Hatching eggs using your body??

[GreedySeedFeedy]

I have not hatched eggs, but I have, successfully, about 4 times incubated tiny songbird nestlings to maturity using a similar device, basically an insulated metal box with holes drilled in strapped tightly around my waist. You don't move so much that you would harm an egg! Just don't go jogging, and you will be fine. The chicks were inside on top of paper towels, right against bare skin and stayed at a steady 96 degrees. I strongly recommend it, especially if you have to be a parent to tiny nestlings while at work.

 

[Mylied]

So I don’t know how many of you watch A Chick Called Albert on youtube, but I have watched him for years. In one of his most recent videos, he did something that I’m sure many of us have wondered about...he hatched a chick using his body temperature. Yep! He strapped a little homemade contraption to his stomach and hatched a duck egg. It also was one of his strongest hatchers and seemed to hatch very quickly. My question is, have any of you tried this?? Is anyone willing to try this? I am going to be forced to today. In South Africa, we have “load shedding” which is when they cut our electricity for a number of hours. In previous posts I mentioned that I have three duck eggs. We don’t have a generator and I have no other ideas as to how to keep my eggs safe and incubated for about three hours while the power is out! If you want to watch the video I was talking about, here’s the link:

I thought this might be an interesting thread to start and I’m looking forward to hearing your opinions!

A few people have tried on here through the years. Latest one was called something like hatching an egg in my boobs. The ones I've read the eggs develop but don't successfully hatch. Human body temp is a degree or two too low so the embryo has a delayed development. Then there's the matter of humidity at hatch time. I haven't seen the guys video so not sure how he achieved the needed higher temp and humidity.

 

[Zen Wildlife Rescuer]

I have not hatched eggs, but I have, successfully, about 4 times incubated tiny songbird nestlings to maturity using a similar device, basically an insulated metal box with holes drilled in strapped tightly around my waist. You don't move so much that you would harm an egg! Just don't go jogging, and you will be fine. The chicks were inside on top of paper towels, right against bare skin and stayed at a steady 96 degrees. I strongly recommend it, especially if you have to be a parent to tiny nestlings while at work.

I agree that it definitely works for nestling songbirds. Especially since most species of songbird babies need to be fed every 10-20 minutes in their first week of life. We often have to carry around tiny little babies with us. We have power cuts for the whole week this week so I am really hoping that my contraption does its job and incubates the duck eggs.

 

[Zen Wildlife Rescuer]

A few people have tried on here through the years. Latest one was called something like hatching an egg in my boobs. The ones I've read the eggs develop but don't successfully hatch. Human body temp is a degree or two too low so the embryo has a delayed development. Then there's the matter of humidity at hatch time. I haven't seen the guys video so not sure how he achieved the needed higher temp and humidity.

Oh okay. The guy in the video really added a lot of layers to his contraption. Maybe that’s how he got those extra two or three degrees right. As for the humidity, he always keeps his eggs in his hands or under his beard (sounds weird ik) and they always hatch fine.

 

[GreedySeedFeedy]

A few people have tried on here through the years. Latest one was called something like hatching an egg in my boobs. The ones I've read the eggs develop but don't successfully hatch. Human body temp is a degree or two too low so the embryo has a delayed development. Then there's the matter of humidity at hatch time. I haven't seen the guys video so not sure how he achieved the needed higher temp and humidity.

It gets really really humid in there sometimes! Temp depends on insulation and ventilation, you have to do a lot of testing. In my opinion, the biggest problem would be contamination! There is an acid and certain oils secreted by our skin that can wear away and harm the protective film over the egg. Because of these oils we also have a sort of helpful yeast that lives on the nutrients in this oil, but it's really bad for chicks/eggs and can cause an infection really easily. It's hard to keep your stomach clean and dry while maintaining the skin contact needed to sustain warmth! Eggs need a temperature between 85 degrees f and 105 to hatch; our bodies happen to be right in the comfort zone, if you can manage to get the insulation and skin contact just right.

 

[AllenK RGV]

I would think an incubator draws so little power than a simple 40 US dollar inverter and a 12V battery would keep it going if that is an option available for you. Best wishes. I bought an inverter for just this reason, but have never needed to put it into use.

Regardless, body heat would be my next step as well when the power is out.

 

[GreedySeedFeedy]

I agree that it definitely works for nestling songbirds. Especially since most species of songbird babies need to be fed every 10-20 minutes in their first week of life. We often have to carry around tiny little babies with us. We have power cuts for the whole week this week so I am really hoping that my contraption does its job and incubates the duck eggs.

I'm really excited to hear how this goes!! I am dying to try it myself, too, but don't want to run the risk of becoming overly bonded with a rooster.

 

[GreedySeedFeedy]

I would think an incubator draws so little power than a simple 40 US dollar inverter and a 12V battery would keep it going if that is an option available for you. Best wishes. I bought an inverter for just this reason, but have never needed to put it into use.

Those little converters are life savers!!! Mine always tend to stop working after just a few uses, though.

 

[Zen Wildlife Rescuer]

It gets really really humid in there sometimes! Temp depends on insulation and ventilation, you have to do a lot of testing. In my opinion, the biggest problem would be contamination! There is an acid and certain oils secreted by our skin that can wear away and harm the protective film over the egg. Because of these oils we also have a sort of helpful yeast that lives on the nutrients in this oil, but it's really bad for chicks/eggs and can cause an infection really easily. It's hard to keep your stomach clean and dry while maintaining the skin contact needed to sustain warmth! Eggs need a temperature between 85 degrees f and 105 to hatch; our bodies happen to be right in the comfort zone, if you can manage to get the insulation and skin contact just right.

So the moral of the story is, incubating eggs with your body is a risky, hard and stressful job. Best to stick to an incubator unless you’re in a sticky situation like I am with my power outages. Hopefully my eggs survive

 

[ChickenCanoe]

So the moral of the story is, incubating eggs with your body is a risky, hard and stressful job. Best to stick to an incubator unless you’re in a sticky situation like I am with my power outages. Hopefully my eggs survive

I agree with that. This site recently had two threads where someone tried it. The hatches failed.
However, in your case, I would keep your incubator running but move them to your body during power outages and it should work.
If you always get a prior notice when there will be an outage I can easily see it working as a temporary fix.