So by now everyone has seen Beekissed's version of a natural nest incubation. Well I was insprired to try this myself. So I'm starting my own thread so I don't take up her's.
Materials:
Cardboard box
Newspaper
Trash bag
Dirt with pearlie mixed in
Moist leaf litter
Hay
Rocks
Feathers
Sunbeam heating pad
Small rice filled pillow
Regular pillow
Meat therometers/ one digital and one analog
Spray bottle
Water wiggle
Hatching eggs(duh)
Steps:
1) Clean the box, remove the top flaps, tape the bottom closed.
2) Put newpaper in the bottom of the box
3) Use trashbag to mostly cover box
4) Pour dirt in and make a slight indentation in the middle
5) Cover with layer of leaf litter
6) Use hay to make a "nest shape"
7) Put a few feathers
8) Put clean rocks around the edge of the "nest". These will act as a heat sink and if something happens to the heating pad I'm hoping these will help keep the temps up.
9) More feathers
10) Place heating pad over nest, soft side down.
11) Add rice pillow on top of that.
12) Add regular pillow.
13) Let heating pad run at setting 3 for 15 minutes.
14) Add water wiggle, put 1 thermometer inside wiggle and other thermometer inside nest to measure air temp.
15) Allow to get air temp to 101 and wiggle temp to 99.5
16) Run over night monitering temps and ajusting as needed.
17) Add non-fertile eggs and moniter temps.
18) Carefully replace non-fertile eggs with fertile eggs.
19) Spritz area lightly with water.
20) Cover and moniter temps.
21) Leave covered for 48 hours, just spritzing around as needed.
22) Uncover once a day for max of 15 minutes and spray some water on heating pad before covering up.
23) Repeat til hatching.
Atleast that's how I hope it will go. I so far have made it to adding the rocks. I need to find/buy a water wiggle. And I gotta wait on my eggs to come in the mail. I'm just praying and having faith in the man above that I won't have any detached air cells.
Materials:
Cardboard box
Newspaper
Trash bag
Dirt with pearlie mixed in
Moist leaf litter
Hay
Rocks
Feathers
Sunbeam heating pad
Small rice filled pillow
Regular pillow
Meat therometers/ one digital and one analog
Spray bottle
Water wiggle
Hatching eggs(duh)
Steps:
1) Clean the box, remove the top flaps, tape the bottom closed.
2) Put newpaper in the bottom of the box
3) Use trashbag to mostly cover box
4) Pour dirt in and make a slight indentation in the middle
5) Cover with layer of leaf litter
6) Use hay to make a "nest shape"
7) Put a few feathers
8) Put clean rocks around the edge of the "nest". These will act as a heat sink and if something happens to the heating pad I'm hoping these will help keep the temps up.
9) More feathers
10) Place heating pad over nest, soft side down.
11) Add rice pillow on top of that.
12) Add regular pillow.
13) Let heating pad run at setting 3 for 15 minutes.
14) Add water wiggle, put 1 thermometer inside wiggle and other thermometer inside nest to measure air temp.
15) Allow to get air temp to 101 and wiggle temp to 99.5
16) Run over night monitering temps and ajusting as needed.
17) Add non-fertile eggs and moniter temps.
18) Carefully replace non-fertile eggs with fertile eggs.
19) Spritz area lightly with water.
20) Cover and moniter temps.
21) Leave covered for 48 hours, just spritzing around as needed.
22) Uncover once a day for max of 15 minutes and spray some water on heating pad before covering up.
23) Repeat til hatching.
Atleast that's how I hope it will go. I so far have made it to adding the rocks. I need to find/buy a water wiggle. And I gotta wait on my eggs to come in the mail. I'm just praying and having faith in the man above that I won't have any detached air cells.
There are many that feel this can't work and many who would love for it not to work to prove that their methods are the best for incubation, but don't lose heart. Every method to incubate was, once upon a time, the new kid on the block and had its own naysayers and doubters. I've seen it before with other ideas and they generally shut up and crawl back in their holes when it works out and catches on. Have faith!
