Add Bleach to the incubator water??

[speckledhen]

I also have a well. No chlorine here, but if I did have city water, the chlorine in that sure wouldn't be as much as if you actually added bleach to your bator water, like ks says.

 

[Kiwibird]

I just found this old thread. While the concentration of bleach mentioned looks way over the top, I am thinking of trying a drop of bleach or a bit of vinegar in the incubator water. I find that my fairly new incubator starts to smell towards the end of each hatch, and it seems to be the debris that has fallen in the water smelling bad. I really dislike the smell, and I'm convinced it can't be good for the last few late eggs as they hatch. I just did a quick water change tonight (end of day 22, but after 21 eggs hatching, very smelly). It made a big difference, but I would like to prevent that dodgy water smell from happening in the first place.

Does anyone have other suggestions?

ETA:

I'm just doing a general search for "incubator water", and I've found that some people add a stick of copper wire or tiny piece of copper pipe to the water to prevent fungi from growing in it - not that I think fungi is the problem, but I guess it could be. This wasn't a poultry site though. http://www.ivf.net/ivf/incubator_water-o921.html

Someone else says "To help prevent bacteria growth I use a bacteriostatic product that is made for room humidifiers and vaporizers. I add 4-5 drops to the incubator water bottle." I wonder what their product is. They are incubating cockatiels. http://www.cockatiels.org/breeders/caring-for-day1-cockatiel-babies.htm

Google Book results won't let you copy their text, but some water additives for incubator water if you have known problems with micro-organisms in the water are mentioned here: http://books.google.co.nz/books?id=...#v=onepage&q="incubator water" bleach&f=false . All seem a bit more complex that a drop of household bleach unfortunately.

Aah, here is someone that puts "a little" bleach in the incubator water. Doesn't say how much. http://www.bantychicken.com/cgi-bin...orum&board=photos&op=display&num=1345&start=0

 

[A.T. Hagan]

I didn't want to say anything until after my hatch was done so I'd have some idea of whether it hurt or helped.

A 9:1 water/bleach solution sounds awful strong to me. That's a cleaning solution.

But I did use chlorine in my first hatch. All of the eggs were sanitized by dipping them into one gallon of warm water that had one tablespoon of plain chlorine bleach added. I soaked them for a minute or so then allowed to drain and air dry. No rinsing.

With the water reservoir in the incubator I used eight drops of the same bleach per gallon of water. This is the concentration that is used for sanitizing clear water to make it safe for drinking. If the water was really hard I'd add a couple of drops of white vinegar to lower the pH or double the bleach. Three to four weeks at temperatures of 99+ at high humidity is a wonderful environment for microbes just as it is with eggs.

This was my first hatch and I made some mistakes in the hatching phase, but still managed to succesfully hatch 31 out of 35 turkey eggs. One was a clear.

The chicken eggs were purchased and not as successful, but we got eighteen chicks out of twenty four eggs set. One clear here as well.

A small data set to be sure, but the results were encouraging enough that I'll try it this way again.

.....Alan.

 

[muddstopper]

I normally wipe my bator out with a chlorine solution just to disinfect. I dont rinse and I suppose there is plenty of chlorine residue left on the sides and the trays. Chlorine is very volatile in that it will evaporate very quickly, especially in a moveing air enviroment. The chlorine gas being what can irriate the lungs of the new hatch. A 9:1 mix would seem to be a very high concentration if it is indeed mixed to that ratio. I am just going to assume that the actual ration is probably something like 9gals water : 1 cup bleach or similar and not a actuall 9 parts water to 1 part bleach. The devil is in the details, I havent read the actual site so I could be wrong.

 

[grammy of David]

I WOULD THINK, THE BLEACH NOT A GOOD IDEA FOR IT IS WAS USED BY HITLER TO GAS HUMANS AND EGGS ARE SO TINY COMPARED TO A HUMAN. I THINK, IT COULD CAUSE DEATHS AND AT THE VERY LEAST WEAK CHICKS OR BIRTH DEFEATS. I EVER SEEM TO HAVE ANY PROBLEM WITH THE WATER BEING SMELLY, BUT I LIVE IN KANSAS WHERE IT IS VERY DRY. HAVE 42 GUINEA EGGS IN INCUBATOR RIGHT NOW HAVE 3 HENS SITTING IN THE COOP I LOVE THIS

 

[kathyinmo]

I clean my bators with Oxine, and I also add a few drops of it to the water pail of my Sportsman for incubation. I have not used it in the styrofoam HovaBators that I use only for hatching though.

 

[wolftracks]

I' ll try this with some of my own eggs in a couple of weeks. When I do it I'll post and let you know what the results are. If I make another bator sooner I may do it in a few days, but have some important things to take care of first, but I will try it, so make sure you look up this post again later for a title of my post. That is unless you'd like me to just come back to this post and continue on with this one.

By the way I don't know if I'm going to use the same strength but I might.

 

[j.luetkemeyer]

Well water here as well; however, I have tested city water from several cities and it contains more chlorine than allowed in public swimming pools, not to mention toxic flouride. I wouldn't use bleach. Apple Cider Vinegar might be ok but a colloidal/nanosilver product would be the best. Oxysilver is a good brand. It does not take much of this and it is very safe. Many uses as well.

 

[Mrs. Feathers]

For myself I would pass on the bleach as I give the incubator a good cleaning after use and would not want the fumes in with the eggs. That said, and if I were to try the bleach method, I agree with previous posters that 9:1 water to bleach sounds like an awfully strong concentration. I would be curious to hear results from those who do try this or the vinegar.

 

[Turner]

I use bottled water in my incubator.