Foam incubator set up/tips

[gimmie birdies]

I have 2 incubators I use. The left is a little giant. fan and turner. (2 years old, eggs have only gone to day 18 in this one, then moved to the other incubator.) The right is a farm innovators still air. I hatch in the FI one. 3 years old.

The LG the eggs go into for 18 days. Dry hatch. (50% humid naturally.) It is best to not over load the turners, the weight of the eggs can wear out the turner.
The picture below shows eggs placed around the heat from above, but not directly under.

The picture below show if you do have to fill the incubator, put the biggest eggs under the heat because they take longer to hatch. Smaller eggs further out.

It will balance out the hatch, of big and smaller eggs. (Of course try and pic smaller eggs to hatch.) If you get sent smaller eggs in shipping, don't feel bad, smaller eggs hatch better.
The FI incubator I use for hatching. after day 18 I fill the troughs you can see. I place the eggs on the wire tray, making sure the curve of the wire tray aims down, so the eggs stay to the middle. (Don't let your eggs touch the walls.)

Setting the eggs place them like this drawing after candling.

I

Fish stringer keeps the hatching chicks from kicking about the unhatched. (Soccer ball.)

Below I have some turner trays I took from a diff incubator. Some times I may have to have to hatch upright for whatever reason. Maybe if we have mail order eggs, with detatched air cells.

That is how I do mine.

 

[sourland]

Great ideas. Thanks for sharing.

 

[sdm111]

Research dry incubation method and do that

 

[gimmie birdies]

I do dry hatching. With out adding water, till I move to hatching incubator, my read is still 50% in first incubator with out water.

 

[gimmie birdies]

Place foam incubator on a flat surface. The underside of the incubator has holes and needs to breathe.

 

[gimmie birdies]

When you plug in your turner, after not using it, put a penny near the incubator on the outside, the direction the turner is aiming. Every time I check my turner, I move my penny on the side the turner is aimed, so that I know the turner has been working. It may not move when you first plug it in, depending on the model. I think mine is one an hr. 4 positions? My guess is far left, lightly left, middle lightly right, far right.

 

[gimmie birdies]

When it is hatching time, (day 18) and you fill the water troughs, be sure you take out the wire floor first. Water will cling to the wire floor if you pour the water though it and you don't want to set your hatching eggs on water.