I'm curious about what other people have used as an emergency incubator.
I have no incubator, and suddenly found myself in a situation where I needed to hatch abandoned eggs. Well, my solution the first day was a small cardboard box, an old hand towel, and an old desk lamp with a 60W bulb. And some water dripped on the towel and occassionally over the egg for moisture.
The second egg ended up hatching during a power outage - my mother in-law put together a sock filled with rice, warmed up in a microwave (she was down the road and had power briefly), put into the cardboard box, and nestled around it. It ended up hatching in the car on the way home.
Currently, (and what I had for the second egg to begin with), is a tub from Country Crock margarine, upside-down with a 'doorway' cut into in, and a wet paper towel. This sits inside the rubbermaid brooder with a proper heat lamp hanging over it (now that the power is back on). This hatched my third chick overnight /this morning.
Obviously, poor temperature controls, highly variable humidity, and the eggs were very cold to begin with, and I hatched 3 of 4! (The other egg had been damaged, and I hadn't really expected it to make it even with it pipping).
I have no incubator, and suddenly found myself in a situation where I needed to hatch abandoned eggs. Well, my solution the first day was a small cardboard box, an old hand towel, and an old desk lamp with a 60W bulb. And some water dripped on the towel and occassionally over the egg for moisture.
The second egg ended up hatching during a power outage - my mother in-law put together a sock filled with rice, warmed up in a microwave (she was down the road and had power briefly), put into the cardboard box, and nestled around it. It ended up hatching in the car on the way home.
Currently, (and what I had for the second egg to begin with), is a tub from Country Crock margarine, upside-down with a 'doorway' cut into in, and a wet paper towel. This sits inside the rubbermaid brooder with a proper heat lamp hanging over it (now that the power is back on). This hatched my third chick overnight /this morning.
Obviously, poor temperature controls, highly variable humidity, and the eggs were very cold to begin with, and I hatched 3 of 4! (The other egg had been damaged, and I hadn't really expected it to make it even with it pipping).
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eggs are nested together in a fleece jumper with only one layer between them and the sheet over the blanket. Candled this morning and saw definite movement in one... Not sure about the other two...
