Hatching an egg under a heat lamp?

[Malibu99]

Quick question- can you hatch an egg under one of those heat lamps? How would one go about doing that?

 

[Firekin1]

no, you could cook it under a heat lamp though. When hatching eggs, they need to be at a certain constant temperature, have a certain percentage of humidity, and be rotated every so often. You can google how to make your own incubator quite cheap however.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

As long as you get the temperature right it can work.
That said, I wouldn't aim the heat lamp directly at the egg because infrared heats the object it is aimed at so it could ruin the egg. Instead of a heat lamp, I would just use a regular incandescent lamp because it will heat the air rather by radiating heat rather than the object it is aimed at. You can adjust the heat by moving the lamp closer or farther away or by changing the wattage. You could also put a dimmer in line to adjust the heat.
You want the temperature to be 99.5.
You'll also need a water source for humidity.

 

[Malibu99]

Great, thanks. I have one of those grow lamps for plants, so I stuck a thermometer/hydrometer in a plastic bag with a slightly damp paper towel to try to get everything just right. Should I just ditch the plastic sandwich bag?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

The plastic bag could suffocate the egg. An embryo needs oxygen to breathe.
I think the grow lamp is unnecessary. All you want is the heat so a plain incandescent will work. Depending on the size of the container (with air holes) you could need anywhere from a 25 to a 100 watt lamp.

 

[Malibu99]

Okay. I got a plastic container and put the sandwich bag over it with a rubber band and poked holes in it... will that be good enough? I have a wet paper towel in it and I'm seeing if it will heat up to the right temp.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Once you get the temperature right, I'd put a couple holes near the bottom of the container so fresh air can be drawn in and rise through the top holes. Oxygen isn't as critical the first week but becomes more important as the embryo grows.

I highly recommend that you review some of these homemade incubators for ideas.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/homemade-chicken-egg-incubator-designs-pictures

And these fails for advice what not to do.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/egg-failure-to-hatch-diagnosing-incubation-problems

 

[Malibu99]

Thanks! I'll let you know how this all goes.

 

[tamiep]

Styrofoam and some plastics give off a gas when heated and are toxic. I just made an incubator out of Styrofoam, which is what a lot of people recommend, once it heats up, it starts emitting a gas. It also leaches toxins into food when heated, like your coffee, takeout food, etc. I just read the MSDS sheet. It's toxic. Same goes of plastics that are not made to be heated e.g. storage bins.

 

[jazzisbest]

I used a heat lamp for my eggs and they worked