Using the EGG thermometer.????

[crazyhen]

I got an egg thermometer. Its shaped like an egg and gives a digital temp. of what an incubating egg is. Or so it says. I have a hovabator with fan. right now I have 4 thermometers for my eggs. I have no idea which is right. The egg seems to be hottest reading one. One is mercury, one the bators digital, another digital and the egg. Which one should I believe. They read from 99 all the way to 101.8

. I really want these eggs to hatch. help hatchers of many eggs give me a clue.

 

[Ironsights]

I did what was suggested for calibration. I put ice in a glass, added a little water, waited a few minutes and put in the probe. It should read 32 f. If not it needs to be calibrated. Luckily mine read 32 because I have one that can't be calibrated.

 

[Ironsights]

In addition to the above I wouldn't recommend putting the egg in water. I had an egg thermometer but it lasted less than a week.

 

[crazyhen]

I think I remember 99.8 as perfect temp. Am I right?

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Can't go wrong with 99.8 but I thought 99.5 F was the "perfect" temp. Honestly if I can keep my average of temp swing in the 99.2-99.8 range I'm ecstatic.

I'll tell you what I go by for temperature and take it or leave it but a method that works like a charm for on time hatching and great hatch rates. For three years now I've been using an oral digital thermometer. The one I have as I need one for my boy whose almost 3 in my new home is a 20 second read ReliOn from walmart ( $7.47). There is a cheaper model and what is still at his mothers house that worked just as well. With a forced air styro incubator I put the thermometer down the vent hole and turn on. Let the incubator cycle through a full on and off and note the reading. These digital oral only show the highest temp. Then I wait for the incubator heater to click on then turn the thermometer off and on as it's still in the vent hole. It will display the last highest reading, then 98.6 (human normal) then the current temp. I turn on and off again. On and off again. I continue to turn on and off until the current temp has hit it's lowest number. Believe it or not this will be about 30 seconds into the heating cycle as the element takes a bit to warm back up so temp keeps going lower when it first turns on.

With the high and the lowest add and divide by 2. Currently on day two of my incubation and about an hour ago I had 101.1 for highest and 98.5 for lowest reading during my on/off repeats. 99.8F is the average. Yesterday avg was 99.5, last night was 100.5 so tweaked down thermostat, currently holding 99.8 and happy. This is the average temp of the incubator and the actual temp of the interior of the eggs. Keep in mind this is with a forced air and I keep the center of turner clear of eggs so the air from fan moves freely under the eggs then up around the edges of incubator. Picture a doughnut and that's the pattern I use in my auto turner. No eggs in center or at corners. I still keep a thermometer in the incubator but that's just my quick reference to ensure nothing is going wrong. The hygromter thermometer combo I use reads 97 F. As long as it reads that I know all is OK. I perform the oral thermo check a few times a day for first few days until all is stable then every 3 or 4 days as I'm a nervous Nelly no matter how calm and collected I try to act.

Oral thermometers are the least expensive highly accurate thing you can use and if your using a forced air (fan) incubator a great stress free way to go. It would take some practice to figure the correct way to use one with a still air incubator because it only displays highest reading which would make the temp swings hard to determine at top level of eggs, the probe end is only 1 1/2" into incubator through a vent hole which keeps it a good inch above eggs.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

I tend to type too much but how can you be sure an egg thermometer is accurate in the 98-102 F range? You really have to trust the company or calibrate it. A way to do that is fill a double shot glass with enough water that it doesn't spill out when in the egg turner or may be a plastic Easter egg with hole in top to take temp of water inside. Then use your handy oral thermometer that's already in your medicine cabinet to check the temp of water after a few hours. It's like all you need is your oral thermometer for trust worthy readings.