HATCHING TEMPERATURE
Most of the large commercial type incubators and hatchers are run at 99oF. On the other hand, most of the smaller incubators and hatchers, like those commonly used by game bird producers, are run at 100oF.
Temperature is the easiest hatching function to regulate, provided you have a good set of controls to work with and provided you check the heating mechanism regularly. Without good, sensitive, easy-to-regulate, and dependable temperature controls, you can have low hatches, poor quality chicks, and you can sometimes lose the entire hatch. If your incubators and hatches are large enough to justify doing so, you should install a temperature sensitive alarm to warn you of the potential danger to the developing embryos.
Temperature alarms are usually constructed of two temperature sensors. One is set to activate the alarm if the temperature drops below 97 or 98oF. The other sensor is set to activate the alarm if the temperature goes above 102oF. This is a simple explanation of the temperature alarm and how it is installed, but even so, it is not all that difficult to install. If the machines are not in your home but are nearby, you may want to run a small wire (like speaker wire) from the machines to an alarm in your house so that you can monitor the machines at night also.
| Item | Chicken | Turkey | Duck | Muscovy Duck |
Goose | Guinea | Peafowl |
| Inc Period (days) |
21 | 28 | 28 | 35-37 | 28-34 | 28 | 28-30 |
| Temperature* (oF, dry-bulb) |
100 | 99 | 100 | 100 | 99 | 100 | 99 |
| Humidity (oF, wet-bulb) |
85-87 | 84-86 | 85-86 | 85-86 | 86-88 | 85-87 | 84-86 |
| No Egg Turning After |
18th day | 25th day | 25th day | 31st day | 25th day | 25th day | 25th day |
| Open Vents Additional ¼ |
10th day | 14th day | 12th day | 15th day | 1st day | 14th day | 14th day |
| Open Vents (if needed) |
18th day | 25th day | 25th day | 30th day | 25th day | 24th day | 25th day |
* For Forced-air incubators. Add 2-3oF. to the recommended temperatures if using a still-air incubator.
Incubation Periods & Incubation Operation Characteristics (Table 2)
| Item | Pheasant | Bobwhite Quail |
Coturnix Quail |
Chukar Partridge |
Grouse | Pigeon |
| Inc Period (days) |
23-28 | 23-24 | 17 | 23-24 | 25 | 17 |
| Temperature* (oF, dry-bulb) |
100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| Humidity (oF, wet-bulb) |
86-88 | 84-87 | 85-86 | 81-83 | 83-87 | 85-87 |
| No Egg Turning After |
21st day | 20th day | 15th day | 20th day | 22nd day | 15th day |
| Open Vents Additional ¼ |
12th day | 12th day | 8th day | 12th day | 12th day | 8th day |
| Open Vents (if needed) |
20th day | 20th day | 14th day | 20th day | 21th day | 14th day |