Day 18 With Noobie Questions

[CindyJeann]

I've bumped up the humidity from 35% to 56% and I've unplugged the egg turner. I turned it off when it went flat.

Do I need to remove the eggs from the egg turner or just leave them in it? If I remove them, should the eggs be in an egg carton or just lay them on their side? How high should I get the humidity to?

 

[CindyJeann]

 

[gabrielle1976]

I would take them Out of the turner and then you can choose to put them in on there sides or in egg cartons. may want to bump your humidity up just a tad more as well . Good luck .

 

[CindyJeann]

All the eggs are out of the turner and on their sides. temp is 99.1 and humidity is 72%. Oh I want a pip so bad.

 

[CindyJeann]

This is a homemade incubator I mad from a 30 gallon fish tank. This is my very first batch ever. I'm so excited... We have lots of pips and even one peep. Today is even exactly day 21. Does that mean my temps have been perfect?

 

[gabrielle1976]

good job

 

[CindyJeann]

ty

 

[CindyJeann]

end of day 21

 

[gabrielle1976]

awww cute. how exactly did you make yours looks like it worked well. how many eggs did you set how many hatched so far

 

[CindyJeann]

I used a 30 gallon fish tank with 5 gallons of sand in the bottom to reduce the total volume of air that had to be heated. I covered the sand with a towel. We cut plywood to fit as a lid and installed some $3 light fixtures in the center of the lid. I wired the light fixtures to thermostats I got from my dad. He is a retired commercial chicken farmer and it’s great all the equipment I can get off him. These thermostats he used to control the side wall fans in his houses. He suggested I wire up two light kits and two thermostats in case we had a light bulb burn out so it won’t be a total loss. One 75 watt bulb heated the tank to 97 but couldn’t seem to get it warmer. Two together maintained temps from 98.3 to 100.6. I found a small desk fan at Wal-Mart for about 5 dollars that I set on top of a coffee can to keep it out of the chick’s reach. My humidity source was a small metal coffee can filled with water till lockdown. To get the humidity up at lockdown I had to switch to a long bowl (more surface area than the coffee can) full of hot water. The most expensive item was the $40 egg turner but it was so worth it, though I had to cut off two of the trays to make it fit the tank. I also wrapped the tank in insulation. I cut a window in the front to peek in and my son hinged it on with duct tape.

Of the 26 eggs I set, all but 12 have hatched and 5 of those have pipped. I have to confess, once the incubator was ready I couldnt wait. I started loading it with what I hadon hand right away, so it took me three days to get it fully loaded. I guess it should take three days to get them all hatched.