Breeding Trios, Humidity, Inc Wiring, bulbs ** PICS Added**

[flynpa]

Hello all. I have been reading the boards (this and others) for several months now. I have read and read to the point that I feel delirious and confused. The conflicting information is overwhelming. Use preventative medication-- No only use it when there is a problem. 1 sq ft per bird -- No 2 sq ft per bird. Anyway, please bear with me as I have several questions that either I missed somewhere or don't remember seeing mentioned. 1) If I purchase eggs from a single supplier, can I put together breeding trios or must I get eggs from several suppliers? 2) Here in tropical south Texas, the humidity in my home is around 50%. Will the humidity in my incubator be the same without adding water or does the heat, fan, etc affect it? Curious- gonna find out when I fire it up anyway. 3) I built my incubator using two bulbs for heat. Do I need to put a jumper wire across the bulbs so that the other will continue to burn if one goes out or do they have something internal to account for that? 4) I am starting with two 40 watt bulbs. They don't seem to put out much heat. If the incubator is about 2.5 cubic ft and is kept in a 78 degree home, should this be enough? 5) As far as bulbs go, what is generally considered bettter? High wattage so that the temps can get back up quicker or low wattage for some other reason? Thanks. Hope to start my first eggs in a couple weeks. Will post pics of my Denis inspired incubator when I get a chance.

Stuart

 

[Bettacreek]

Quote:
All excellent questions. I had similar ones when I first started. First, no, they can handle inbreeding, they don't seem to have any major genetic flaws that cause issues when you majorly inbreed them. Two, the humidity will drop in the incubator because of the heat. My old place had 65% humidity, but it quickly dropped to 23% in the incubator when it was running dry. Three, unless the wiring went bad, it will still go to the next light bulb. In most cases, it'll only be the bulb that blows, and the wiring is still connected to keep the connection to the next bulb. Just be careful that two bulbs are not over-kill. Two may create too much heat. Four, well, I don't know for sure, but, I'm going to say that you'll only need one. Start with one, you can always attach another one in less than five minutes if need be. Wiring for a light bulb is simple stuff. I believe low wattage is better, then you won't accidentally cook your eggs.

 

[jenjscott]

Quote:
Edited to add: Oh, by the way, WELCOME TO BYC!

 

[kingmt]

jenjscott gave you all right answers but I wanted to add to a couple things. Humidity should go up slightly if it is still air & down if it is forced air. I would try both high watt & low watt to see which one causes the less swing in the temps. For my home bator the 100 work better then 40s. It seems best if you have a heat shield between the bulb & the eggs but not the thermostat. Unless you are using a rheostat then through everything I said out the window.

 

[JJMR794]

When using light bulbs for heating source i would adjust the wattage to allow me to keep the 2 bulb design--- place the bulbs on opposite ends to evenly heat the bator. If using a 2 bulb system when 1 blows while your at work the second will continue on and hopefully save your eggs.... pascopol here actually uses a string of the smaller lights instead of a single bulb for this very reason. Also as far as temp swings? ---- Use heat sinks--- a sealed jar or 3 of water sitting in the bottom of the bator--- they are sealed so they wont contribute to humidity, but they will warm up and retain heat... when the lights go off the heat sinks will continue to provide a gentle heat until the lights come back on.... this kind of evens the temp swings out a bit. Do not dry incubate gamebird eggs! This is a recipe for disaster.

 

[Valley quail breeder]

I use a 2 bulb sysytem wired on a dimmer switch when one goes out the other still burns seems to do great for me I use 2, 60 watt bulbs.

 

[Valley quail breeder]

 

[flynpa]

Thanks for the replies. I guess I should have given more details. My incubator is modelled after Devin's. All credit goes to him. I am using 2 bulbs run in series with a water heater thermostat. In case one burns out I have a backup. I guess I will have to add a "jumper" because when I unscrew one the other goes out. I read that the thermostat is made to measure the metal that it is attached to, ie the water tank, so I attached it to the inside of an electrical box. This also protects me from touching the live contacts. There is a hole that allows me to make adjustments. It has a fan so it is forced air. Manual turner. Couple water trays. I just need to attach the plexi window and I am done. Gonna try to find a larger hatching basket. Attached are a few pic (hopefully).









Edit: Anyone have any ideas regarding holding the eggs in the turner. I got some styrofoam from work and was gonna drill / carve out some spaces for the eggs but I am afraid they will not be able to breath. I am open for suggestions.

Thanks.

Stuart

 

[tony30536]

i use two 25 watt bulbs, i tried a hot water thermostat for my use it had to much of a temp swing maybe you will have better luck ,just in case i would put a few water bottles in and test it for a few days before putting in the eggs, i use a wafer thermostat with good luck 25 to 27 $ shipped from ebay

 

[kingmt]

I would put both bulbs in the same place since you are using a water heater thermostat. The thermostat needs to be very close to the heat source to keep the temp from swinging. A row of bulbs all the way around sound like it should work more like a heat element & should work even better as long as the one in front of the stat didn't blow. Water bottles help hold heat to keep the temp from dropping as fast but it won't stop temp swings if the stat isn't positioned right. I have seen others on here say to put a bigger piece of metal on the back of the thermostat to act as a heat sink so the stat can react faster.