Incubator ventilation, help appreciated!

[mahsad]

Hiya guys!

I've made an incubator, cardboard (seems like cardboard incubators are kinda rare)!

Anyhow, everything is just alright, the eggs are day 13 now and lockdown is pretty soon. And that is making me nervous! Because the humidity is about 25 without water, of course I run it with water so humidity is about 52. That is achieved by dipping a paper towel with a crazy absorbance in a bowel of water and "hanging" it on something.

Now, for further increasing the humidity I did the same on the other edge of the bowel. Yes, it rose to 65%. Well, not quite enough, but it gets so cold in there, its like an evaporative cooler.

Now the question (all the above is the reason to my concern

): Do I have too much ventilation in there? I have only four holes, ½" in diameter. One beneath the bulb and three on the other three sides of the box on level with the eggs. Oh, the lid is not tightly closed. :/

BTW I'm new at this stuff. Maybe there is a method to get an idea of the air flow?

Any tip, even not related to this, is absolutely welcome!

 

[polarbearpilot]

I also hatched my eggs in a card board incubator. After much research, I went with the seasoned hatchers on dry hatching, meaning not to have the humidity too high. I kept the humidity around 30-40%. Also, I don't go by the "never open the lid during lockdown" because it is the high heat that causes shrink-wrapped chicks not low humidity. It was my first time hatching and I got 17 out of 18 eggs. It would have been 18 but the last one suffocated and I didn't see that and couldn't help it. So, watch your temp closely. I also had to have wet towel hung in front of the fan. Also, keep the fan from blowing directly on the eggs, because that will dry the eggs out. Watch the eggs as they hatch so that you can help them when needed. I had to help poke the hole bigger after they pipped so that the chicks can breath. I also had a couple of shrink wrapped chicks due to 106 degree temp.

Good luck. Please update when chicks hatch.

 

[mahsad]

Thank you so much for your answer! I have changed the angle of the fan, it blowed on the eggs. I always checked the air cell, didn't follow a specific humidity percentage, but it was always about 40%. But how about lockdown, what were your humidity? And what do you do if you open the lid, spray?

BTW, I might have to change the bulb to a higher W if it gets cold in there when adding another wet paper towel. Or insulate it more with my old shirts! Using a bunch of old socks and an old sweater did bring up the temperature about 1.5 degree. What a primitive, desperate way to do it!

I dont understand why the temperature is so low these days. Maybe its just the cloudy weather.

 

[polarbearpilot]

When I added water or wet towels, I heated it up first in the microwave so that it wouldn't lower the temp in the incubator too much. My humidity was around 30%-40% during 'lock down', and up as high as 50%+ every time I refilled the water or added wet towels, but that was OK, and the temp always dropped a little each time. After that, the temp and humidity settled down at around 100 and 30%+ for 3 hours or so before it again got too hot and too dry and I had to add more water. The lid I had only covered 1/3 of the top of the box, so when I opened, I didn't lose as much heat and humidity as I would have if the lid were the size of the box. If you're concerned about losing humidity when open the lid, you can spray the inside of the box, into the fan or on the light bulb, but NOT directly on the eggs. I only sprayed directly on the eggs when I discovered the temp crept up to 104+ and I opened the lid and let the heat escape. I also had to keep the lid crack open a little most of the time so that the temp didn't go up too quickly. The most important factor is the temp, so watch it closely. If you start out with good local fertile eggs, then you should have a good hatch rate.

 

[mahsad]

Wow, cool! I turned the eggs the whole 18th day, though it was the 17th. Guess it doesn't make a big difference.

What kind of eggs did you hatch? I am hatching australorps. As I have understood, some eggs are more "hardcore" than others?

Now you say it's okay to open the lid, how many times and for how long? I know it's not rocket science, but don't wanna kill the eggs. :/

 

[polarbearpilot]

I open the lid as often as needed to add water, or reduce the temp or help a new chick, etc. My chicks are Ameraucanas, and Olive Eggers. They are now 2 weeks old and still very cute. I do have a grown australorp with a beautiful shiny black coat. Good luck with your hatch. Please post pics.

 

[mahsad]

Day 21-22, 7/8 chicks! Last one has still just pipped. I though the 7th one wouldn't hatch, but it did at last! I'll let it stay in the bator. But about those other chicks, can I take them out now that they are fluffy? Despite the last egg? I think it'll hatch, it pipped i think just 10 hrs ago. So can I take out the chicks while the egg is pipped?

Pips will be uploaded soon.

 

[polarbearpilot]

CONGRATS!!!!
Yes, you can take the fluffy ones out, even sooner if you like as long as the brooder box is warm for them (95 degrees), they will do fine. 8 out of 8, that's 100% hatch rate. As for the last one, check to make sure it's still breathing, if it pipped a long time and still not out, I would make a little hole where the egg pipped and make sure you can see the little beak just to be sure it can breathe. My last egg died because somehow it turned inside the egg and didn't get enough air and it suffocated. Can't wait for the pics.

 

[mahsad]

Thank you, finally, 8/8 100%, yes!!

But the last one is a little smaller I think.. Or maybe that's just cause all the others are fluffy. But still..

Anyhow, it had, I think, a little protruding yolk sac I think, it was yellow but is now gone after two hours.

I WILL post pictures later! You think they can stay in the incubator overnight? What should the temperature be? 95 or something I guess?

And thanks a lotta lotta lot for yer help!

 

[polarbearpilot]

Yes, they can stay in the incubator. In fact, I turned my incubator into a brooder box. I turned off the fan, took out the towel, the water container, etc., and lined the bottom with a good layer of soft shredded paper. The temp should be around 95. In a few days you can lower it to 90 or so. The way I lower the temp is by keeping the lid open a little wider every few days. You can put a small dish of water with rocks so they don't accidentally drown if fall in, and also put in some food. Food and water on one end of the box, the other end for them to sleep. You can also keep the lid partially open so they can get some fresh air.

Hooray to homemade cardboard box incubators! They give much better result than ones you spend money to buy at the store. Enjoy those fluff balls, they won't stay that cute too long. Mine are 2 1/2 weeks old now, and they got of big chick feathers already, not as cute as yours.