100 degrees and have just began day 2 of incubation (or on countdown says day 20). I have found that on the right side of the incubator the temp seems to be pretty stable with slight fluctuations between 99 degrees F and 100 degrees F; however, on the left side it seems to stay around 98 degrees F with fluctuations up to not much higher than 98.5 degrees F. Humidity seems to be pretty stable, but that's not hard to accomplish in Florida where the humidity is always high. I worry about the eggs on the left side of the incubator being at too low a temperature, and I'm not sure what the best action to take would be. If I up the thermostat to 100.5 degrees or 101 degrees it would probably bring the left side eggs up to the ideal temp of 99.5 - 100 degrees F; however, I worry it would spike the right side that is already at the ideal temp range to a range that is too high and will cook my eggs. Any suggestions or help would be much appreciated. Below is some pictures of the incubator I am using. Thanks!

 

[evangjames89]

Here's a picture of my incubator setup below. I have some black copper maran eggs, lavender ameraucana eggs, and some cream legbar eggs incubating at the moment.

 

[evangjames89]

Anyone have any suggestions at all?

 

[kuchchicks]

Your set up looks pretty good and you seem to be off to a good start. My first suggestion would be to make sure that your thermometers are accurate. Thermometers can be pretty tricky and that is a common complaint on this site (finding a thermometer that is "right"). Having as many thermometers as you have in the bator, if they are close then chances are they are "close" to being right. So now what to do about the temp differential from one side to the next.

From your picture your bator looks to be pretty full which is good. It will help to hold the temp steady with more eggs in there. If I am remembering that model correctly the temp is run by a ring that runs around the top of the bator, correct? Those are known for having some temp variations. With that said it is not something that is not impossible to overcome. You do have a couple of options.

You could do as you yourself suggested and slightly increase your temp. You do not have to go up a full degree. You can always raise it just a half a degree which may ease your mind when you are worrying about the temp spikes and going to high on the warmer side.

Another option would be to rotate your eggs. Get your eggs into a rotation and move them to different parts of the incubator. Put a mark or a number on the eggs and keep track of where they have been. You can make sure that they are getting an equal share of time on the warmer and the cooler side. This will average out their temp and you will get good development.

Your third option is to do a combination of both. Slightly increase your temp (like I said I would only raise it a half a degree), and then also put them into a rotation. I was borrowing a Farm Innovator from a friend earlier in the year that had a similar issue. I went with this third option and had a pretty good hatch rate.

Make sure that you watch your air cells. Living in a humid area to begin with you may not need to add water at all. I typically run my humidity around 35% and have had an average of 90% hatch rates this year. Regardless of what you keep your humidity at, as long as you monitor your air cells and raise/lower your humidity based on where they are on days 7 and 14 you should be good.

Good luck!!!
And...

 

[evangjames89]

Thanks for the insight