Got an incubator idea... need advice

[pattyjean73]

OK... looking through all the homemade incubator links here on BYC I've come up with an idea based on most of the "how to's" only with a variation based on supplies that I already have (due to my fish hobby).

We start out with a styrofoam cooler, cut the top, insert window... etc.
Get a glass dish to put an aquarium heater in and cover the heater with water. The heater has a built in thermometer/thermostat and I can set it at 100°. Place heat sinks across the bottom of the cooler and cover all of that with the hardware wire for a floor. Cut out your vent holes, install the PC fan and humidor and plug it in. This could be a basic model and you'd have to watch water level and turn eggs manually or you can install an automatic waterer and turning mechanism.

Now here are my questions....
1. How would you control the humidity - keeping it at 50% and then bumping it up to 80% on the 18th day? Can this be done with adding/subtracting the amount of water in the heater dish?
2. Will the aquarium heater, fan, and heat sinks be enough to keep a constant temperature throughout the "bator"?
3. I'm I forgetting anything?

 

[77horses]

Not sure, but here's some advice: humidity should not be up to 80% near day 18!

That is a bit too high, and it can/will drown most, some, or all the chicks. You should keep it at around 40%, not letting it go over 50% and not letting it go under 25%. By day 18, make it go up to around 60-70%. I've heard this works good.

Good luck!

 

[pattyjean73]

OK. Thanks. I'm afraid I'm new and was spitting numbers out off the top of my head based on memory... which btw fails me more often than not. ha ha ha I would have double checked my numbers before I tried it. Thank you for the correction.

 

[pattyjean73]

Any ideas on whether or not the aquarium heater would work?

 

[rays123]

Quote:
idk try it and let us know ive always wondered this