Setting up my incubator

Alison1952

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Can anyone please tell me if temp. Is very crucial ? I have been running my first incubator for about 24 hours .temp fluctuates between 37.5and 38 .is this ok ? Or is the 38 too high .the humidity stays around 49 to 50 . I am going to collect some eggs tomorrow and start them incubating on Sunday but I am a bit nervous as it is my first attempt , thanks
 
Hi Alison and welcome to the forum. What incubator is it and where have you set it up. I ask because some are not fan assisted and the location of the incubator has a big effect on the results in my experience -no draughts or direct sunlight. Better to run slightly cold rather than hot as excessive temperature leads to weak early chicks whereas colder just results in a slightly late hatch. The key is the development of the air sac in the egg which you determine by candling at day 8 and adjust humidity accordingly (shell porosity varies). Brinsea do a free download with an air sac diagram.
 
Thanks for answering . It is a Janoil 8 48 fan assisted ,automatic turning incubator .I have been fiddling about with the controls and water inlet and seem to be understanding it a bit more .The instructions are not very clear and I am putting eggs in Sunday morning . Is 50 about right for humidity ? And what happens if the humidity goes too high when I add water .Do the chicks drown straight away or does it have to be high for a long time to do any damage ? Sorry to ask so many questions but any answers will help me to understand better . Thanks again , Alison
 
50% is correct for the first 17 days Alison. On day 18 the humidity goes up to 75%, turning stops and the temperature goes down half a degree to 37.0C.

If the humidity is too high the air sac, created by evaporation of the water content in the yolk, doesn't develop fully. This then leaves insufficient space for the chick to get its head out from under the wing and break through the shell. You will need to check the sac development to the diagram I mentioned. We use what are called semi-automatic incubators. The humidity is controlled by adding water to troughs in the base, so its not exact at all. We check the air sac at day 8 and adjust accordingly. Our house is old and quite damp in Spring so in fact we haven't put any water in the machine until day 18. So to answer your question, chicks won't drown if the humidity is too high for a while, but it needs to be corrected within the same day. If it remains too high the result will be 'dead in shell', where the chick develops to maturity but can't manoeuvre to get out and dies in the process of trying. In the first 17 days you are better low than high.

I seem to remember a problem with the Janoil was that the eggs were not turned 90 degrees, but only 45 degrees. In some cases this resulted in chicks sticking to the sides of the shell. However a member in Northern Cyprus has just had a successful hatch with that make of machine, so perhaps my memory fails me?
 
Hi Alison, and welcome to the Forum. Good luck with the hatch, we shall be interested to hear how you get on. What sort of eggs are you getting?
I've moved your post to the Incubation and Hatching Eggs section. Good advice from Chris, as always.
 
Thanks for your help . The eggs are in . All I can do now is wait ! Will post when it happens ,Alison
 
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