Anyone use...?

[FarmMomof3]

A Heating pad for a incubator? Ok so Hubby gets these ideas in his head sometimes... here's his newest one:

We have a mixed flock of ISA browns and Danish Brown Leghorns. Our Roos are the leghorns so any eggs we get will either be mixed (isa/leghorn crosses) or full blooded leghorn. Anyways, Hubs comes up from tending to our flock and he's got 3 still warm eggs in his pocket. He gets this grin and says "We're gonna try to incubate!!"
I'm thinking we don't have a incubator.. we have nothing the resembles one.. and what the heck are we going to be doing with these baby chicks!

We got the roos so that we wouldn't have to rely on the hatchery to restock our flock. Our ISA are hitting 2 now.
But the leghorn hens are dumber than spit and wont stay on the darn nests long enough to actually incubate their eggs.

Anyways! Hubby finds my electric heating pad and a small box. He covers the bottom of the box with half the heating pad, puts each egg into a rolled up old sock, then folds the rest of the heating pad over the eggs and tucks it in.

He feels very proud of himself. I'm skeptical.

Now Will this actually work? What's the temp have to be at for incubation? Hubby says that we are to turn and spray the eggs with water every few days as well.

We will be candling the eggs next week to see if there is any progress.

What are the thoughts on this idea?

 

[FireTigeris]

you can hatch under an incandescent light bulb if you have enough humidity. (wet sponges in a otherwised closed container)

They need to stay at 100-102*F.

hatching takes 21 days when kept at perfect temps.

However, I'd get them out of the socks because the chicks need to breath through the shell.

He humidity needs to be 40-55% till hatching, at first peeping (that you can hear) raise the humidity to 60%+ but not higher then 75%ish.

Your heating pad is the old kind that doesn't shut itself off every two hours like the new ones do right?

 

[bnjrob]

You're unlikely to get consistent heat. You're at high risk for "cooking" the eggs where they are closes to the heating element as well as breaking the wires inside the pad from folding it over. Heating pads left on for long periods are also fire hazards - they were meant for short term use.

 

[FireTigeris]

as to the fire hazard -So is a light bulb in a box or most peoples' brooder boxes, someone had one catch fire just the other day.

As to that I figure common sense- it -it- possible but not super likely.

You can incubate cold eggs too they don't start growing untill they are incubated.

then you can get a safer incubator and try agin with a couple dyas worth of eggs all at once.

(and turn an odd number of times every day, store the eggs before incubation pointy end down)

 

[FarmMomof3]

So we "cooked" the first 3 eggs. ugh. So we are trying again. I think if we are going to incubate eggs, that we should just get an incubator!! Hubby just likes the science experiment part of this

So we have 2 new eggs in our makeshift bator... I've been keeping an eye on the temp.. so far they are staying at 99 right now.

I'll be looking up Incubators right now... we just need a small one.. like 6 eggs at a time i think.

 

[FireTigeris]

Check the 'Everything else for sale" here you can get a big one at $50-60, little ones are not any 'cheeper' as they are by really good manufactures.