Need some Bater Advice

Okay got it going earlier today added some water and been adjusting.

In this pic you will notice i have 3 thermometers 2 give temp and humidity the other is the one that came with it.

They all are in different positions in the incu

The Brower plain one is at turner height it reads 99.5

The White one is bantam egg height (yes i used a egg to measure) it reads 97.9 with 58% humidity

The Black one is at the top and it reads 99-100 it fluctuates with 54% humidity

So which one do i trust i know the humidity is to high but which one of these should i except when i do get it right.
I never expected there to be this much difference in temp and humidity i'm confused about this.
When i incubated this past spring i only used the Brower and had no idea as to the humidity and i had a good hatch.
I know nothing about this and i thought useing 3 different thermometers would actually help didn't know they would be this far off. Help Please ^-^

May be wrong but I think I read somewhere dont you take an average. Isnt lesser humidity at 1st better?

Yes, lower humidity at first, then increase just before hatch. You can calibrate your thermometers also. I know someone who lost a whole batch of eggs to temps that were too high. She added another thermometer and found the temp was actually 107 degrees. She was crushed.

Luvs what temp and humidity do you have yours at.

I know my humidity is to high i'm going to adjust that.

What i was wanting to know was with the 3 thermometers being in different positions and the temp being different on all 3 which one should i go by?

with mine I had temps from 89 to 105 I could not keep it stable. Ok my house is drafty. I didnt have it in a closed room where I could control the temp in the room. My outside temp ranged from day to day at 30-75 degrees. To many variables.

I guess I am fixing to fire mine up soon next week, I just did the unthinkable, bid on some specials!!!!! If I pay this price for them I will use the sportsman. I can trust the temp in it better. We will see.

I had the same problem Harmony, I would move my thermometer around and would have different temps. OBTW I had about 78% hatch with that flux and MY 1st ever incubating. Not knowing what the hell I was doing. I didnt think that was to bad. Now I do (a little better at least) and will be making a blankie soon.

Good luck Remember heat rises and the best detection is at egg level. I am going for the dry humidity this next time. Basic 20% till 3 days before hatch.

I went through several bators full of eggs before I discovered there were several different readings on the thermometers! I can handle the temp changes.. I just needed to know what the temp was!

If your trying to calibrate the thermometers.. I'd have them close together.. then see which ones are closest..
I finally bought the Brinsea spot check thermometer and am trusting that one and tossed the others out. I am finally getting eggs to develop in the Hova bator with that thermometer... even with all the fluctuations.. This is the 4th bator load of eggs.. I better get something!!!!!!!
I think the Rh should be 50 to 60 to incubate 80 to hatch..
I don't think the humidity is as critical as the temp... at least it doesn't have to be as exact..

Catscan was telling me that the pullets are more sensitive to temp fluctuations in the bator.. hence a hatch with more roos than pullets..

Oh, that is interesting!!! That could explain why I always have a bunch of roos!

Indeed very interesting.

I was just checking out some websites for the sportsman. Prices really vary! Although I know some websites tack on more for shipping so it's not such a bargain.

I can't find the article, but it is interesting.. It was on this site.. http://www.pekinbantams.com/troubleShooting.asp

An excellent site for incubation information for sure!

Got my humidity down to 43% on my acurite which i moved to where the white one was (allmost egg height) and it's at 100 temp.and holding
My brower thermometer is at 99.5 and holding
The cheap little white one is now up top and says 48% humidity and 97 temp.

This humidity is between what some are doing which is the dry incubation and the 50 or so % most incu recommend

I believe the white one to be wrong before i moved it from the bottom it said 97 and when i put the acurite in the same spot it reads 100

The acurite has remained at 100 from yesterday afternoon to right now and so has the brower been at 99.5.

Would 5 degrees make that much difference in a hatch??

Should i go with the 43% humidity for 18 days??

Luvs Just to let you know the Blanket has made a HUGE! difference in temp control.

This past spring i hatched 3 times and it took me a week to get the temp right it only took me 1 hour this time and it has held all thru the night.
We keep our heat on about 57 at night thats just for the pipes and our comfort my incu was 99.5 Brower 100 acurite and of course 97 white junk.
When i got up it was 61 degrees in my house and my bater was 99.5 brower, 100 acurite and of course white junk 97.
I removed some water at 8 this morning to drop the humidity and moved the 2 thermometers and within 1 hour it was Brower 99.5, Acurite 100 and junk 97.

Make you a Blanket Luvs and you won't have a problem with the temp.

Oh and on the temp and pullets/roo i hatched 3 times in this last march,april,may and i had about 50/50 at 99.5

Thanks for the link ZZ it is a good link.

Theres just so many opinions on incu humidity it's very confuseing to say the least.

On another site they are praiseing the dry incubateing as 100% hatch while others say it causes chicks to stick to the shell.
Still others say a 50 and above humidity will cause the chicks to drown in the shell and others say they won't hatch with low humidity.

Lordy who do you believe???

I didn't even have a thingy to hatch mine this past spring and i hatched 35 out of 38 first time 37 out of 47 second time and 33 out of 44 on the third time.
Most of the non hatchers were dead in the shell so i thought if i could adjust the humidity i might get all to hatch.
Could be a pipe dream just hate to see those eggs not hatch.
Of course i start out with more than these above but theres always the infertiles and early ones that stop developeing.
But i do know the strongest and the healthiest stock are the ones that hatch and the weaker are the ones that don't make it.
I watched mine hatch and on all 3 my fawn duckwings hatched first and it was a pip and within 30 minutes they were out.
I think that could be a good measure of your breeding stock just by seeing which are the strongest.

That is great Harmony on the stable temp. I am going to make my bator blanket today or tomorrow.