Styrofoam incubator humidity question?

banana-jana said:

My son made a Styrofoam incubator from a heavy Styrofoam box. We have tried a small bulb a 40 and a 25 both are running too hot. So we changed the socket to a regular bulb size and got a 15 watt. It is running at 97 to 95. He has worked so hard and cannot get the temperature right. Any suggestions? He is wanting to hatch quail and duck eggs. He has the little computer fan in there and a container of water. We just can't get the heat right. Would rocks help?? we just need a few degrees hotter. THe 40 watt gave us 135..not good. THe box is large.
THank you
JJ

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We had this problem with ours too. We ended up getting an extension chord that has a light dimmer switch on it, found it at our local Menards. If you don't have Menards's nearby, I bet Lowes or Home Depot has them.

Hook the light to the dimmer switch and play with it until you get a good steady temp. We're using a 40W bulb in our incubator on a dimmer, and this is more that sufficient. You'll find that if you fill the incubator with eggs, the temp stays regulated well. Empty, it's harder but if you keep your incubator somewhere out of drafts it's better. Even better if that spot out of drafts also happens to be near the house's thermostat control.

It's working so far for us too, we're pretty amazed. I am experiencing some amount of development that's faster/slower, not sure why yet. All of my chicken eggs are developing but seem to be about a day behind what looks normal for development, and one egg appears to be a day ahead of development. But it's working. Better than I expected, LOL.

PrairieChickens said:

The only time I hesitate to open the incubator for any reason is when a chick is actively hatching. The drop in humidity can be a real hazard to a chick exposed to the open air, but still confined to its shell. Otherwise, temporary drops in heat and humidity are acceptable, and occur frequently in natural incubating situations.

banana-jana, what about christmas lights? My dad uses them to warm up his started seeds so they will sprout. Using a strand of conventional christmas lights in addition to the small bulb may bring it up to the desired temperature.

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I read that eggs can withstand periodic slight cooling... might even improve hatch rate? Regardless, I have to open my incubator to turn my eggs, and if I don't turn them they'll definitely suffer.