how to clean out incubators.

[clickie]

hi, I was given a hovabator 1602N still air incubator to borrow. I was wondering first if this was a good incubator to use, and also how to clean and disinfect it safely, since it smells a little. I have never incubated chicken eggs before so im hoping this one is okay. thankyou.

 

[Lach Cnoc Farm]

it's one of the cheaper incubators. i have one and the temp is a little up n down on it. humidity is really good though. i have had decent hatch rates from mine in the past, meaning moat all of the eggs hatched with the exception of a few that were bad or infertile.

i clean mine with bleach water in the tub, i let it set for a few minutes, or longer, depending on how much it smells. seems to work pretty well.

 

[geeperspeepers]

Hi there,

I've been wondering the same thing. I know there are incubator disinfectants but I was wondering if soaking the bottom of the incubator and the water tray in a ??10-15%?? bleach solution for a while would do the trick (rinse well). Would it be Ok to lysol the gageebers out of the inside of the incubator lid, clean off the residue and let the "clean incubator" run for a week prior to setting some cleaned eggs?

BTW- got a fantastic new thermometer for my hovabator. A digital thermometer (indoor/outdoor) with a variance of 0.1oF !It works very well. My last hatch of geese was very labour intensive (but maybe hatching geese are- 1st timer) because I was using a 3. 99 thermometer. I spent the 20 bucks and bought what I thought would be a good one. Needless to say, my turkey hatch (Royal Palm and Bourbon Reds) this morning went very well and exactly on time! I know there are many factors involved in that though.

gp

 

[Lach Cnoc Farm]

a Lot of people on here will suggest letting it dry out in the sun before using it again. that lets it air out too. you could easily wipe out the top part of the bator with the bleach water.

 

[clickie]

okay thankyou i just cleaned it with bleach then rinsed it really well.

 

[DulcyDoll]

I have a spray bottle of bleach/water. I spray it, let it sit then take a soft bristled tooth brush to clean and "crud"(water troughs like to turn brownish after a month of use lol) out of corners and such...rinse it and let it sit for a day or two.

 

[Intheswamp]

Quote:
Howdy geeperspeppers, what kind of thermometer did you end up purchasing?

 

[geeperspeepers]

Its an ECOplus Digital Thermometer & Hygrometer with Large display. I set it in the corner of the incubator behind the eggs. Like I said my turkeys all hatched exatly on time (for once). Im going to get another one for back up I think.

Good hatching,

gp