Help with my incubator project

[Diogo Pereira]

Hello everyone.
As some of you might know already I'm planning on building my own incubator as my arduino project, the problem is, I don't know that much about incubating eggs.
I hope you don't mind telling me some informations I need in order to advance on conceptualizing my idea.
Here's some questions I have:
1 - How much humidity do eggs need?
2 - How long do they usually take to hatch?
3 - What temperature should the incubator be on?
4 - Do the eggs need light or do people just usually use light bulbs because they produce heat easily?
5 - How often do I need to turn the eggs?
6 - Got any other tips?

Thank you for your help !

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Here are some great articles to get you started.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/the-beginners-guide-to-incubation.73350/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...incubator-thermometers-and-hygrometers.73634/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/incubation-humidity.73386/
To answer your questions basically:

1 - Humidity is a big one and I would definitely read that last article but I have had great success keeping my humidity between 45-50% for the first 18 days and then increasing to about 65-70% for lockdown and hatch.

2 - Chickens take 21 days on average.

3 - 99.5F in a forced air incubator.

4 - They do not require any light.

5 - At least 3 times a day, more is better.

6 - Tons, but reading the articles will be a great place to start and let us know if you have any more questions! There a lots of very helpful members here on BYC.

Good Luck!