Adding heat sinks\dummy eggs to incubator

[Lizzy733]

Does anybody do this?

Thinking if I maybe get some easter eggs, fill them with water and seal them, they can work as mini heat sinks to keep temps more even in there when doing smaller batches.

I'm trialling some eggs from my juvenile roo(slw) and some oddball bantam hens (silkies & frizzle). On day 6 and seeing lotsa clears. I popped 18 in my 24 egg incubator and have 11 good, 1 ring, and looking to be 6 clears on day 6. Some are looking really healthy and I can't be certain he's had a chance to cover all the hens currently on the lay, so pretty happy with how they're looking so far. Leaving the clears in for the time being to keep those temps nice and even.

I just worry about l that empty space seeing as my incubator is a chinese one. It did okay on its last run, but I saw lots of losses after lockdown and they were almost exclusively in those on the outer edges of the clutch and I do suspect it had trouble keeping those areas warm.

Anybody got any other heat sink ideas? This bater has an auto-tray, so would want a filler that can fit a standard cup and is easy to sterilize, maybe ceramic dummies? Has anybody done this or seen an improvement in hatching outcome from running a full bator vs partial fill?

 

[raingarden]

Maybe fill the eggs with parafin so they don't leak.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/organic-phase-change-material

How about ceramic eggs? They try to make them weigh as much as real eggs. Or brick.

 

[Lizzy733]

Maybe fill the eggs with parafin so they don't leak.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/organic-phase-change-material

How about ceramic eggs? They try to make them weigh as much as real eggs. Or brick.

Just trying to decide what I can use .. depends on 'if' I can even find plastic or ceramic eggs too as NZ is weird about what imports they get and my closest big town has a pretty paltry selection. Two days before easter and there were no themed chocolates or anything in the stores, but I'll be going to 'proper' big town, which is 2 hours away this week so may be able to find some easter dregs if I'm lucky.

I'd like to avoid anything porous if I can so it doesn't become a bacteria magnet. With ceramic, there's always that one bit that doesn't get glazed and the entire inside to be concerned with. Was thinking if I did do plastic eggs to plug them up tight once filled with an epoxy, enamel or just plain tape. - something that'll hold up to basic chemical sterilization. A brick definitely wouldn't fit in my bator. Not much room with those trays in.

The idea of using a wax-based filler is interesting though. I have a friend with bees that doesnt keep the comb, so that might be an idea. Will have to look at your link regarding the thermal conductivity. I just know water is a pretty exceptional heat sink as far as materials go. Will have to check some melting points now too.

Thanks for giving me some alternatives to think about!

 

[GabrielBernard]

You can just poke raw eggs and blow them out, then fill them back up with plastermix.
I think it is called plaster? The powdered gypsum you mix with water and then can use to fill holes?
I did that for finch eggs, so the hen would accept the fake eggs. Because the canary fake eggs were too big.
So i carefully emptied the shells and filled up her own eggs with plaster, which turned firm in a few minutes and tadaaa...
They also keep warmth for quite some time, and no chance of leaking water or oil anywhere or getting it on the baby chicks.

You can simply disinfect them by baking them in the oven...

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

I have heat sinks for my incubator because I often only put a few eggs in at a time. It does really help with keeping the temperature steady when the room that the incubators are in has temperature swings.

My heat sinks are tiny glass jars that I filled with water. Easy to clean, and they fit nicely in my incubators. Some of them are baby food jars that, from the sound of it, might not fit where you need them, but I also have these little 1-ounce jam jars that fit nicely alongside my eggs. Specifically they're from Bonne Maman 1-ounce jams. I believe you can purchase similar jars already empty if you don't want to eat that much jam, though!

 

[Lizzy733]

You can just poke raw eggs and blow them out, then fill them back up with plastermix.
I think it is called plaster? The powdered gypsum you mix with water and then can use to fill holes?
I did that for finch eggs, so the hen would accept the fake eggs. Because the canary fake eggs were too big.
So i carefully emptied the shells and filled up her own eggs with plaster, which turned firm in a few minutes and tadaaa...
They also keep warmth for quite some time, and no chance of leaking water or oil anywhere or getting it on the baby chicks.

You can simply disinfect them by baking them in the oven...

Now that's something easy to source bits for.

Taking out the organic element and considering plaster is still porous, might just use the eggs as a temporary mold, paint and epoxy the whole thing to allow for an easily washable surface and so they don't look so legit.

Will have to wait till my girl that lays the big eggs is back on the lay though. She's molting and we're now in fall. Might have to get some store eggs for this cause I want to be setting her eggs as she and my roo are purebred slw, my only two, and my whole reason for getting him was for more slw :/ She conveniently stopped laying when he started taking an interest in the girls. She's a bit of a jerk though, so fits her pattern of behavior.

 

[GabrielBernard]

If you can not get your own, store bought is fine


So yeah,. you can even use a bit of fine sand to weigh out how much a natural egg would be, mixed with the plaster and fill the shell, so if you wanna use it for hens, they will not get suspicious because of a weight difference.
Plaster after all is rather light.

I did use some paint-finish thing for other eggs, to be able to wipe them off easily, when I was done filling them and letting them dry.

Basically, weigh out how much dry plaster and sand you need for a natural weight before adding water, and do the thing.

These are also fantastic if you want to deter an egg eating hen from destroying your hatcheggs.

 

[Lizzy733]

If you can not get your own, store bought is fine


So yeah,. you can even use a bit of fine sand to weigh out how much a natural egg would be, mixed with the plaster and fill the shell, so if you wanna use it for hens, they will not get suspicious because of a weight difference.
Plaster after all is rather light.

I did use some paint-finish thing for other eggs, to be able to wipe them off easily, when I was done filling them and letting them dry.

Basically, weigh out how much dry plaster and sand you need for a natural weight before adding water, and do the thing.

These are also fantastic if you want to deter an egg eating hen from destroying your hatcheggs.

I've not had any issues with egg eaters, fortunately and generally used plastic for dummies, but the older girls know what they're doing and the pullets learn from them, so havent had to use dummys for a while.