BillJ's incubator upgrade

[BillJ]

2PM was start of Day 18. Shut down incubator and transferred eggs to pre-heated brooder while rotator was removed and screen with washcloth put over water tin. Made sure there was plenty of water in coffee cup and tin then transferred the eggs back. The eggs are in half a cardboard dozen egg tray round side up. Took the time to candle half the eggs. I rushed but they all are about the same stage but that's not quite the level one sees in online images for Day 18. No bad smells. Misted the eggs and the DHT22 is reading 99.9% humidity. Rotator held up well.

 

[BillJ]

I bought 3 started birds last September, Buff Orpingtons, one was a runt. One turned out to be a cockerel. The non-runt pullet started laying in early January. The young roo was mounting that pullet very often and had taken to running the flock of older birds as the old roo is now 9 years old and other roos segregated. One other roo, of a barnyard mix heritage, did fly its pen once and likely had congress with the hen.

Since I wanted eggs with longest telomeres, for best aging hens, I harvested eggs from the newly laying hen first week in February and started incubation on Feb. 14.

BillJ

There are two other hens, likely RIRs, I bought in 2017 that are laying. The young roo is mounting them as well. Those eggs, not in the incubator, are often showing blood spots of fertility while the Buff Orpington eggs don't. Wonder if I started eggs that aren't mature enough.

 

[BillJ]

If this hatch turns out to be a disappointment I think I know why. When I used this box with the egg rocker, automatically shifting the eggs 45° every 2 hours or every 4 hours, the rocker was stationary in the box. The eggs closest to the hot air in would get more heat. So every other day or so I would open the box and move the eggs clockwise and 90°. This would replenish the oxygen. The egg rotator in the same box I felt wouldn't require opening to re-position the eggs because they would be rolling at a rate of 1 revolution every 50-54 minutes and each would have their turn at the hot air in. I finally realized they need more oxygen than was likely getting there and added the fish tank air bubbler but that was on Day 12. So, the too small air cell and embryo not taking as much space as shown in online photos was likely due to low oxygen for some days.

 

[BillJ]

With this second polar vortex, at least it feels like a polar vortex, my mobile home got chilly last night. I had the humidity at 70% but this morning it was down to 64%. I added water but the measured humidity didn't come up in a reasonable time - I hadn't warmed it. I added more, then again. Later it had jumped to 78%. A few hours later it's at 78.9% and looking in the observation window I have two pipped eggs! It's 22½ hours into Day 19.

 

[BillJ]

I had stored the eggs at ~45° hoping to select for pullets. The two freshest eggs pipped.

 

[BillJ]

Bought a small stepper motor driven metering pump to automate the humidity maintenance.

 

[BillJ]

Day 20 & 17 hours, 1 chick fully hatched, golden, dry and active. Since dry, and the shell husk seems dry as well, although the humidity was 72.6% I added water and it's now 76.9%. No changes to the other 5 including the other pipped. But then Day 21 starts this afternoon.

 

[BillJ]

I suspect none of the other eggs will hatch. Two eggs pipped late Day 19 and one of those hatched. I don't have full confidence in the DHT22 since I misted water onto the eggs and got some on the sensor before going on lockdown. I will need a second humidity indicator next time. So, a hydrometer. I suppose one would work best in distilled water but I see online that hydrometers are accurate at 68°F not 99.5° and I'm sure my 760' elevation will have a bearing as well.

 

[BillJ]

The washing machine dial gear motor strength is iffy at best for an 8" diameter wheel and rolling eggs while the wheel makes occasional contact with the platform or a stray bit of styrofoam gets between the drive grommet and the wheel. I was originally going to go with a fairly strong old dot matrix printer stepper motor. But not having worked with stepper motors before I couldn't picture it going slow enough to roll an egg once an hour. Later consideration resulted in perhaps letting the wheel sit idle except for once an hour when it would move the wheel sufficient for 1 1/3rd egg rotation. Putting the egg rocker back but having it rotate presents the problem of providing power to the drive motor, scavenged from an old VCR along with some gearing, or getting the signal from the external electronics for timing the tile shift. It might be made to work by doing away with the motor and using with some kind of levers that would contact say a rubber tube obstruction to flip in one direction then a lever with a center screw that would reverse the tilt. But I'm going to try and automate the humidity control with a stepper motor metering pump, so going to a stepper motor instead of the gearmotor seems reasonable.

 

[BillJ]

A laser stethoscope that would allow for check of heartbeat by focusing on the shell during lockdown would be nice.