One of the most crucial factors of an incubator is the temperature. Low hatch rates are usually due to inappropriate management of the temperature, thus making it very essential to note that the temperature control shouldn’t be taken for granted.
Establishing the desired temperature also depends on the kind of incubator you use. If you are making a small incubator without fans for air circulation, it is referred to as a still-air incubator. Another type is the forced-air where fans are installed and are usually applied in incubators that are larger in sizes.
In measuring the temperature of a small still-air incubator, the temperature sensor must be placed at the level of the topmost part of the egg. Since it does not have uniform temperature throughout the area, it should be set to 38.9 °C or 102 °F in order to allow enough distribution of heat all throughout even without the fans. On the other side, forced-air incubators have uniform temperature almost everywhere in the area as the heat is properly distributed through the air circulation. Therefore you can place the sensor preferably near the supply of the circulating air (where the air comes from) and set it to 37.5 – 37.8 °C (99.5-100 °F).
Maintaining temperature however, is a laborious task and most of the time, a failure if you are without proper equipments. Slight changes in the temperature can already cause significant deviations to the embryo’s development. Temperatures outside the recommended range can speed up or slow down the development thus resulting to death of the embryo or causing abnormalities to the chick when hatched.
An important equipment to consider is the thermometer you use. Even if you got a brand new thermometer, whether digital or not, you still have to check for its accuracy. You can do this by merging it in a container filled with ice made of distilled water and with a small amount of distilled water to make sure that the melting and freezing point is 0°C. If reading is not exactly zero as the water freezing and melting point should be, use it as your baseline reading accordingly. If the reading is -0.1 °C, that means you should add 0.1 °C whenever you get your readings.
Aside from the thermometer, you also have to see to it that you choose the proper thermostat. Thermostats come with various kinds and features therefore you should have enough knowledge about this in order to choose the best for your incubator. The type that was commonly used before is the mechanical thermostat. It involves the movement of a certain metal as the temperature changes. These movements will then determine whether the heater should turn on or off thereby controlling the temperature according to your preferences. Using this type of thermostat though brought up certain concerns in incubator usage since the movement of the metals takes place only after the temperature changes drastically. This causes the interval between the points at which the circuit switches on and off, or the hysteresis, to increase to 1 °C (1.8 °F) or more. This is already very significant since the range of the recommended temperature should only be between 99.5-100 °F. This makes calibration difficult and at times, become really disappointing. Nowadays though, most of the incubator manufacturers are already using the electronic thermostats. It involves a micro switch that will turn the power on or off. The electronic type is now more preferred since its hysteresis can be adjusted even down to 0.1 °C. This means that the temperature inside can be very stable and can be easily adjusted almost exactly as you prefer.
The kind of electronic thermostat you choose though must also be specifically and properly designed for poultry incubators. It must come along with features that are important in managing the whole process of incubation, such as the minus 1°C switch, heating supply indicator and the like. Because of this, finding the appropriate thermostat for sale becomes difficult. Of course, it is aside from the fact that this is not commonly sold apart from the expensive commercial incubators. So if you are planning to make your own incubator, and have been looking for an affordable electronic thermostat specifically designed for that, then you got to check out our product and see how advantageous it can be to you whether you are making the incubator for personal use or for selling purposes.
