DIY incubator first run troubleshooting question.

[rlchatham]

This is my first attempt with my own DIY. So far, so good. Holding temp. and humidity well at 60-65%. Having trouble maintaining the same temp. at lower levels though. Any suggestions? I already added multiple water bottles at bottom.

 

[cmom]

Your DYI looks good. Did you put a fan in it? My lower levels usually run a little cooler but heat rises. I have an older sportsman cabinet. We have a small guest apartment behind our garage that I have used as a hatchery but prior to coronavirus we had company so I put everything in the garage and have been hatching out there. I covered the cabinet with blankets because of the temperature swing between the day and nighttime temperatures in the garage. So far so good and it's been holding well. I recently had a couple of hatches and have another hatch tomorrow. I just checked and I have some pips. These eggs were in the bottom tray. I don't hatch in the cabinet, I only use it to incubate in and I hatch in my old styrofoam incubators. Good luck and have fun...

 

[rlchatham]

Thank you for your comments. I planned to use a separate Hatcher. I do have a fan installed and working with a false wall behind. I am hesitant to fill the lower to racks though. There’s about a -2-2.5 degree temp difference to the lowest rack. Do you think in your experience that this will effect the hatch? Or should I just use the top two. Theres only about -1-1.5 degree difference there.

 

[cmom]

I just took the bottom tray out and put the eggs in the styrofoams for hatching. They are due to hatch tomorrow and there are already some pips. My bottom is off around 2 degrees. The chicks are pretty resilient.

 

[cmom]

I have an old license plate over the water tray to help control the humidity. In the past I have used aluminum foil and it worked too. I had a problem with the humidity being too high. I like to keep it under 40% during incubation.

 

[rlchatham]

I have an old license plate over the water tray to help control the humidity. In the past I have used aluminum foil and it worked too. I had a problem with the humidity being too high. I like to keep it under 40% during incubation.
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Thanks for the tips! I’ll move mine to tomorrow and start a batch of Butler bobwhites too.