Hatching?

[frogz]

My dad hatched eggs out a long time ago (20+ years) and now as a summer project we've decided we want to hatch eggs again. I keep seeing these little inexpensive incubators that only hold 3 chicken eggs which would be perfect for our coop size! However, my dad warns those incubators have very low hatch rates. Not only that, but everyone that is selling hatching eggs is selling 6, 12, or 15+ eggs. I don't need that many. If anyone has some advice please let me know. We already have a small flock, so if hatching really isn't something you can do on a small scale, it's not a big loss.

 

[loveourbirds]

as a rule of thumb brisnea incubators do pretty well. they can be kind of costly. if your just planning on a few hatches, Styrofoam incubators work pretty well too.

I have seen on here that people have made them from old coolers, using a heat lamp bulb and a water heater thermostat. (I would at least recommend buying a wafer thermostat)

if you have a small, thermostat controlled heater laying around; and you feel comfortable with it you can build your own pretty reasonably.

wire a wafer thermostat in place of the heater's thermostat, and wire the fan to run all the time. the eggs should be under the shelf where the heater doesn't blow directly on them. using ice cube trays, or disposable aluminum brownie pans for water pans, adjust the size of them to make your humidity right.

 

[Poison Ivy]

I have a Hova Genius foam incubator had it for years and love it. About 5 years ago, I moved and had to sell off all my birds. The Hova and Sportsman bator went into storage. Decided the other day to get a few Serma eggs to hatch out. The Hova is holding temps right at 99.5-100* and humidity it around 50%.
You could try to make your own with a cooler its super easy. I made one years ago before buying one. I used a dimmer switch cord instead of the hot water heater element. The light was from a Dept 56 Christmas village building. A old computer fan and a 2.5 gal foam cooler. Hatched a lot of babies with it then decided I wanted one that would hold more eggs. That is how I ended up just buying the Hova seems hatching is addicting.