Homemade Incubator and Ventilation

[SpoiledHens]

Hi, I'm new to backyard chickens and am attempting to hatch some eggs for the first time from my backyard flock. The 22 hens I have include Rhode Island Reds, Buff Orpintons, Golden Buffs, Easter Eggers, Silver Laced Wynadotte, Welsummers and Black Sex Link along with one Buff Orpinton Rooster.

I collected and selected 18 eggs over a 5 day period to Incubate and hopefully hatch. I spent countless hours scouring the internet and made my own homemade incubator. It's a small Styrofoam cooler type and I'm using 40 watt light bulbs for a heat source, a thermostat to regulate the heat and a homemade manual egg turner (made from egg cartons and pvc pipe) and an recycled 12v computer fan to circulate the air. The incubator is made to where I can turn the eggs from the outside and I can also fill the water reservoir from the outside so I never need to open the incubator.

As far as ventilation goes, I have 2 1/4 holes drilled in all four sides of the bator approximately 2 to 21/2 inches from he bottom. There are ( 3 ) 1/2 in vent holes in the top that I plug with the large (grey color) electrical connectors. I've run and tested the incubator for 3 days and it maintains 99 degrees with a humidity level ranging from 42 to 44 percent.

Three days ago I set 18 eggs and have been turning them approximately 5-6 times a day. The temp has been steady at 99 degrees and the humidity has ranged between 42 and 47 percent.

I'm starting into day 4 now and haven't opened the bator. I've recently read that opening the bator at least 1 time a day is good for fresh air echange.

Should I be opening and closing the bator daily (for a fresh exchange of air) which makes the temp and humidity fluctuate a little? or just leave it closed? I checked it during the testing process and once opened, it takes about 30 minutes to bounce back to 99 degrees and the mid 40's for the humidity level. Should I just wait to open the bator on day 7 or 8 when I plan to candle the eggs?

Any help or recommendations from folks with a lot more experience than me would be greatly appreciated.

 

[kuchchicks]

I have read a few things from several different sites that do talk about opening up the bator to simulate the mother getting up off her nest. But in all of the articles I have read it was not a substantial difference to hatch rate. If I remember correctly it was something like 1 more hatch out of 50? Although I could be wrong on this number... I did consider doing this myself but after all of the reading I did not think it was enough of a difference to add one more thing to worry about.

As far as your humidity goes, you may actually want to drop it down a little. I had previously run my humidity up at the same level you currently have yours at and my hatch rates were only about 40%. I then started "dry" incubating. I only add water if my humidity falls below 30%. I aim to keep my humidity at 30%-35% during days 1-17. Then during lock down I bump it up to 75%. Once I started doing that my hatch rates jumped way up. I have done back to back hatches in my styro bator since February and my last 3 hatch rates have been been 87%-100%. I also use these levels for my quail and have had equally good results.

 

[GitaBooks]

Sounds like a great plan!

I read somewhere that keeping ventilation down during the first few days can increase hatch rates, but then increasing humidity after day 7-10 is important.

Best of luck with your hatch!

 

[SpoiledHens]

Thanks Kuchchicks & Gitabooks

I appreciate the response and suggestions. This is my first time hatching eggs and want to do whats best for the best possible hatch percentage. I read so much about temp and humidity levels that its hard to figure out whats best. Some people have the humidity level high (around 50-60) and others keep the level lower (around 30-40) for the first 17 days before bumping it up for lockdown. Thats why I thought I would try the middle of the road and keep it as close to the mid 40's as possible.

I'll take your advise about lowering the humidity to the mid 30's and leaving the bator closed. The 3 vent holes I have in the top of the bator are currently plugged. I'll be removing one of the plugs today and see what happens. That should lower the humity some. I live in SW Florida so its pretty humid here to begin with so I might have to remove 2.

Thanks again for the pointers. Always nice to hear from people who have experience hatching and are willing to help others like myself who don't have a clue. LOL

 

[SpoiledHens]

I opened 2 of the 3 vent holes in the top of the bator. The temp stays steady at 99 and the humidity at 37 percent. I guess I'll try this and see how it works.

 

[kuchchicks]

That's fine. When I add my water a lot of times my humidity will shoot up to high 30s (usually around 39%). I will just leave it there and then let the humidity naturally fall as the water dries and let it get down to high 20s before I add my water again. The two average out and is a little easier to keep up with. Leaving the vent holes open is great. I never put mine in. It has always worked out for me. Just remember mom gets off of her nest every day to eat and drink. The eggs cool down a bit, the humidity falls, and then when she gets back on it takes a while for the temp and humidity to come back up. So if your temp and humidity go up and down here and there it's no big deal. Also keep in mind that as your humidity falls, your temp may go up. So just make sure that you monitor that you do not have a temp spike.

 

[SpoiledHens]

Okay great thanks, That makes a lot of sense about Mom leaving the nest from time to time and the temp & humidity flucuating. Monitored throughout the day yesterday and this morning and temp is remaining at 99 and humidity is hoovering at 35. Seems all is okay, so I'll try and maintain these levels and hope for the best. Again this is my first time hatching and a leaning experience for me.