ashleymroles
In the Brooder
Let me preface by saying: I am a first time hatcher. Everything I know about hatching has come from the internet, specifically sites like this. I have read through BYC members Sally Sunshine's Hatching 101 and Beekissed's Simulated Natural Nest Experiment, which was the closest thing I could find to a heating pad incubator project. I am taking a different, slightly more traditional approach to incubating.
I have a styrofoam cooler. I purchased a thermometer/hygrometer with a probe for measuring outside temperature. I made a viewing window from an old picture frame and taped it into the top of the box. Then I taped the thermometer/hygrometer inside with the face against the inside of the glass. I placed a heating pad inside a pillowcase at the bottom with rocks on top to act as heat sinks. Then I put a platform of hardware cloth on top of that. On top of the hardware cloth is a dish towel, and I will wrap the eggs in a second dish towel to further maintain heat. My fans (2) will be here Thursday and they will go inside the incubator to maintain ambient temperatures. I'm currently using a ziploc bag of water to measure the temperature where the eggs would be. Right now, I'm getting temperatures between 98-101 and relative humidity of 45-65%. It is currently pretty humid where I am in upstate NY, and I have a bag of rice on top of the hardware cloth to soak up some of the moisture in the air. The fans will definitely help with lowering humidity further. I'm going to be turning the eggs twice to three times a day.
I am looking for any advice, ideas, and suggestions to improve my chances of success with this experiment. I plan on setting eggs in a few weeks once I have enough saved up and I have figured out all of the kinks in my thermometer/hygrometer. I will update with pictures along the way. Feel free to subscribe to this thread to follow my experiment.
I have a styrofoam cooler. I purchased a thermometer/hygrometer with a probe for measuring outside temperature. I made a viewing window from an old picture frame and taped it into the top of the box. Then I taped the thermometer/hygrometer inside with the face against the inside of the glass. I placed a heating pad inside a pillowcase at the bottom with rocks on top to act as heat sinks. Then I put a platform of hardware cloth on top of that. On top of the hardware cloth is a dish towel, and I will wrap the eggs in a second dish towel to further maintain heat. My fans (2) will be here Thursday and they will go inside the incubator to maintain ambient temperatures. I'm currently using a ziploc bag of water to measure the temperature where the eggs would be. Right now, I'm getting temperatures between 98-101 and relative humidity of 45-65%. It is currently pretty humid where I am in upstate NY, and I have a bag of rice on top of the hardware cloth to soak up some of the moisture in the air. The fans will definitely help with lowering humidity further. I'm going to be turning the eggs twice to three times a day.
I am looking for any advice, ideas, and suggestions to improve my chances of success with this experiment. I plan on setting eggs in a few weeks once I have enough saved up and I have figured out all of the kinks in my thermometer/hygrometer. I will update with pictures along the way. Feel free to subscribe to this thread to follow my experiment.
