Incubator is awesome,besides all the criticism.

[gmendoza]

Quote:
DO IT! DO IT! DO IT!!

 

[werecatrising]

I was just coming on to look at your other thread and see if you posted any results. I need to try this out!

 

[JulieZ]

UPDATE on my gmendoza Incubator ....

Temps do NOT fluctuate at all. Steady at 99.9 to 101.

Humidity stays steady at 60-65% & will rise easily to 75-80% when I fill the plastic pencil box plum full.

My eggs are not doing so great but I blame shipping & me allowing an 8 hour cool down from a 2 day hot hike from SC to FL. They were fertilzed, growing & then they died. I still have 8 going strong & lock down will begin this Tuesday. Looking forward to seeing what comes from a Buff Rock Roo & Dixie Rainbow Hen. Should be interesting.

I will be adding a funnel & hose to keep the humidity up during lock down. It's the only thing I want to alter outside of bending the wire a little more to perfection but that's a Julie issue.

Pulled in my 15 gallon tank a few moments ago. Will begin another set up for some cross breeding I have going on for some all purpose chickens. All I need is a $6 Walmart fan. It can not get any easier or better than this.

 

[NonnasBabies]

This is a wonderful idea. I have a question though and I know I'll sound stupid but since I've never incubated anything before I just need to ask. When you turn your eggs, I know you do it everyday right? Do you turn them top to bottom, bottom to top and so forth and just continue doing that everyday? And do you turn at the same time everyday??

Thanks
Missi

 

[JulieZ]

Quote:
Barred Babies / Missi, I lay them the way a chicken does ... on the side. On one side "Barred Rocks" is written

and on the other I place a little circle. I turn 3-5 times a day because it's a preferance based on everything I've read but 2 different days I was able to turn only twice & that was still good. There's no specific time for me to turn EXCEPT when I wake up & go to bed. This incubator is so good, there's no getting up in the middle of the night to turn or look over things. Of course with nerves, I do it anyway. Anticipation relief is the only part gmendoza did not add to this set up for me.

 

[NonnasBabies]

Quote:
Thanks Julie. I figured when I finally decided to do this I would buy and incubator with a turner and wouldn't have to worry about this so I never did pay attention. But this incubator seems so easy & cheap to put together that I'm going to give it a try. I LOVE the idea that I can see everything that's going on and not just looking through a little window!!

Missi

 

[gmendoza]

Quote:
Barred Babies / Missi, I lay them the way a chicken does ... on the side. On one side "Barred Rocks" is written

and on the other I place a little circle. I turn 3-5 times a day because it's a preferance based on everything I've read but 2 different days I was able to turn only twice & that was still good. There's no specific time for me to turn EXCEPT when I wake up & go to bed. This incubator is so good, there's no getting up in the middle of the night to turn or look over things. Of course with nerves, I do it anyway. Anticipation relief is the only part gmendoza did not add to this set up for me.

Julie,

There is no anticipation relief,but more nail biting moments in store for you, me,and everyone else who makes this because of seeing the eggs every day to see if there is something new.There has to be a flaw somewhere.

Waiting endless seconds for those eggs that move and crack..

Gabriel

 

[JulieZ]

Gabriel ... if there is a flaw, I will find out with my 2nd batch going in my 15 gallon tank tomorrow. I finished it up a few seconds ago. For the bottom where the eggs will lay, I turned my 10 gallon lid upside down in the tank. WALA. (EDIT: Metal mesh) This new batch of eggs are from my chickens. No traveling, no postal service, no heat/cold or x-ray exposure. We'll see how this goes. I must admit, even if my hatch rate isn't high, I love the constant view. However, I'm now down to 4 eggs ... 3 from the travel & 1 from my unknown mix. How are yours doing?

 

[Braclin]

Help!!! I built this incubator and I cant get it to keep a constant temp. It runs 97 - 104. Humidity is running 70. I have eggs coming on saturday and i'm worried. The room that its in runs 72-76. Its an older home. How can I fix this problem? I move the light and the temp changes but is this fluctuation going to kill my eggs? I built it per specifications by gmendoza only thing different is i have a digital thermometer/humidity gauge cause its all i could find here.

Here is my incubator
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/62331_inc.jpg

 

[leahthor]

I had bookmarked your last thread about your incubator the day you started the thread so that in the spring I would have something to use as a guideline. I'm so happy that your hatching well in it and now I don't know if I can wait until spring!

I for one want to thank you for the idea and supply list on your incubator. Good job!