Short background:
We've been raising chickens for about a year now(Black Australorps and Wellies), and finally decided to take the plunge and begin hatching. It seems a necessary step in this whole process, as quality stock can be difficult to come by. We decided this would give us a little more control.
Not willing to invest in a Brinsea or Sportsman just yet, we purchased two LG9200's, with egg turners, very cheap on CL. After trying(and failing) to maintain a steady temp/humidity in them for a few weeks, we did some more research and bought an IncuKit mini(seen here: http://incubatorwarehouse.com/48-watt-incukit-dc.html) and ripped the guts out of our LG(oh, the pleasure), and replaced them with said kit.
Pics:
Before
Guts
After removing the heating element, thermostat, control, plastic panels(windows), and various nuts and bolts, I cut out the middle section of styrofoam and replaced that entire section(including windows), with a Lexan panel, sealing it with foam weather stripping and silicon caulking.
Finished product
After ensuring that the new bator and IncuKit would hold a relatively steady temp and humidity, we went for it and set 18 backyard mix eggs on the 18th of July. These chicks will either be pure BA's or Welsummer over BA cross and will be strictly for egg production/experimentation purposes.
Today is the 12th day and so far we have 15/18 eggs developing. Shortly after setting them, we realized we wanted a third thermometer, as well as a back up IncuKit and ordered another IncuKit and an IncuTherm Plus.
Here are the eggs today:
We candled on day 7 and marked the clears. Removed them when we candled again on day 11.
That's about it! So far, we are very pleased with the outcome. Incubator warehouse processes and ships orders within 24 hours(IME), and their products seem to work well(fingers crossed, knock on wood).
We'll update as the hatch progresses! Any info or advice is always appreciated.
Edit: weather striping, eh?
We've been raising chickens for about a year now(Black Australorps and Wellies), and finally decided to take the plunge and begin hatching. It seems a necessary step in this whole process, as quality stock can be difficult to come by. We decided this would give us a little more control.
Not willing to invest in a Brinsea or Sportsman just yet, we purchased two LG9200's, with egg turners, very cheap on CL. After trying(and failing) to maintain a steady temp/humidity in them for a few weeks, we did some more research and bought an IncuKit mini(seen here: http://incubatorwarehouse.com/48-watt-incukit-dc.html) and ripped the guts out of our LG(oh, the pleasure), and replaced them with said kit.
Pics:
Before
Guts
After removing the heating element, thermostat, control, plastic panels(windows), and various nuts and bolts, I cut out the middle section of styrofoam and replaced that entire section(including windows), with a Lexan panel, sealing it with foam weather stripping and silicon caulking.
Finished product
After ensuring that the new bator and IncuKit would hold a relatively steady temp and humidity, we went for it and set 18 backyard mix eggs on the 18th of July. These chicks will either be pure BA's or Welsummer over BA cross and will be strictly for egg production/experimentation purposes.
Today is the 12th day and so far we have 15/18 eggs developing. Shortly after setting them, we realized we wanted a third thermometer, as well as a back up IncuKit and ordered another IncuKit and an IncuTherm Plus.
Here are the eggs today:
We candled on day 7 and marked the clears. Removed them when we candled again on day 11.
That's about it! So far, we are very pleased with the outcome. Incubator warehouse processes and ships orders within 24 hours(IME), and their products seem to work well(fingers crossed, knock on wood).
We'll update as the hatch progresses! Any info or advice is always appreciated.
Edit: weather striping, eh?
Last edited:
