Some garden sheds can easily swing between 5 and 25☌ in 24 hours, which is not suitable for most incubators. You can use a cheap electronic temperature meter that records maximum and minimum temperatures to check your incubator location. Do not put your incubator near a radiator or window where the sun can shine in and avoid drafty areas or where there is air conditioning blowing.įluctuations in temperature are the most common cause of problems.
Incubators are not particularly well insulated, so avoid fluctuations in operating temperature. Most incubators suggest room temperature between 18 and 22☌, although some are quite specific and will not perform well outside of this range, especially in colder climates. Locate your incubator in a room or insulated building outside where the temperature is reasonably constant. The best solution I have found is to use an electronic thermometer/hygrometer with an external sensor, or wireless Switchbot wireless sensor, taking measurements at the same height as the eggs’ centre. Measuring humidity is also a challenge in still-air incubators because it is relative to the temperature, so your wet and dry bulb readings (or another hygrometer) must be sitting at the same height as the embryos.įinally, another problem is the stratification changes the moment you remove the lid, and you’ll end up taking incorrect readings!
The height of the thermometer can be adjusted and read through the window at the top. My ‘ Brinsea Hatchmaker‘ incubator recommends 39.2° at the TOP of the eggs for hens eggs – this should be the correct incubation temperature (in this case, 37.5°) at the centre of the egg. We need to be careful where we take readings of temperature and humidity. Still-air incubators provide the correct incubation temperature where the embryo sits (the centre of the egg). Sometimes you will notice this happening in buildings with high ceilings, and you may also see heating systems blow hot air out of vents downwards into a room to overcome this stratification.
The science behind this is that cooler, denser air sinks, and warmer, thinner air rises, creating this gradient of air temperatures. In other words, there are layers of air with a temperature gradient between the heater element and the base of the incubator. Still-air incubators have a heating element at the top, and thermal stratification occurs inside the incubator.
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