Incubators Anonymous

[mikkles]

Well you are in the right spot. Welcome.

Now what can we help you find, eerr I mean, how can we help you!! (Grin)

LOL Zooptpia had it right. we're not here to 'cure' you but to enable you to hatch more.

what breeds are you looking for or are interested in? (and might have available to send to others?)

Hi Mikki!

LOL I can see I'm going to like it here! (Mike might not like it! lololol) Actually I just set some sizzles, silkies and polish the other day...Poor Mike!! He got me a brinsea mini for Christmas, hatched 7 out of 7 in Feb...soooo..I bought some eggs from a lady kind of close to me (2hours away is close right?) I only got 6 from her, so added one of my own to make 7 (no sense having an empty spot!) well only 4 of those hatched..the 3 that didn't were some of them that I bought..they didn't develop at all..guessing they were infertile...welllll I got a bigger incubator..so had to test it of course...got 18 out of 19 to hatch..the 19th got a little assistance out, but she didn't make it...now I have more shipped eggs...the sizzles/silkies came from one lady and came looking GREAT! The PO did a nice job of tossing around the polish I think..so I guess we'll just see what I get...the good hatches I've had have been from my own chickens btw...overall, I JUST LOVE incubating and Hatching! Now Mike has to build me a bigger coop!

 

[Runawaylobster]

Well my broody hen finally got off her eggs today and underneath her was one little chick and 13 unhatched eggs LOL!!! well she IS a beginner .. i hatched some marans today in the inkybator i'm thinking of sneaking them in there tonight but trouble is i can't get near the nest to clean it and it's pretty pongy..

 

[ChickNmamma]

Can someone tell me what kind of heat source this is in my cabinet incubator. It has a fan on the back side facing the wall.

That looks like some kind of radiant/radiator heat source. I have never seen one in an incubator like it before. Reminds me of something used in a car...

Are you going to use it, or are you going to replace it with another type? Does it work?

 

[waterplz]

Hello again is there a way to tell is an egg is still alive at day 20 because I didn't know and counted two days off so I went into lockdown two days early and I'm afraid they died

 

[ChickNmamma]

Hello again is there a way to tell is an egg is still alive at day 20 because I didn't know and counted two days off so I went into lockdown two days early and I'm afraid they died

Hatch date isn't until day 21. Don't mess with them yet. You can put them in lockdown on day 14 without any harm.

Next, wait until day 25 before giving up hope on the eggs. After Day 25 you can do the float test. Get warmish water (100 deg) and put the un-pipped egg in the water. If it floats and wiggles it is still moving in there. If it sinks or doesn't wiggle then its probably gone. You can break a small hole in the aircell side and look into the egg.

 

[ki4got]

Quote:
Originally Posted by dblred0728




Can someone tell me what kind of heat source this is in my cabinet incubator. It has a fan on the back side facing the wall.
a radiator and similar heating/cooling systems would have a liquid flowing thru, and the fins are used as a heat exchanger. since it doesn't appear to be fluid filled,

this looks more like a resistive heating setup, where current is passed thru the metal and the resistance of the metal is causing it to heat up... i'll ask hubby (the automotive and electronics wiz) a bit later and see what he thinks.

do you have any larger/higher quality images?

 

[TinTennessee]

Volunteer did a great job!!  Love the use of scraps, of course!!

Yes, you got my idea on the fans, One for moving or increasing humidity and others for moving the air. Easy to get too much air movement, as this is a hatcher, avoiding too much drying of the eggs once externally pipped is a key factor.  Guess I'm trying to say, up the humidity but not have air moving so fast a  plane could take off.   

Maybe build like each draw is an individual hatcher  . . . .  the expense adds up in electronics though. 

Sealing up-- when building our house we sealed EVERY nook and cranny, then we put the holes for ventilation where we wanted them.  Warm air flows upward. = in vents low, outvents high.  Maybe drill hole as the invents. That's what I did in my cooler bator, and then used tape to cover a few as needed. A balancing act; one where more is better with the high capcity of this hatcher. IT needs a name. lol

That hatcher looks Great, Donna.  It went from an idea to a product much faster than I imagined!

I was going to ask you if all the OSB was completely sealed.  That stuff soaks up water like a sponge!  I swear it will pull it out of the air, especially if the humidity is high.  I had one cabinet I used for some plants (an old store glass display) and it soaked up so much water even under the linoleum I put in there and sealed that I couldn't open the doors!

It is really nice looking, your friend did a great job!

Are you going to use one of your handy-dandy electronic thermostats in there?  I finally ordered the same one, the one I got doesn't allow for adjusting by tenths of a degree C, I can only adjust by full degrees so its hard to get it to stay right where I want it.  I finally got the Brinsea Spot Check and I can now see how much it varies.

 

Happened WAY faster than I thought too!  He has a WHOLE shop to make this stuff in so it was no sweat for him. 

The OSB is only on the bottom of the drawers.  Hubby said OSB was made with waterproof glue.  The Partical board of the cabinet material is all covered.... except a few places.  I am going to paint that to seal it.  I am going to caulk all the little peg holes on the sides so that will not suck up the water.  I might paint the OSB too... just to make sure

Yes the same thermostat.  They have several different ones.  Mine I can control it to a 10th of a C.  I can also adjust the SWING in temps too. I boutght 6 so I have extras for this project   Might need to order some replacements soon. ... just for backups.

No Donna I'm not stalking you! I just had to pop in to make my head swell. Thanks everyone , I'm really , REALLY glad you like it. I had some ideas for your next one Donna but we'll talk about that in person. As far as names for it go how about " the Grey Ghost"? Or is ghost in the name a bad omen?

 

[RideRed93]

I'm new to the incubation thing i have just put in 5 turkey eggs,i built my incubator let it sit for 2 days made sure all was looking good,then after like 5 days in to the egg process tempter started changing in side some days high like 103 some night s cooler 92,any ideas why please help

In the smaller incubators the external temperatures will effect the internal temperatures a lot. They are supposed to stay in a room that the temperatures don't vary by over 5 degrees. I would add bottles of water, rocks, anything that can be a heat sink to hold the temperatures steady. You may need insulation at night - and to move them to somewhere that the room doesn't heat up during the day. I can't use Styrofoam incubators in my house.

Good Luck!

With my home-made incubator, I had to put a light blanket over the top and down the sides of the incubator in order for the temperature not to fluctuate so dramatically.. It helped significantly! My temperature would only bounce from 99-100 degrees (occasionally 97) but over all the blanket was a great help!
My incubator was also in a room with constant temperature and not next to any windows or air vents which helped keep the temperature at a constant.
My incubator worked and did it's job! Hatched cute little pheasant chicks!
Hope this helped some..
Good luck!

 

[ki4got]

Quote:
Originally Posted by dblred0728




Can someone tell me what kind of heat source this is in my cabinet incubator. It has a fan on the back side facing the wall.
a radiator and similar heating/cooling systems would have a liquid flowing thru, and the fins are used as a heat exchanger. since it doesn't appear to be fluid filled,

this looks more like a resistive heating setup, where current is passed thru the metal and the resistance of the metal is causing it to heat up... i'll ask hubby (the automotive and electronics wiz) a bit later and see what he thinks.

do you have any larger/higher quality images?

ok he agreed, it's a resistive heating setup, where the flow of electricity from one point to another is causing the heat. he said it's the flow of electricity that causes the heat, not the resistance to flow... I had it backwards.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: THe grey ghost-- hmm, a horses name if I remember correctly.

NICE NICE work!!!