first time hatching - homemade incubator

[bmaner]

Hello all!
My husband and I decided we wanted to get a few chickens for the backyard to give us some yummy fresh eggs. Well, somehow that has turned into me getting eggs to hatch myself!
I bought 10 silkie eggs from a local farm in my town. I made my own incubator following some posts on here. I bought a Styrofoam cooler, a few low wattage light bulbs, and a hygrometer. I had to play around with the water and bulbs to get the right temps and humidity level, but i finally got it. Its sitting at 40 percent and 99 degrees.
At midnight last night i placed my eggs in and this morning when i woke up the temp was 102. I put another hole in the incubator and hope it stays at the temp i need it.
Any advice is welcome.
expected Hatch date: june 16th

 

[RosieR]

102 is not going to hurt them too badly short term from what I’ve read. It’s going to be difficult to hold the correct temperature without any kind of thermostat though. But many people have had success without it, you will just have to be vigilant in checking and adjusting.
The eggs themselves will hold heat in the incubator so that’s probably why you saw a spike.
Good luck!

 

[WVduckchick]

If you didn't add a fan, closer to 102 is better. A small computer fan to circulate the air may help.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

 

[bmaner]

If you didn't add a fan, closer to 102 is better. A small computer fan to circulate the air may help.

Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

I ended up getting a lower wattage bulb and am hoping that keeps it level. The temp got up to 109!! It was only for a short period, ive been watching it like a hawk.
Hoping this new light fixes the issue. I had it set perfect for hours until i added the eggs. ‍

 

[MigraineMan]

When we had our broody abandon her clutch, we move the eggs to a cardboard box with a heat lamp. Took a few hours to get it mostly stable in the basement, and we were seeing pretty solid 100.5 on the thermometer. Outside temps dropped overnight to the point where the HVAC system shut down, and the heat lamp output was enough to raise the room ambient temp a few degrees. By the following morning, the thermometer was at 106. We adjusted the lamp immediately, but were convinced that some sort of monitoring and temperature regulation would be required. Took a little fussing, but the $9 water heater thermostat is doing the trick.