Anyone ever use a heating pad in a hatcher?

[barnyardbonanza]

Last night I was messing around and threw my heating pad in the hatcher, added wet sponges, put in on low and waited an hour. The temp was in the 80's, then I put it on medium and waited another hour and it was 99 degrees and humidity was 55%. Wouldn't this work? I don't see why not. I could hook it up to a thermostat so it will help regulate it though. But wanted others thoughts.

Also, is it better to hatch eggs in egg cartons? I have seen pics on here often like that and was wondering about that. I have duck eggs and chicken eggs in the bator now so I need a hatcher to move the chick eggs to on day 18 so the duck eggs can stay on the turner. Any thoughts/suggestions?

 

[FenDruadin]

The only problem I can think of is that the heating pad will get very wet when the eggs hatch. Is it waterproof?

Other than that, I can't think of a reason it won't. Heck, people hatch eggs with desk lamps and bottles of water, so why not a heating pad?

Good luck, anyway!

 

[barnyardbonanza]

Quote:
Yep, it's waterproof! I think I will go for it!

 

[FenDruadin]

Let us hear how it goes. I think a thermostat is a really good idea.

I have only hatched one batch so far, with another batch due Sept 7 (duck eggs, so they've been in for a week). I plan to use the egg cartons for hatching this time--apparently, it prevents early hatchers from pushing the other eggs around and can improve the hatching rate.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Of course, if you're setting chicken eggs this week, you won't be far behind me on hatch date.