Our neighbor Oscar asked if he could give me eggs to hatch. Well, I’ve not had success hatching any yet, but I told him I was willing to try.
He said they have some game chickens of some sort that sell for a few hundred dollars each. I don’t know what breed they are, but we have thirty-some of the eggs.
I prayed about it the evening before they came and asked God for wisdom. It’s bad enough failing with my own eggs, but I didn’t want to ruin his. As I drifted off to sleep, I had this impression that the temperature was too high.
The next morning, the eggs arrived. I set up the incubator and let the temperature stabilize. I then put in my second digital thermometer and began making adjustments to get the machine’s thermometer to match. Machines like this can need temperature correction. That’s common.
Though I had them in sync, I didn’t feel right about it. Then I had the idea to use a baby thermometer and our cheese thermometer to check against the other thermometers.
The cheese thermometer needed time to get an accurate air reading, but the baby thermometer read out at over 103 degrees (F). It should be only 99.5. I immediately began readjusting the machine lower.
I continued to make micro adjustments over a few hours’ time. When the cheese thermometer and baby thermometer both agreed the temperature was holding at 99.5, I stopped.
A week later, I checked the eggs. I have chicks! The majority of the eggs show healthy blood vessels. Many of them had clear spots where the chick was visible.
This is a first with this machine. It appears I was roasting the chicks in the other batches. We have two weeks to go, but I’m eager to see if this correction fixes the problems.
It pays to double check, but sometimes it pays better to triple check. I’m thankful the Lord brought that idea to mind.
Juan David 