Homemade incubator, first hatch....advice?

[jbolt]

Well bummer. About 20 minutes after I posted the chick died. It appeared to have prolapsed while ttrying to hatch. Nothing was stuck to it, it looked just like it's siblings when they hatched, except with organs outside its body. I think I messed up its hatching mojo by opening too early....lesson learned.... 1 more has internally pipped and I hear chirping. Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[jbolt]

soooii, an update ... .. I now have 4 of 6 eggs set hatched. 1 chick died soon after pipped, I thunk it was my fault, lesson learned. The other egg had a fully developed chick alive that hadn't hatched. However due to other chicks trampling it, the egg cracked at the bottom where I had put wax on hairline cracks at the start incubation. It didn't xcrack anything but the shell, but had exposed membranes at day 18, so I decided to tie it up carefully in a sandwich bag, and put it in a very cold windowsill. I thought it was the kindest thing I could do for it. So on my fist hatch in a homemade bator was 80% oh yeah!

 

[jbolt]

This looks very much like my own set up. Which instructions did you follow? 

http://www.stormthecastle.com/how-to-make-a/how-to-make-a-homemade-egg-incubator.htm

I followed these basic instructions and modified it with a WHT. And dimmer switch as a reastat(sp.). I put water on bottom of cooler instead of in bowl,with a wire shelf 4" above the bottom. With accurite combo Therm, it holds 18 eggs and maintains a temp with only a 1degree temp swing. I also have 2 Mason jars filled with water on the bottom of bator and am using an old Xbox fan to circulate warm air.

 

[Kaela23]

Innovative design! Since I hatched a few eggs in my dorm room during college using a shoe box, heat lamp and open jars of water (in a bathroom drawer). I think you will do much better.
Why? I was in a zoology class and they had us cracking open the eggs every few days. After the chicks started looking like chicks..I could not kill them anymore.

 

[jbolt]

Upgraded this design by hanging bird food cups on the wire guard for water during lockdown.

 

[el pollo rey]

That's awesome stuff !

 

[el pollo rey]

How's the bator doin J ? Temps steady

 

[jbolt]

Temps are perfect. I am on my third hatch with this setup ( I buy a new 3 dollar cooler each hatch to keep it clean) and I have a 90 % hatch rate out of a total of 41 set in the 3 hatches. I am going to buy oh abattoir lid and bottom replacement to try and implement these ideas for more than 18 eggs at a time.

 

[jbolt]

Meeant hovabator

 

[el pollo rey]

Thats pretty darn good ! Shipped eggs or local ?