ellasflock Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 Hi Everyone, so I am mid way through hatching some eggs, and I have set the temperature to around 37.5 degrees C for the incubator, although it does jump around a bit. Which is fine because the incubating temperature for silkies is around 37-38 Anyway, I installed a two devices that measure humidity and temperature so that I can keep an eye on the humidity, since the incubator doesn’t say it digitally. And both of the temperature recording say it is at 34.1 degrees even though my incubator is saying more. I’m not sure if this is because the incubator is reading the temperature at the fan of what? The incubator seems warmer than 34 degrees but I just don’t know?! The make of incubator seems to have great reviews and perfect hatch rates from customers so do I trust the incubator or the digital thermometers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 (edited) I had similar issues but not such a great disparity with my incubator which is a Brinsea Mini II Advance. I’d had hatches that were draggy, not great percentage success wise and wasn’t confident with the humidity. So I bought a little temperature and humidity sensor to put in there that could talk to my phone via Bluetooth. I think I ended up setting the incubator temperature to 37.7 which (according to the sensor) gave a temperature in the incubator that for most of the time fluctuated between 37.3 and 37.6 with occasional short dips down to 36.8 and up to 38. I was ‘dry hatching’ in Cornwall (UK) in early summer. I trusted my sensor, but I did spend quite a lot on it. What make are your incubator and your thermometers and where in the incubator are your thermometers placed? Edited January 21, 2021 by mullethunter 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellasflock Posted January 21, 2021 Author Share Posted January 21, 2021 So my incubator brand is not well known I bought it on Amazon and I think it’s Chinese. But the reviews seemed really good and it cost about £60 so I assumed it was quite reliable. My thermometers were the top searches when you type incubator humidity detector into Amazon. I bought two brands to compare and they are roughly the same. They are placed on top of the water tray which is about 10 cm from the fan. My humidity goes up and down regularly so I try to keep it around 51 %. The temperature also hops like yours from about 37.6 - 36.8, my thermometer I bought from Amazon wasn’t expensive about £9 (for both brands) Will me eggs still hatch if I trust the incubator temperature? I am trying to hatch Silkies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 (edited) To be honest if both thermometers are reading the same I’d be inclined to believe them. BUT I probably would try putting them in different places in the incubator to see if that makes any difference (obviously without having the incubator open for too long). If the temperature in the incubator genuinely is 34.1 then according to the Brinsea website the embryos are unlikely to develop to hatch - they don’t grow properly. Unfortunately if you’re half way through I think you’ll have to just keep going without changing anything and see what happens. What day are you at and have you candled at all? Edited January 21, 2021 by mullethunter 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellasflock Posted January 21, 2021 Author Share Posted January 21, 2021 No I haven’t cancelled because I have 17 days to go. I can’t tell this early if they are fertile because it’s only been a few days since I put them in. The thermometers are slightly different now I have looked again. About a degree different. I think I’m going to wait a week and if I can see veins and a developing embryo then I will trust the incubator. Thanks for your help! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted January 22, 2021 Share Posted January 22, 2021 Is it a yellow and clear dome incubator (not the Brinsea ones)? I generally set my incubators to 37.6-37.8oC but I have a few different models and thermometers. tbh £60 is quite cheap for an incubator so it is a budget one, with a budget thermometer. I would check that you’re measuring temp at egg-height rather than elsewhere, if it has a fan that will help. The most important thing is to keep the temperature stable so don’t open it. I usually candle a couple of times throughout the process but other than I never open the lid as heat and humidity will escape, causing problems for the eggs - never open it for the last 3 days! Good luck, share photos if you’re not sure 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellasflock Posted January 22, 2021 Author Share Posted January 22, 2021 Thank you so much! It isn’t a yellow incubator. I think that I am just going to trust the process. If by next Wednesday I don’t see any development then I will get a new incubator! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellasflock Posted January 23, 2021 Author Share Posted January 23, 2021 Hi again, so I have just ordered the Brinsea incubator advanced mini. It arrived today and I am just setting it up! It is much better so thank you for mentioning it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 Great to hear! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
