Incubators Anonymous

[Chick a dee1023]

you could be brave and build one.

see the bordeaux bator in my signature

less than 40 bucks - its doing very well on its first hatch. The thermostat is digital and very reliable. You could use 2 x 30 watt lights instead of the heating element if you wanted to.

My DH LOVES to build ANYTHING I let him (or don't LOL!) We were talking about him and I making one together. I made 2 of my own, the styrofoam ones, the first I made with too small of a cooler... I thought well I'm only incubating 3-4 eggs at first so it can be smaller... yeah, didn't think about the fact that the smaller incubator would get too hot with the light bulb! DUH ME! The second one is great as long as it doesn't get too hot or too cold in my bdrm (where I keep it for the time being.) We were looking at pricing for the thermostats and stuff earlier, but it seemed really pricey. I will check yours out right now, $40 seems a lot better than the $60 and $90 I've been seeing so far lol. Thanks hun! LOL

 

[ChickNmamma]

Question: Can I stack eggs in the egg turner and leave it on or do I need to hand turn them all?

What kind of incubator do you have? And what kind of turner does it use?

 

[SewChaos]

What kind of incubator do you have? And what kind of turner does it use?

Its a table-top stryofoam one - a farm innovators "pro" model. Similiar to the LG.

 

[ozexpat]

Its a table-top stryofoam one - a farm innovators "pro" model. Similiar to the LG.

you can stack them but you will need to turn the top layer by hand - you must have fan forced or the upper level will over heat

 

[Chick a dee1023]

you could be brave and build one.

see the bordeaux bator in my signature

less than 40 bucks - its doing very well on its first hatch. The thermostat is digital and very reliable. You could use 2 x 30 watt lights instead of the heating element if you wanted to.

I'm not sure if I could do all of that with the wiring and stuff tho, I kinda stink at that kind of stuff and most electronics don't like me LOL!

 

[SewChaos]

you can stack them but you will need to turn the top layer by hand - you must have fan forced or the upper level will over heat

It has a fan.

 

[DMRippy]

Quote:
This time I took a little tip from ki4got.... I added a couple of paper towels to the bottom so if I see an issue I can add water to that to help plus I put the marans on the bottom in the same corner as the water so that might help too. I don't use the cardboard egg cartons. I like to clean them and reuse them plus I don't get the cardboard ones that often, unless someone gives them to me.

I think it is just some tweaking here and there. I didn't put a pill bottle of the thermometer yet so I don't want the humidity up too high.

 

[Chick a dee1023]

This time I took a little tip from ki4got.... I added a couple of paper towels to the bottom so if I see an issue I can add water to that to help plus I put the marans on the bottom in the same corner as the water so that might help too. I don't use the cardboard egg cartons. I like to clean them and reuse them plus I don't get the cardboard ones that often, unless someone gives them to me.

I think it is just some tweaking here and there. I didn't put a pill bottle of the thermometer yet so I don't want the humidity up too high.

IDK if you already do this, but when I made my bator, the instructions said to put a bowl with water and a sponge in it for humidity. With a bit of tweaking (I put a second smaller bowl with a sponge cut in 1/2 with the 2nd half stacked on the first half so the 2nd isnt under water but I keep it dampened), it works very well for me Sorry if that was confusing. I'm posting pics on my profile of the bator I made so if you'd like, you can look at them and get a visual Hope that helps you out. It'd be nice to lend someone a helping hand since everyone has been helping me so much lol. Good luck!

 

[DMRippy]

Quote:
I have 2 water sources with towels and sponges in them. Since I started doing HUGE hatches it has needed more tweaks this year. I could do more things to fix it if it was a little bigger.

I could try to get the humidity higher once I get the pill bottle on the thermometer, but lockdown snuck up on me.

 

[ChickNmamma]

Quote:
This time I took a little tip from ki4got.... I added a couple of paper towels to the bottom so if I see an issue I can add water to that to help plus I put the marans on the bottom in the same corner as the water so that might help too. I don't use the cardboard egg cartons. I like to clean them and reuse them plus I don't get the cardboard ones that often, unless someone gives them to me.

I think it is just some tweaking here and there. I didn't put a pill bottle of the thermometer yet so I don't want the humidity up too high.
I bought a dozen brand new cartons from the feed store because my girls were laying faster than I could sell them and collect cartons. They were 39 cents on sale, but are 49 cents regular price. That's why I used them in the incubator. I wouldn't suggest ones that came with store bought eggs in them.. those have too much of a chance to have something really bad on them. I think the paper towels might do the same thing though.. just close to where the eggs are - or under them - and you can give it a squirt of water after the eggs pip if you think they need it..

I have been thinking about the putting the sensor in the container.. I am not so sure on doing this with eggs hatching. I think that doing this might stop it from registering heat changes quickly enough.. it might allow the bator to get too hot and too cold.

The problem is caused when water drips on the sensor, correct? The evaporation causes the sensor to mis-read the temperatures?

If you wrap a stiffer wire (like copper electrical wire) around the sensor wire (or the sensor wire around the electrical wire - or zip tie them together.. whatever works) to enable you to bend it in a curve, you could bend it pointing up again - that way any dripping water on the wire would drip off at the bottom of the curve - and not make it to the sensor. You could also put the sensor in an area that it is closer to the source of heat and air. You would have to re-adjust your temperatures when you do this though - but having the sensor closer to the heat and air might keep it clear of any humidity... My sensor is at the front of the shelf (where the thermometer probe sticks in too) and air and heat blow over it all the time.

Another option might be to put some kind of a grommet or washer above the sensor and seal it so water can't get down to cover the sensor...