Any hope here?

[cricket-cricket]

We have one of those rinky dinky inkybators, the desktop type for kids I guess. It is plastic, has a dome, a christmas tree bulb, tinfoil, and a 3 inch thermometer. (Right!)

I got is for $12 and it has perhaps been worth the excitement it's brought. We tried duck eggs a couple of times, but I don't think we could keep the heat up, so in a last ditch effort, tried a fertile chicken egg (which we had to drive for miles to get!).

WOULD YOU BELIEVE? We got veins by day ten. We candled nightly watching it squirm, then kick.

I can't begin to describe the creative means we've adopted in attempts to keep things even marginally stable. Te ingenuitiy has included draping the contraption with a bandanas at night, strategically placed coins (to induce slight draft) on hot days, and a soaked, rolled up rag for humidity. Who knows how close to accurate we are on that one, but part of the dome is staying fogged up so it's the best we can do.

We candled again on day 18 (thought it was the 17th) and despair - no movement at all. Our hearts sunk, but maybe it was sleeping?

While we realize you're not supposed to interfere the last few days, with this silly incubator it's impossible. Just changing the rag to keep it wet entails lifting the cover and causing jiggles. This moring (day 20), it took a 1/4 turn roll.

Tomorrow is day 21. By all accounts, it should be atleast well past the pipping stage and on to completion, but we've seen nothing. How hopeful can we be? Has anyone else ever used one of these? How tough is mother nature? It was doing fine on the night of the 17th?

This has been a great experiment, but we'd sure hate to think we got this close and nothing.
Thoughts? Thanks.

 

[aberfitch]

If you candle the egg everyday it really drops the hatching rate drastically. Consistency with temperature and humidity is critical to the development of the chick. Opening and closing of the incubator lets out all the viable moisture and heat needed for the chick to grow. Temperature variation causes the chicks heart to slow down and stall development. Too many fluctuations will cause the chick to die, Especially from day 18 and on.

 

[Joy1]

I have heard of successes with the chick bator so if at first you don't suceed try try again.

 

[conny63malies]

My daughter got one from a friend , but i wouldnt even let her use it , because it would just break my heart to see her dissapointed when nothing hatches. We have now a hovabator 1602N which cost me 41.99 & shipping. But you can also go to TSC and get a little giant . Then go to walmart and get accurite thermo&hygrometer. Oh and just in case you want to try the chick bator again. But it in a cardbard box in a room with north-west exposure, those rooms tend to be the ones with the most stable temperature. If it is real cold (under 68F in the room you might want to line the box sides with aluminum foil) and use bantam eggs. You can fit more eggs in the batlor and up your chances of hatching a chick a bit.