Hello all! Sort of funny story followed by a serious question - I was at a man's house today and after finding out I keep some chickens he took me to a lean-to behind his house and offered me an antique incubator for 5 bucks! the catch was it was sitting stacked in a pile of other "stuff", and wild birds had nested in it through a small hole probably chewed by a mouse ! I bought it anyway and brought it home and brushed it out, and surprisingly it works! It is a cabinet possibly homemade. My question is - What should I do to sterilize it completely? It was facing south, so in the summer it probably would have heated up a good bit and it really cooked the wild bird poop and egg shells onto the inside of it. I did get the screen and everything else completely clean after scrubbing, but what about the wild bird germs and diseases? Would clorox work to get it sterile? I don't want any chicks I hatch in it to catch anything nasty from the past residents. And if so how much clorox? It is a super piece other then a few holes and dents, but am I able to use it for incubating eggs or should I stick to my old incubators? Almost to good to be true, what luck
Pictures of it might help.. wouldn't the holes interfere with keeping the incubator at a steady temperature and humidity?
How antique is antique? Are you willing to risk a batch of eggs to see if it works consistently and reliably? Have you checked the wiring to make sure no mouse/rodent has chewed the wires and cause an electrical short/fire? Just because it's 'working' doesn't mean it'll be reliable. Otherwise, if all seems in order, and you feel confident in it's usablity - perhaps put in a small clutch of eggs (perhaps 5 or so) in different locations in the bator to see if it's functional. See if the clutch hatches! (Of course, add additional thermometers and such to read all areas) Yes, I'd clorox it as much as possible - put clorox in spray bottle to get into corners. How much? Well, that's sort of your call. I'd also let it run for a good week or two before using it to verify it's stability as a unit. Then, clean it completely out all over again. But that's me.
