convert or buy new

[stew1]

I have a mini frige I turned into a incubator for hatching gecko eggs that I thought about turning into a chicken egg hatcher. Has a ranco thermostat and I got a couple 12 v pc fans. Also have a digital temp/humid gauge. Should I just add a egg turner or buy a hova? I had a hovabator but it was not as good as most are claiming, maybe chicken eggs are not as temperament as gecko eggs? Thanks for any replys

 

[darkbluespace]

If it holds temp then it should work fine for chicken eggs! You could get a turner or turn them by hand.

 

[stew1]

Thats what I kinda thought. Did some measuring tonight and a turner wont fit unless I fire up the full size frig/freezer one which I really don't want to do so thinking just turning by hand. Any suggestions on humidity control? When i hatched Gecko eggs it was 10 parts perlite by weight to 8 parts of water in a air tight container that you did a air exchange on every so often and I know that wont work. Ive read that the water surface area is what determines the humidity, not the amount. is this true? Should the fan run all the time or just when the heat is on? Thanks Kinda excited to get some eggs but want to get it right, might even see if some of the local craigslist egg sellers have roos with there hens and try a dozen of them first, any thoughts? Thanks again

 

[MeepBeep]

I would run fan 24/7 it provides more even heat... As for humidity surface area is what determines humidity, so try different sized pans full of water and see what size pan gets you where you want... If you need a little boost, you ca put a sponge the pan that extends out of the pan increasing surface area as well...

And last but not least, I actually have a small USB (5 volt) ultrasonic humidifier in my incubator after opening and closing the batro or during the end of the hatch I can turn that on and off and drive humidity up in an instant... I especially like this option when there are chicks in trouble, I can boost humidity upwards of 90% in an instant and avoid shrink wrap concerns...

 

[darkbluespace]

Thats what I kinda thought. Did some measuring tonight and a turner wont fit unless I fire up the full size frig/freezer one which I really don't want to do so thinking just turning by hand. Any suggestions on humidity control? When i hatched Gecko eggs it was 10 parts perlite by weight to 8 parts of water in a air tight container that you did a air exchange on every so often and I know that wont work. Ive read that the water surface area is what determines the humidity, not the amount. is this true? Should the fan run all the time or just when the heat is on? Thanks Kinda excited to get some eggs but want to get it right, might even see if some of the local craigslist egg sellers have roos with there hens and try a dozen of them first, any thoughts? Thanks again

For humidity I like about 30 to 35% for my chicken eggs. Usually just the eggs with out any water added is enough humidity for me, but you may need to add some water in a mini fridge... maybe not. For the last 3 days I just fill an empty tin can and my humidity is about 55%. You just have to find the right size containers to achieve the level of humidity you want...yes, it is all about surface area. I like to find something with the right amount of surface area that is deep so I don't have to refill all the time.

Definitely get some local eggs to try first... shipped eggs have another set of issues on top of the normal ones. I have my fan running all the time. I do turn it off if I have a chick I am helping, but I hatch tiny Serama chicks.

 

[aart]

I would run fan 24/7 it provides more even heat... As for humidity surface area is what determines humidity, so try different sized pans full of water and see what size pan gets you where you want... If you need a little boost, you ca put a sponge the pan that extends out of the pan increasing surface area as well...

And last but not least, I actually have a small USB (5 volt) ultrasonic humidifier in my incubator after opening and closing the batro or during the end of the hatch I can turn that on and off and drive humidity up in an instant... I especially like this option when there are chicks in trouble, I can boost humidity upwards of 90% in an instant and avoid shrink wrap concerns...

That is cool....never heard of these before.
Do you have some kind of inverter or run it off a computer?

 

[MeepBeep]

I would run fan 24/7 it provides more even heat... As for humidity surface area is what determines humidity, so try different sized pans full of water and see what size pan gets you where you want... If you need a little boost, you ca put a sponge the pan that extends out of the pan increasing surface area as well...


And last but not least, I actually have a small USB (5 volt) ultrasonic humidifier in my incubator after opening and closing the batro or during the end of the hatch I can turn that on and off and drive humidity up in an instant... I especially like this option when there are chicks in trouble, I can boost humidity upwards of 90% in an instant and avoid shrink wrap concerns...

That is cool....never heard of these before.
Do you have some kind of inverter or run it off a computer?

All the USB humidifiers I have seen simply use a regular USB (computer side) to mini-USB (humidifier side) cord or use a regular USB plug that doesn't disconnect from the humidifier, and I have so many phone charger adapters laying around from phones long gone that I just grabbed one of those...

If not the mini-USB power adapters are only a few bucks delivered on Ebay...

No seller recommendations just examples, there are are lots of different styles out there... One note, I use distilled water with these so they don't clog up with sediment and residue, since my well water is loaded with minerals...

This... http://www.ebay.com/itm/Doughnut-Do...ni-Sweet-Loop-USB-Float-Water-J-/121371925337

Plus this... http://www.ebay.com/itm/VS2-Univers...ower-Adapter-Plug-MP5-Black-JT1-/251726603366

Is golden with you existing water container...

I had originally used one of these... http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Cool-Wa...-Humidifier-Filter-Air-Purifier-/181440644247

But found that the on/off switch was a hassle as I had to reach in the incubator each time to turn on, turning off was as simple as pulling the plug... The donuts above and other ones don't have a switch so you can simply plug and unplug...

You can even go all cliché, LOL... http://www.ebay.com/itm/2014-new-ar...e-Air-Humidifier-USB-for-office-/151451907955

 

[aart]

Quote: All the USB humidifiers I have seen simply use a regular USB (computer side) to mini-USB (humidifier side) cord or use a regular USB plug that doesn't disconnect from the humidifier, and I have so many phone charger adapters laying around from phones long gone that I just grabbed one of those...

If not the mini-USB power adapters are only a few bucks delivered on Ebay...

No seller recommendations just examples, there are are lots of different styles out there... One note, I use distilled water with these so they don't clog up with sediment and residue, since my well water is loaded with minerals...

This... http://www.ebay.com/itm/Doughnut-Do...ni-Sweet-Loop-USB-Float-Water-J-/121371925337

Plus this... http://www.ebay.com/itm/VS2-Univers...ower-Adapter-Plug-MP5-Black-JT1-/251726603366

Is golden with you existing water container...

I had originally used one of these... http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Cool-Wa...-Humidifier-Filter-Air-Purifier-/181440644247

But found that the on/off switch was a hassle as I had to reach in the incubator each time to turn on, turning off was as simple as pulling the plug... The donuts above and other ones don't have a switch so you can simply plug and unplug...

You can even go all cliché, LOL... http://www.ebay.com/itm/2014-new-ar...e-Air-Humidifier-USB-for-office-/151451907955
LOL that's hilarious.......might scare the little chickens or create some inapproriate imprinting.

Had found this one googling, but I like the ones that sit in a vessel, better supply maybe.
http://www.amazon.com/Lenofocus-Portable-Humidifier-Aroma-Diffuser/dp/B00KZ9DOIQ

Didn't know about the chargers....bit of a luddite here when it comes to cell phones..no signal where I live.

 

[MeepBeep]

The floating 'doughnut' style is nice as it uses your existing water container, so no need for a separate water container... Although in foam or other small incubators there generally isn't much room for a separate water container so the little sell contained humidifiers work well in those... They even have some that fit on top of small water bottles but they only wick up the water from a few inches down so that has to be factored in, you pretty much need small low profile bottles...

 

[stew1]

Thanks for all the great info. I switched to my full size frige, just not enough room in the mini. I got my temp to stay stable but I have 3 thermoniters in there and the one on the thermostat. All the digital ones are reading within a degree of each other but the merc one is a degree and a half higher than the digys. which one should I go off of? They are all within a 4 inch area so I would think they would all read about the same. I personaly tust mercs the most but for that to be the only one that far off I dont know. I cand only calabrate the one which I am going to but that one does not go by tenths. And also have 2 humidsats (I not good at spelling sorry) and they never line up ether 5 to 10 % difference there also, any suggestions? Thanks