Reptipro 5000 Hatch-A-Long (= - Page 15

Hi Folks, first post. After finding it difficult to locate pullets last year, I decided to expand my chickenry and raise my own (along with dairy goats and rabbits). Got a NH Red Roo a month ago so he could service my 9 Red Stars, 3 NH Reds, and 3 Araucanas. After two weeks, decided he'd dated everyone so grabbed a dozen and put them in the incubator. I have a Reptipro (sort of) as it is a Cooler/Warmer of the same specs as the Reptipro (that I bought on eBay before I discovered the Reptipro Incubator) and I bought their (Reptipro once I discovered them) egg turner to go with it. Set the shelf on the middle position (can't use the top position with the egg turner). Tried three different water containers sitting on the bottom (removed the bottom water tray) to get 40% Rel Humidity (I heat with wood and it's fairly dry in the house this time of year). Set the dozen on the 21st. Incubator is dead on at 100.2F and 40%RH. Will candle Saturday (7 days) and that's it. Will open the door daily for a half minute to do air exchange. On Feb 9th (19 days) will boost the humidity, remove eggs from turner and set on shelf (with the rubber shelf liner material, thanks for that idea) and start counting peeps in 3 days. Thanks for all of the ideas and experiences - I was able to distill down everyone's input to a plan that {hopefully} works for me. Must post on a different thread the poor Roo getting 'hen pecked' almost to death (bloody wattles then loss of all outer feathers). More to follow, this is an ongoing learning experience but fun too. Good prep for all the goats (4) having Kids in May and the Rabbits (2) having Kits in June.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dobieslady1 

What is the purpose of the mason jars? What is in them? Is the lid open?

the jars are filled with tap water and sealed. They act as heat sinks.. so they help to keep the incubator temp more stable in the LG.. I also use them to help get the temperature stable in an incubator before setting emu eggs since they are almost the same size as an emu egg and I would rather fine tune the temp with jars of water than I would with the actual eggs!

Quote:

Originally Posted by JenBirdRansom 

yinepu,

 

My humidity stays between 30-50%.

 

I'll go get that shelf liner...and thank you for the visual!  (I'm a totally visual person, and I imagined the tan kind because that's what I always find in the houses I work in)

 

And do I need a grey cat also? 

 

 

50% is a bit high for the first 18 days... so if it keeps jumping up to that you can either move it to a drier room in your house or add the rice as msheets suggested

the cat comes with the modified LG.. it's used to hold the top on since we all know how incubator tops like to float away without an extra heavy cat to hold them on
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by JenBirdRansom 

I have to work a bit to keep the humidity up, and keep it up.  It wants to go much lower than 25% but if I add too much then it goes way too high.  But adding a titch of water every couple hours doesn't work overnight. 

 

 

what kind of container are you using to hold the water?.. try using something with a small surface area (like a pill bottle or shot glass as opposed to a bowl of water).

the surface area of the water will determine how high your humidity wants to go.. so for example if during lockdown you are using a coffee cup and have problems getting a high enough humidity you can add a sponge to it or wet papertowels sticking out of it to increase the surface area

Quote:

Originally Posted by skyking 

Hi Folks, first post. After finding it difficult to locate pullets last year, I decided to expand my chickenry and raise my own (along with dairy goats and rabbits). Got a NH Red Roo a month ago so he could service my 9 Red Stars, 3 NH Reds, and 3 Araucanas. After two weeks, decided he'd dated everyone so grabbed a dozen and put them in the incubator. I have a Reptipro (sort of) as it is a Cooler/Warmer of the same specs as the Reptipro (that I bought on eBay before I discovered the Reptipro Incubator) and I bought their (Reptipro once I discovered them) egg turner to go with it. Set the shelf on the middle position (can't use the top position with the egg turner). Tried three different water containers sitting on the bottom (removed the bottom water tray) to get 40% Rel Humidity (I heat with wood and it's fairly dry in the house this time of year). Set the dozen on the 21st. Incubator is dead on at 100.2F and 40%RH. Will candle Saturday (7 days) and that's it. Will open the door daily for a half minute to do air exchange. On Feb 9th (19 days) will boost the humidity, remove eggs from turner and set on shelf (with the rubber shelf liner material, thanks for that idea) and start counting peeps in 3 days. Thanks for all of the ideas and experiences - I was able to distill down everyone's input to a plan that {hopefully} works for me. Must post on a different thread the poor Roo getting 'hen pecked' almost to death (bloody wattles then loss of all outer feathers). More to follow, this is an ongoing learning experience but fun too. Good prep for all the goats (4) having Kids in May and the Rabbits (2) having Kits in June.

don't forget to add a bit of weather stripping or duct tape to the edge of the shelves to close off the gap between the shelves and door before lockdown.. otherwise chicks tend to slip down between them
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by yinepu 

what kind of container are you using to hold the water?.. try using something with a small surface area (like a pill bottle or shot glass as opposed to a bowl of water).

 

the surface area of the water will determine how high your humidity wants to go.. so for example if during lockdown you are using a coffee cup and have problems getting a high enough humidity you can add a sponge to it or wet papertowels sticking out of it to increase the surface area

 

 

 

 

Oh SNAP!  I was just pouring it onto the little tray with the troughs in it.  That is A LOT of surface area.  I get the dork award!!  It only spiked that high once and I brought it back down by soaking up some water with a paper towel.  I also get runner up DORK award! 

Here is a chic pic of the sweet little Bantam Ameraucanas from Banjoe Joe I have hatching tonight

They look great! How many do you have ready to hatch tonight?

I have 18 eggs and 3 are fuzzing up with 9 more piped so far

Quote:

Originally Posted by Melissa Rose 

I have 18 eggs and 3 are fuzzing up with 9 more piped so far

I am desperately holding out for the new model to be ready to ship. Hopefully soon! I have been seriously limping along with an old pair of Hovabator 1602's (think that is the right model #). We finally put a fan in one and will do so in the other (I use one as a hatcher), but seriously, they aren't doing the job. For hatching, they lose humidity and if I dry incubate, they lose it right down to 16% without even trying! I have nearly all bantam Wyandottes and 7 Modern Game Bantams, but I'd love to add some Ameraucana bantams sometime. Keep us updated, Love the pics!