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21 Days and 7 hours -- only 3 birds hatched -- should I be worried?

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John:
Once you have the results of your first hatch in that incubator don\'t worry about the location of the thermometer.  Keep it in the same location next time and adjust the heat up or down a degree or two to get the majority of chicks to hatch as close to 21 days as possible.
The temp in GQF incubators varies more than a degree from one location to another in the incubator.  I had one dial thermometer in my Leahy that read between 96 and 98 degrees and when it did I knew I had the temp right.  
The GQFs recommend 100.0 to 100.5 degrees.  The get a new incubator close I use a digital thermometer on in the middle of the center rack on a GQF.  After that I only use thermometers to make sure there are no drastic changes.  The proper gauge is the chicks hatching on time.

Guest:
John,

Thanks. On that note, there\'s probably little point in keeping the hygrometer in there either, though that\'s what I did.

The babies are adorable and I\'m going to enjoy them while I have them here.

--Ron

John:

--- Quote ---probably little point in keeping the hygrometer in there
--- End quote ---

The first time I used my GQF hatcher I put a wick on a thermometer to check the humidity.  It was fine.  I haven\'t checked it since with a wick and don\'t adjust the vents, which would cause the biggest change in humidity.
I have since bought a couple digital thermometer/hydrometers and used them in each incubator and hatcher when I fired them up for the season.  After that they came out.  I do leave the dial thermometers in the units that came with them.  I adjusted them all to read 100 degrees after I had the temps set so that the eggs hatch on time.  
Since opening the door or lid during a hatch is a great way to lose humidity I don\'t open the hatcher very open, but when I do I try to compensate by pouring water on floor of the hatcher just before closing the door.

Guest:

--- Quote from: John ---
--- Quote ---
Since opening the door or lid during a hatch is a great way to lose humidity I don\'t open the hatcher very open, but when I do I try to compensate by pouring water on floor of the hatcher just before closing the door.

--- End quote ---


my last hatch in the GQF straggled out over a couple of days, but I poured in hottish water after I took out chicks every evening- the steam restored the humidity and the temp quickly.  might not work for everyone though- I live in a very dry environment.  but I had no chicks stick to their shells this time, which was a vast improvement!
--- End quote ---

Guest:
After this thread started I paid attention to set times on the bator.. I set eggs on Sunday March 19th at 7pm they started hatching today april 9th at around 4 pm so far 11 out of 35 hatched.. I have 3 thermomiters in the bator all digitals the top one is right infront of the water pan it reads 101.8.. the next one is magnetic hanging on the middle tray in the turning area it reads 100.. the last one is in the bottom infront of the hatching tray reads 99.7.. actual humidity is right around 85%.  Learned a couple tricks with the Sportsman thought I\'d pass on. I have 2 humidity pads in it couldn\'t get humidity up to where it needed to be so I looked for a reason and found the hole where the hose runs from the automatic filler( 5 gallon bucket on the top) so i filled the area around it with paper towels turned the pan slightly cross ways so the fan blew across both pads.. worked great so far. the top center vent is open 1/2 way bottom center vent is barley cracked open. the rest are closed... hatched 22 out of 30 last week. see what happens this week. Chris

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