I got me a bator...how does it work??

[GwenFarms]

Okay, a neighbor gave me his bator. I've never owned one before, but I've run out of broody hens to put eggs under and have all of my friends bators full of guinea eggs. A neighbor I had not seen in a while come to visit this morning and I asked him, as I do everyone I run across if he knew anyone with a bator, or broodies. He told me he had a bator that hadn't been turned on in three years and I was welcome to use it. It looks like a hovabator. It is styrofoam, has two windows up top and there are two power cords. I think it may have a turner in it.

When I plug one wire in the red light on top comes on. When I plugged the other one in nothing noticeable happened. There is no instructions with it. I know I need water in it and I'm assuming it needs to heat up for a certain amount of time. Any help at all would be appreciated.

TIA!

 

[Tuffoldhen]

Have you tried looking online in some Poultry catalogs that handle incubators to see what kind you may have?...Did the guy not know what kind it is?

You should clean it well first by using warm soapy water with a weak solution of bleach and let it dry in the sun first before plugging it in ... It will need to run for hours or even a day or two to make sure the temps and humidity are running at the right levels...

If it has two cords I'd say for certain it has a turner that will come up out of it...you need to make sure the turner works...you need a thermometer/hygrometer to keep track of your temps and humidity....

 

[GwenFarms]

I believe it belonged to his grandfather and ended up in his shed, so he doesn't know anything about it.

I found instuctions though! It is a hova bator. How do I know if the egg turner is working? How often will it move. When I put my hand over the motor part of the turner it feels kinda like a clock. The heating element up top is definetly working.

Here is the instructions I found:

https://www.gqfmfg.com/pdf/Thermal Hova-Bator instructions.pdf

Does anyone have anything to add as users? It seems like I remember some people doing adjustments to their's.

 

[ChickNLittle]

Congradulations! Now you are on your way to being "one of us" TEHE! Which means overrun with chicks.

About the bator. It sounds like mine, except I dont have the turner. Never liked them. I just turn the eggs three times day.I put an X on one side and an O on the other so I know which way they should be.

With my bator, if I'm going to be starting a hatch, I plug it in, put a thermometer inside and leave it there for 24 hours like that. Then I check the temperature. It should be between 101-102 degrees. If you have to adjust up or down turn the knob very little (one notch at a time), and wait about an hour and check it again. Do this until you have it adjusted to the correct temp. If yours is like mine, there is a plastic sheet underneath that holds the water and there is something like a maze where the water goes. You only have to fill up the middle maze until 3 days before hatch, then you want to make sure the middle is filled (with warm water of course), and also the maze next to it. Some have 3 mazes, beats me why! But two during the 19, 20, 21st day always did me pretty good. But I'm sure if you look on the net you will get the instructions for your incubator. When I bought mine, the instructions said it should be 100 degrees. But everyone on here tells me 101-102 and that seems to be about right. Dont worry if your temp drops for an hour or spikes for an hour. I went crazy with that, but it didnt do any adverse to my eggs.

Good luck and email us with any other questions.

 

[Tuffoldhen]

While your playing with your temps and humidity, I'd take acouple eggs from the fridge and place in the turner racks to see if it rotates them back and forth...it works very slowly so you won't movement much see movement ....but after a few hours you will be able to tell they were rotated...

There is a little plastic slot in the back left side of my turner where the rack hitch pin hooks down in...if its like my turner...