Candling turkey and duck eggs in a homemade kerosene lantern incubator

[Fields Mountain Farm]

This doesn't create humidity at all. There are different designs of kerosene incubators online. We will redesign the incubator after a while to include some metal and a thermostat. I will choose the dry hatch method any day- at least here in South West Nigeria because of the ambient temperature and high humidity. The only time I enjoy very low humidity is in the thick of the harmattan season or if I am in Jos plateau of Nigeria. The eggs are doing fine as of this morning. Humidity is around 44%. The temperature in one chamber is about a degree less than the other. I have 38.8°C in the rIghtfield chamber and 37.8°C in the left chamber. Once I open to turn the eggs, I change the position of some of the eggs to compensate for cool spots. That is the best I can do. I also have latex gloves on hand to handle the eggs.

I believe I'm getting as excited to see how many hatch as you are! I can't imagine you won't have a decent hatch. All sounds good!

 

[HelenAbim]

I believe I'm getting as excited to see how many hatch as you are! I can't imagine you won't have a decent hatch. All sounds good!

Thank you so much. You give me hope with your kind comments. I think 2 of the duck eggs are quitters, one more so than the other. I won't throw them out just yet though, I will wait till I candle again on day 12. I can see a heart or is it an eye in one of my duck eggs. It is a dark spot. I am so excited. I also candled the turkey eggs and egg A and C are infertile while the rest are doing okay. It was a bit of a challenge to see inside of the turkey eggs since their shells are not white or cream like the duck eggs. I think I am doing this right. Thank you all for the kind words.

 

[HelenAbim]

Once the cycle is over, I will thinking of how to hatch guinea fowls eggs. Guinea fowl meat is the mainstay if my business as well as duck and duck eggs.

 

[Fields Mountain Farm]

Thank you so much. You give me hope with your kind comments. I think 2 of the duck eggs are quitters, one more so than the other. I won't throw them out just yet though, I will wait till I candle again on day 12. I can see a heart or is it an eye in one of my duck eggs. It is a dark spot. I am so excited. I also candled the turkey eggs and egg A and C are infertile while the rest are doing okay. It was a bit of a challenge to see inside of the turkey eggs since their shells are not white or cream like the duck eggs. I think I am doing this right. Thank you all for the kind words.

Yeah I believe I'd give the 2 duck eggs a bit more time. I do hope they are still ok. And turkey eggs can be very difficult to candle. I was only able to see in one of my 9 eggs last spring. So frustrating! lol
I think you're doing great!

 

[Fields Mountain Farm]

Once the cycle is over, I will thinking of how to hatch guinea fowls eggs. Guinea fowl meat is the mainstay if my business as well as duck and duck eggs.

I don't have guineas at the moment, hope to get some eggs to hatch in spring. I love guineas, miss the ones I used to have...

 

[HelenAbim]

I can't wait for the hatch. I am excited. I hope all goes well. I will take the lessons I learnt from this hatch and use it while incubating the guinea fowl eggs in the near future. Hopefully, I will be able to control humidity as it will be in the rainy season which is when guinea fowls lay eggs.

 

[HelenAbim]

I don't have guineas at the moment, hope to get some eggs to hatch in spring. I love guineas, miss the ones I used to have...

I have guineas but I don't know if they can ever be tamed. Mine are wild although I still trim their feathers from time to time to prevent flight. Once they fly, they can be stolen so I don't take chances. Noisy screechy birds though.

 

[HelenAbim]

I don't have guineas at the moment, hope to get some eggs to hatch in spring. I love guineas, miss the ones I used to have...

I have guineas but I don't know if they can ever be tamed. Mine are wild although I still trim their feathers from time to time to prevent flight. Once they fly, they can be stolen so I don't take chances. Noisy screechy birds though.

 

[HelenAbim]

I don't have guineas at the moment, hope to get some eggs to hatch in spring. I love guineas, miss the ones I used to have...

I have guineas but I don't know if they can ever be tamed. Mine are wild although I still trim their feathers from time to time to prevent flight. Once they fly, they can be stolen so I don't take chances. Noisy screechy birds though.

 

[lazy gardener]

I'm hoping to have one put together for back up this coming spring.
I like your thoughts on the topic of learning and understanding primitive ways.
On a side note. I remember my grandmother telling of how her mother would put eggs in a basket on a towel and slide it under her wood burning parlor stove and hatch in the winter.
It's only a story, but I believe it.

I remember hearing a story of a woman who did the same thing. She'd hatch eggs for her neighbors. She'd gauge the temperature and placement of her basket by placing her bare foot on the hearth in front of the stove.

In Egypt, they had huge walk in incubators. They would hatch hundreds of eggs at a time. The workers were trained to know if the temperature was right by how the temperature would feel to them as they walked into the bators to tend the eggs.