Homemade incubator

[JLeigh]

Can anyone tell me how to set up a home made incubator? I have a Genesis 1588, but have two sets of eggs coming at different times. I want all the eggs, but don't think I can "stagger" putting the eggs in the incubator. A homemade incubator would work in the interim?

I'm hoping I can put the second set of eggs into the Genesis until lockdown, at which time I'll take them out, put them in the homemade incubator for a few days, and then put them back into the Genesis when the first set of eggs are hatched, dry and out of the incubator.

Did I explain that well enough to make any sense at all?

 

[kellysmall87]

Hi, I used a homemade one at first and I couldn't keep the temp/humidity stable enough and lost the eggs.

I used a box (or cupboard or a box inside a cupboard) and a heat lamp and a bowl of water for humidity. I put a thermometer and a hydrometer in there but couldn't keep it stable.

Good luck!

 

[JLeigh]

Kellysmall87,

Thanks for that info. I was worried that the heat and humidity would be difficult - - I may just go buy a very inexpensive incubator for the second set of eggs and move them into the better one later. I've seen them for not much money. It would only be temporary.

Not sure what to do. Oh, the stress of a first hatch.

 

[kellysmall87]

I know what you mean. I have a cheap incubator that I bought for £40 quid. I guess that even a cheap incubator would be more reliable than a homemade one. It's horrible to have eggs in a homemade one and get them so far -then lose them.

Whats the weather like in North Georgia? Maybe you can keep the heat and humidity better than England.

 

[JLeigh]

I doubt it - we have a saying here in Georgia, "If you don't like the weather, stick around for 45 minutes and it will change." I'm probably going to buy a cheap $40 USD incubator for the six eggs I have coming. It won't be used on just one hatch, I'm sure. There may be many times I'll use it. I hope, I hope.

Sorry you lost your eggs. That's got to be a big disappointment. It will be for me if I lose them all!

Have you/are you trying again? If so, let me know how it goes, okay?

 

[kellysmall87]

Since I lost the eggs earlier this year I bought a second hand incubator and put in seven eggs, and hatched five eggs successfully. Two died in egg sadly- one at 7 days and another at hatchtime- but the others are fighting fit and healthy. Sometimes, you lose some for unknown reasons. Good luck with your hatches!

 

[JLeigh]

If I get five out of my first hatch, I'll be thrilled. More than that and I think I'll fall down in a faint. Congrats on your successful hatch rate!