Incubating Eggs on END...??? Help please..

[kyeschicks]

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Well I guess its worth a try? I Don't hatch chicks like that I just lay them on its side

 

[JestersEye]

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I have some pictures already, and took a few more just before we plugged it in for the evening. I'll post them all by tomorrow afternoon. Wait 'till you see the cool egg turner he made! We copied someone's else's idea from a website we found, but added the handle so it's easy to turn. It's so easy to use, and it fits perfectly inside the 'bator so that each end hits against the hardware cloth shield at about a 45 degree angle. That way, there's almost no way to screw it up.

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LOL No, it's a balloon chicken. My 13-year-old son is an amateur balloon twister, and makes balloon animals and things for the younger kids at his school's elementary carnival every year. (A weird hobby he got into on his own.) We got into raising chickens for him to show in the local 4-H. So... I thought it would be cute to choose my BYC avatar as something that reflects him and "his" chickens. A balloon chicken seemed like a natural choice, at the time. And just to stay with the theme, I have a balloon horse as my avatar on BackYardHerds.com.

 

[19Dawn76]

Thanks!!

:d

 

[JestersEye]

Here are the first pictures I took of our homemade incubator and egg turner. I've taken some more of the "finished" unit, but I still have to get them off my camera. I'll upload them as soon as I can... gotta finish a few chores first.

This image shows the ice chest from the front, before the glass window was added to the top. You can see the handle for the egg turner sticking out. Cool, huh?

This view shows the inside of the 'bator, looking through the frame of the egg turner. You can see the light, the pc fan, and the thermostat switch. (We used a long, narrow 25w light bulb.)

Here is a top view of the incubator with the egg turner and the 18-hole egg tray in place.

More pictures coming soon!

 

[JestersEye]

I have a really important question, and I need an answer asap!

I know that the ideal temperature for incubating chicken eggs in 99.5 degrees in a forced-air incubator and 101.5 degrees in a still-air incubator.

Well, my new homemade incubator has a pc fan in it, so I assume the temperature should be set at 99.5 degrees. However, our thermostat (switch) seems to have quite a wide "deadband" range. (We are using the same type of thermostat that was recommended in MissPrissy's design.)

Right now, our test run is showing that it is running at a temperature low of 95 degrees and a high of 104 degrees. Is that an okay range for hatching eggs or will a high of 104 degrees cook the embryos?!

I don't have a way to measure the internal temp., so I can't tell how hot the eggs will actually get during incubation.

If I lower the range, it will cause the temperature to sometimes drop below 95 degrees. Would the eggs continue to develop if that happened? Basically, should I lower it from its current setting of 95-104 degrees???

 

[Katy]

A 9 degree temp swing back and forth is too much in my opinion if you want to have a chance at a good hatch.

 

[JestersEye]

Can anyone tell me if there is a way to reduce the range of our thermostat, or if there is another brand of thermostat that is better for homemade ice chest incubators???

 

[toxo]

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This question of finding a decent thermostat keeps coming up. If you check my BYC page, you'll find a Maplins one that I found and after a couple of small changes works fantastically and is easily tweaked for temperature. You have to solder it yourself cos it comes in a kit but easy to do and cheap.
If you don't want to DIY here's a link to a GB Ebay site that sells em ready made. Haven't tried this one but it must work cos he's been selling them for a while.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Soldered-Ther...8154563QQihZ018QQcategoryZ46292QQcmdZViewItem

If you want to DIY, this guy sells this replacement thermistor which he says takes the temperature range higher. I used the original thermistor and changed some resistors instead as explained on my BYC page.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200362555864&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:VRI

Paul

 

[deerman]

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Keep the MAX at 101, but with that range you will still have a hatch . Better with smaller range. The high temp, will kill them all.

nice incubator.

 

[Paganbird]

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You could take some putty or play dough & form a ball... then poke a remote temperature probe into a hole in the ball. That will give you an idea of what the eggs' inside temp is.
I have heard of people making water wigglers out of ziplock baggies half-filled with water, wrapped around a temp probe.