Hi,

I will be joining you in about a week, collecting my eggs, as my girl is laying every other day.  What % of humidity should I have?  I have seen it depends on where you live.  I live in north georgia or should I just not worry about this?  This will be my first try at this.

I like your bator, I was not brave enough or ingenious enough to try and make mine, so my son (he's in the Navy) asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I said a bator, so he said to send him the link of the one I really, really,wanted so I have found a Brinsea Octagon 20 ECO Manual Turn Egg Incubator for $113.00.  I thought that was a good price and it seems to be a winner here on BYC.  So now I feel like a kid waiting for my present to arrive.  I have started collecting my eggs and have them at room temp and in an egg carton at about 45 degree angle that I alternate 3 times a day and figure I will collect for a week and a half and then put them in the bator,  See my RIR Roo passed away Tuesday from old age, he was fine day before and went to bed got up came out of his house and my husband went to let them out to free range and said Big Red was down and I went out to basically see him take his last couple of breaths, but his breathing was not rattled no signs of any sickness so that is why I figured old age he was old when I got him and I had him 2 years, and his crow alone told you he was old.  So I wanted the Buff Orphington hen and him to see what their eggs would be like, so now it is a mad dash against time, she will still lay his fertilize eggs for about 2 to 3 weeks.  She sat eggs this past summer but we ate her eggs before I finally decided to give her 5 course I am new to all of this and didn't realize that she needed all of her eggs at once and I was randomly giving her eggs so out of 5  she hatched 2 of his eggs but the hens were also RIR's.  So I do have his son and dau.  anyway sorry for the long story.  

I'm hoping to set eggs today so I'll be a few days behind.

I just finished a cabinet incubator with separate hatcher. I figured that way I could continue to put eggs in as needed.

I haven't posted pictures yet but will when I get time.

I've been planning the incubator since spring but my city found out I had chickens and told me I had to remove them. We went to battle with city hall and won. They passed a new ordinance last week allowing me to keep doing what I'm doing so I worked on the bator project a little every day.

This morning I'm just putting the finishing touches on the humidifier in the hatcher.

Trouble is most of the girls are in molt. I've been saving all the eggs I can but some are getting a little old.

Glad you won with your local gov't and thanks for the humidity information as my eggs will be a little older.