I am also a first timer at trying to incubate eggs.  I built my own cabinet style incubator, out of western red cedar.  It will hold about 100 chicken eggs.  I attempted to incubate about 20 eggs at first, to test things out, I never finished the wood thinking if I had to make changes it was less time invested.  Around day 4-5 my door warped and the temp dropped too low, killing the eggs (at least this is my assumption).  I wasn't happy with the door anyways, so I put a new batch of 34 eggs in, and screwed the door shut at the corners.  I am at day eighteen today, with fourteen eggs that made it through the candling process.   I have a rose combed turken rooster (I understand rose combed roosters may not be the most fertile of roosters) I am hoping this is the reason I had so many blank eggs.  Candled on day fifteen, every thing seems proper(at least from what I am seeing and reading about) even saw movement in one egg.  Will find out on the 26th.