Stupid Question needs Expert Answer

[Eldon956]

Hello everyone, newbie here with stupid question. I just built a homemade incubator out of an old drawer. Got me a couple of bulbs, old mini fan, and a wafer thermostat and Boom!!! Got myself an incubator with an egg capacity 120+. I adjusted temp for light to come on at 99.1 turns off at 99.6 and reaches 100.4.....Nice.....I went ahead and set 60 barnyard mix, 6 Old English Bantams, and 15 Courtnix Eggs 5 days ago. Something weird happened today. My daughter checked the temperature of my grandson with an infrared thermometer in his forehead and it clicked me What if I check the temperature of the eggs with the infrared thermometer? I was surprised to see that the temp of all the eggs was 97.8 eventhough the temp of my incubator has been stable with the temp it was set 5 days ago.........I went ahead and googled my issue and came across this site with this info regarding EST (Egg Shell Temperature)

Anyone with experience in hatching eggs has heard about this?

I went ahead and reset the temp of my incubator as advised. Now my incubator reaches 102.5 inside the bator but EST reads 99.7- 100.3 steady and stable on all eggs.

Anyone?

 

[Tonyroo]

Your adjustment is correct but you need to check it throughout the day and everyday. Cause ambient room temperature will trigger a change in the incubator temperature.

Incubation temperature should be 99.5 to 100 with a fan on.
You need a digital hygrometer to check the humidity level, it's critical to know on the last 4 days of development.

 

[Rose Quartz]

Hello everyone, newbie here with stupid question. I just built a homemade incubator out of an old drawer. Got me a couple of bulbs, old mini fan, and a wafer thermostat and Boom!!! Got myself an incubator with an egg capacity 120+. I adjusted temp for light to come on at 99.1 turns off at 99.6 and reaches 100.4.....Nice.....I went ahead and set 60 barnyard mix, 6 Old English Bantams, and 15 Courtnix Eggs 5 days ago. Something weird happened today. My daughter checked the temperature of my grandson with an infrared thermometer in his forehead and it clicked me What if I check the temperature of the eggs with the infrared thermometer? I was surprised to see that the temp of all the eggs was 97.8 eventhough the temp of my incubator has been stable with the temp it was set 5 days ago.........I went ahead and googled my issue and came across this site with this info regarding EST (Egg Shell Temperature)

View attachment 3828240
Anyone with experience in hatching eggs has heard about this?

I went ahead and reset the temp of my incubator as advised. Now my incubator reaches 102.5 inside the bator but EST reads 99.7- 100.3 steady and stable on all eggs.

Anyone?

Interesting, i've never come across this myself, but i dont have that kind of thermometer.

What i've read is that eggs take a while to get the the same temp as the surrounding air because of their mass, which makes sense, it takes time for a pot to boil. But that the eggs would be about the same temperature as the air in the incu after a few days.

I know my very very first attempt at hatching at home i had the air temp go up to 116 at one point and i was sure they were going to be cooked but they were fine somehow.

I just suggest you keep an eye on it, incase after a few days they start getting too hot. Otherwise it'd ve cool to know what your hatch day is timewise. If it makes them hatch earlier, or right on time.


On another note I know home made incus can be really difficult to get the humidity up for hatching. If you can get it over 50% you should be good.

 

[Eldon956]

I wish I knew this before I panicked a couple days ago when temp reached triple digits down here in South Texas, I had the incubator in the garage in the shade and temperature went to 105 but felt like 115 according to The Weather Channel. I got all the eggs out and took them indoors while it cooled down outside. I had inside 106-107 inside the bator with its door opened and it went down till sunset, by this time I had already moved it inside my house with the AC. Humidity itself is not much of an issue down here, were around 75% +/- any given day, but now with the bator inside I'll try the dry hatching and get a hygrometer. I'll keep an update with the EST issue till hatch date and results.....thanks

 

[McChooky]

Hello everyone, newbie here with stupid question. I just built a homemade incubator out of an old drawer. Got me a couple of bulbs, old mini fan, and a wafer thermostat and Boom!!! Got myself an incubator with an egg capacity 120+. I adjusted temp for light to come on at 99.1 turns off at 99.6 and reaches 100.4.....Nice.....I went ahead and set 60 barnyard mix, 6 Old English Bantams, and 15 Courtnix Eggs 5 days ago. Something weird happened today. My daughter checked the temperature of my grandson with an infrared thermometer in his forehead and it clicked me What if I check the temperature of the eggs with the infrared thermometer? I was surprised to see that the temp of all the eggs was 97.8 eventhough the temp of my incubator has been stable with the temp it was set 5 days ago.........I went ahead and googled my issue and came across this site with this info regarding EST (Egg Shell Temperature)

View attachment 3828240
Anyone with experience in hatching eggs has heard about this?

I went ahead and reset the temp of my incubator as advised. Now my incubator reaches 102.5 inside the bator but EST reads 99.7- 100.3 steady and stable on all eggs.

Anyone?

Infrared thermometers are accurate to ±2%

 

[McChooky]

https://www.thepoultrysite.com/arti...your-incubators-for-an-optimal-heat-balance-1

 

[stevethack]

I would find an accurate human thermometer and lay it next to the eggs...touching is best. BUT..digital IR thermometers rely on Emissivity..which depends on surface texture...colors!!..and what material the spot where ya shine the aiming light on.. If you even calibrate the thermo for a white egg...it can be off a bit for a dark Copper Marans egg.. Use a regular old human thermometer to check your incubator temps...it's probably the most accurate one available to the general public at a decent cost. Or make/buy a small clay egg with a hole to slide a thermometer into..place that egg in the incubator and give it a few hours to stabilize. Take that temp then. You ain't shooting for an instant 99.5F temp but rather an average over the whole incubation period. The reason they don't use a controller like I have available that will keep a 1/10F degree steady heat is...they don't want to cycle the heating element off and on so much and burn it out,, The old analog controllers used to have a +2 and -2 temp swing..you were supposed to set it and let it stabilize and then get the average from a fake egg. Eggs are tough...they just do not like much higher temps then 103F.. me too for that matter...I melt..