My DIY incubator

Maybe you want to get a couple of bantam chicken broodies to set on your gamebird eggs, at least for the first couple of weeks if not all the way through.

I understand why you'd want to take then away from the gamebirds!

Couple banties wouldn't do much good.I'd need 100 or more.

Well in that case...

Your incubator design is not much different from mine, other than that I didn't bother to make the nice wood box, it's just wrapped with pieces of foam insulation sheets. The interior is pretty similar, a frame of 1 x 2s supporting 5 drawers. Even the door is just a sheet of foam sheathing. I used a duct instead of a false back as it seemed it would be easier to clean (I can strip it down to the frame in minutes) but otherwise the heat is at the top, 150w element, the fan pushes the air down past the heating element, and the warm air passes over the water tray and convection brings it back up.

I am using a digital temp controller that is performing very well, and leave the fan running all the time whether the heat is on or not.

Mine will hold 205 chicken eggs in auto turners, or probably 250 in the bare trays. First run of eggs is going through now, hatch date next Monday, and so far pretty good with 4 eggs out of 26 fertile failed before day 7.

One thing I have learned over the last couple of years is that too much humidity is worse than too little. But the only way you can tell what happened to the chicks is to track a sample of eggs from collection through incubation and determine what happened to them. Like making sure they are room temp before setting, that large end is up, that temps are right, that humidity is between 30-40%, that turning is done gently at least 3 x a day and at least 45 degrees of tilt per turn, that air cells develop properly through incubation, and that humidity and ventilation are increased at lockdown with no turning and as little interference as possible for the three days before scheduled hatch. I am also becoming a believer that as little disturbance between day 10 and day 14 as possible is best.

My issues last year were nearly all caused by humidity and temperature changes, and I was hatching out weak turkeys due to low overall incubation temps and too much humidity in my tabletop incubators. This year, I have been running right around 35-40% in the incubator and the air cells look to be right on track. I'm also handling eggs a lot less and my home built incubator doesn't have hot spots like some of the tabletop models.

The only way to diagnose the problem is to crack and examine the eggs as soon as you find them dead, to determine the developmental stage and to see if you can see a physical deformity in the embryo, or signs of bacteria inside the shell.

Sanitation is even more critical with the nice warm humid environment. Bacteria, molds and yeasts grow just as well as poults in there. I am not sure if I will sanitize with steam, UV light, or bleach but one or more will go into effect. Staggered hatches are going to make that tough, though, to clean between hatches.

Get another thermometer and check the temperataure at each tray level. I am currently having problems with mine, the temperatures vary greatly between levels. Mine has light bulbs near the top; I was thinking of moving them to the bottom and seeing if that helps. Also going to add another fan.

Madison. On your motor where is center? Mine is about the same.

Wasn't mounted in other picture.