New Delhi (India), October 31: Incubating chicken eggs might seem daunting, but it's actually relatively simple and mainly involves ensuring the eggs are kept in the optimal conditions of both temperature and humidity.
But what is the ideal chicken incubator temperature? Read on for all the details you need about this topic!
Best Chicken incubator Temperature: The short answer
The ideal temperatures for incubating chicken eggs and the acceptable temperature ranges can be a surprisingly complex topic when you get into it - and we'll do just that later in this post.
However, let's start with a simple answer.
The optimum temperature for incubating chicken eggs is generally accepted as being 99.5°F.
Beyond that, in an chicken incubator that has a fan to keep the air circulating to ensure an even distribution of heat, anything in the range of 99-100° will still yield optimal results.
On the other hand, in an chicken incubator with no fan, the recommended temperatures are a little higher, with 100-101°F considered best.
However, there's a little more to it than just this, so now let's start looking at the question in a bit more depth.
What happens if Chicken incubator Temperature are outside the optimal ranges?
If you set your chicken incubator up to provide your eggs with optimal conditions, it will lead to the highest possible hatch success rates - but what happens if the temperatures are sub-optimal?
When it comes to temperatures that are too high, the answer is simple. The higher the temperatures go, the fewer chicks will survive. In temperatures that are too high, the embryos die before they can hatch, and after a certain threshold, no embryos can survive.
With colder temperatures on the other hand, things are a little more complicated, depending on a range of factors that we'll look at in more detail in just a moment - but let's summarize.
If the temperatures are too low, it slows development, and at best, it can lead to chicks hatching a day or two late with few or no problems.
However, fewer chicks are likely to hatch, and of those that do hatch, a higher proportion will have health issues or even deformities.
More significantly low temperatures can lead to irregular development, so certain parts of the chick such as the organs may develop faster or slower than others, which will lead to the chick either dying or not being correctly formed.
At lower temperatures than this, the embryo will simply not start developing - and even lower than that, at temperatures below freezing, the embryo will be destroyed and the egg will become non-viable, even if it had been fertilized.
So now let's go a bit deeper into this and look at what happens at various temperature ranges and also how the length of temperature fluctuations and the age of the embryo can affect the outcome.
Going deeper to Chicken incubator Temperature
In a roundup of the scientific literature by well-known chicken incubator manufacturer Brinsea, five "temperature zones" that have different effects on the development of eggs were identified. They are:
● Zone of heat injury - 104.9°F and above
● Zone of hatching potential - 95-104.9°F
● Zone of disproportionate development - 80.6-95°F
● Zone of suspended development - 28.4-80.6°F
● Zone of cold injury - below 28.4°F
Here's what happens to eggs and embryos when kept in these different temperature zones:
Chicken incubator Temperature zone of heat injury
Eggs kept in the zone of heat injury of 104.9°F and above will usually not survive, although if the temperature only rises above this threshold for a short period, they may still hatch - especially if the higher temperatures are experienced later in the incubation period.
Chicken incubator Temperature zone of hatching potential
The optimal temperature for hatching eggs of 99.5°F falls within the zone of hatching potential.
However, temperatures above this can speed up chicks' development, causing them to hatch early, and the more the temperature rises above 99.5°F, the higher the chances become of chicks hatching with deformities.
With temperatures that fall below 99.5°F but still within this range, development will be slowed, and hatching may be delayed. With lower temperatures, chicks may also be born crippled or with deformities, and this becomes more likely the lower the temperatures go.
That said, after around day 16, the effects are not so serious, and it's possible that lowering the temperature by a couple of degrees may even be beneficial - although most people still try to maintain a regular 99.5°F throughout the whole 21 days of incubation.
Chicken incubator Temperature zone of disproportionate development
In the zone of disproportionate development (80.6-95°F), the different parts of the embryo develop at different speeds, and this may result in chicks with oversized hearts and heads but with undersized bodies.
Some organs may not develop at all, and most, if not all, chicks will die before hatching - and even if any manage to hatch, very few will survive.
However, this refers to keeping the eggs at these temperatures for extended periods - but for shorter periods, it seems the situation is different, especially in the first week of development.
In the first seven days of development, embryos can survive temperatures as low as just above freezing for up to 24 hours with no ill effects other than that they may hatch a little later at the end of the incubation period.
On the other hand, embryos older than around seven days will usually be killed by these kinds of low temperatures, even when exposed to them for shorter periods.
Chicken incubator Temperature zone of suspended development
The zone of suspended development (28.4-80.6°F) corresponds with temperatures where nothing happens - the embryo in a fertilized egg will simply not start developing.
This is the temperature at which fertilized eggs can safely be stored without them becoming unviable. Eggs stored at around 55-60°F can last for up to 10 days or sometimes longer with no ill effects, but at temperatures below this, they may become unviable more quickly.
This is why you shouldn't usually keep viable fertilized eggs in a refrigerator but rather somewhere with a steady, cool temperature of around 55-60°F.
Chicken incubator Temperature zone of cold injury
Finally, at temperatures below 28.4°F, the zone of cold injury, ice crystals form in the egg and it becomes unviable, even if it had been fertilized.
Key takeaways
Knowing a little science never hurts, but what does this all mean in practical terms for egg incubation? Here are the key takeaways.
Try to keep your chicken incubator settings within ideal parameters
The best way to ensure you have the highest hatching success rates is to maintain all the parameters at optimal levels, and for temperature, this means 99.5°F or as close as you can get. If you do this, you can hardly go wrong.
Acceptable ranges and fluctuations
Most of the time, depending on your chicken incubator and where you keep it, minor fluctuations in temperature are inevitable, and you should do what you can to minimize them. However, minor, temporary fluctuations in either direction are not too serious.
Try to avoid exposing the eggs to higher temperatures as much as you can and reduce the temperature to 99.5°F as soon as possible when they occur.
With minor fluctuations below 99.5°F, the same advice holds. Simply return the temperature to 99.5°F as soon as possible and your eggs will suffer no ill effects.
If the temperature drops for longer than this - in the case of a power failure, for example - the situation is different.
Since embryos up to day seven can survive lower temperatures for up to 24 hours, it's best to keep them in the zone of suspended development rather than in the zone of disproportionate development since this will prevent them from developing deformities.
As a result, the best thing to do with these eggs is to put them in the fridge for up to 24 hours until you can bring them slowly back up to 99.5°F again.
With eggs that are older than this, however, this will kill them - so the best thing you can do is try to keep them at 99.5°F until the power comes back on or your chicken incubator starts working again.
Necessary equipment
Since the key to successful incubation is maintaining the correct temperature and also humidity levels, you should ensure your setup allows you to monitor and control these parameters accurately.
This means you will need a highly accurate thermometer (and hygrometer for humidity), and you will also need an chicken incubator that allows you to make small and accurate changes to these parameters - or ideally, one that does it automatically without the need for your intervention.
It's also advisable to have some kind of alarm system that can quickly alert you to more serious fluctuations in temperature or humidity.
Tip for Chicken incubator Temperature
Test the accuracy of your thermometer
Before using an chicken incubator to incubate eggs, you should test the accuracy of the thermometer and hygrometer inside against at least one but preferably two other accurate thermometers and hygrometers.
This way, you will know that the readings are correct and that you are providing the precise environmental conditions that are conducive to producing the best possible hatch rates from the eggs you incubate.
Attempt to keep your eggs within optimal ranges for best results
As we've seen, the ideal temperature to incubate chicken eggs is 99.5°F, and if you maintain this temperature for 21 days - along with the correct levels of humidity - you should enjoy excellent rates of success with your eggs.
However, even if there is some fluctuation, it's not always fatal or even that serious - and now you should also know what to do if you lose power and the temperatures drop lower than the recommended levels for more extended periods.
