how do I use the 1502 Sportsman?

[mooSa]

Hi, I just bought the 1502 sportsman incubator and I was wondering how to use it. I never used an incubator before so if anyone could explain it briefly before I start it up. Thanks. and what is the purpose of the hatcher? and do I need to increase temp? I just dont know where to start.

 

[Lensters]

The best use of it would be to package it up and send it to me.

Seriously, read the manual, read the sticky at the top of this forum.

 

[mooSa]

Yea I did, I just want someone with experience to briefly explain using the 1502 sportsman. Thanks

 

[Lensters]

Quote:
Well mine is a 1202A so the thermostat is completely different. But the gist is set the temp. to as close to 100F as you can, add the water, then monitor and adjust for a day or two until you are comfortable with it (use more than one thermometer in addition to the built in one until you know it's variance, a hygrometer is nice too). Add the eggs, switch on the turner and mark the calendar for 18 days (or 10 days if you want to candle them). Every few days add water. On day 18 move the eggs to the hatching tray, add the "extra humidity sponges" and I like to put a little spray bottle of water in there too. Some people say to turn the temp down to 98-99F at this point, however I don't as I usually have more eggs in the turner racks and I haven't noticed a difference. Then on day 21 (or the peeping drives you nuts) open it up and see what you have. Before you close it back up give the remaining hatching eggs a good spray of warm water. Don't leave the unhatched eggs in there past 23 or 24 days or you will end up with a stinking mess. Fine tune your procedure as you learn.

I built a lid out of hardware cloth (and dividers out of tin) for my hatching tray as the little buggers like to climb out of it and hide in the back where even my ape like arms can't reach.

 

[mooSa]

Can they hatch on turning trays? or do i have to move them down? and the humidity sponges, are you talking about the wick pads? and if you are talking about the wick pads, should I Put 1 or 2 at the top where the water is? Should the temperature of the room be 24 degrees Celsius?

 

[Lensters]

You can hatch in the turning trays, just level the trays and leave the turner off. If you are using egg racks, you will want to take the eggs out and lay them flat in the tray.

Yes, humidity sponges = wicking pads. I actually use a second tray of water instead of them but I would probably use two pads were I live. You can get a hygrometer and see whether one or two gets you to 75% RH. Personally I think being over is better than being under.

The room temperature doesn't matter that much with these incubators, especially since you have a digital thermostat. Just two rules: 1. avoid large, fast temperature swings and 2. don't let it get cold enough that the incubator's heater can't keep it warm enough. My incubator has seen an external drop of 20F over 12 days and the internal temp changed 0.4F during that time (100.2F to 99.8F). When it was at 100.2F internally, the external temperature was 102F. The evaporation was cooling it and I only had a couple of dozen early eggs in it, so they weren't generating much heat of their own. So I guess that there is a third rule, don't let the external temperature get much above 100F.

 

[mooSa]

ok i would like to verify a couple points.

1. Does the temperature needs to be 99.5 F inside the incubator?
2. Does the humidity have to be 60-65% up till 17 days and 80-85% on the last 3 days?
3. When i get close to the hatch.. on the last 3 days should i take the eggs out of the plastics trays and lay them on the turning racks(id have to center them)

 

[Lensters]

Quote:
Answer 1: Well, if you can maintain that then great, you'll probably have a swing from 99-100F or something like that.

Answer 2: Those numbers seem a bit higher than I usually see recommended but I like them. A bigger swing is allowed for humidity than is for temp, I'd say that a 20% range would be acceptable.

Answer 3: Yes, they need to be able to roll for the chicks to "zip" the end off.