Incubators Anonymous

[Rancher3535]

How are your incubators set-up?

They are stacked in sets of two with a 2 x 4 under them to keep them off the floor.

Meaning are they in a unheated/cooled building?
The building is well insulated and does not have big temp changes in the room.

Are they setting on the floor or raised?

Did you change any of this 3 years ago?
Nothing has changed as far as location or room.

When the temp drops is it usually when its colder inside the room?
No ... it is heated when the temp cools and cooled when the temp is hot.

When it rises is it warmer in the room?
No it has very little if any difference.

Did you put in electronic thermostats in all your incubators----If so are you stil using the waffers as a back-up?
The dickey already had one so I put one in all of the other three incubators. As for waffers one was taken out the other two have back up. They all have new waffers. I replace them usually every year to be safe.

How big is your hatcher?
The hatcher is the same size as a GQF. Four levels.

I never hatch in my Incubators---I always use the hatcher which can hold 250 +or - eggs.
I rarely let them hatch in the incubator. I use the hatcher.

I am just ready to toss them all out and get a new Brinsea. Not that I can afford to do that but this is ridiculous.

 

[PD-Riverman]

I am just ready to toss them all out and get a new Brinsea. Not that I can afford to do that but this is ridiculous.

You sound like a person that Knows your "stuff" when it comes to incubating. There is for sure a problem. Fan blades getting dusty will for sure affect the air movement, which will affect the temp at different levels, but you said you have changed them. I am sure you know that your heat is more than sufficient to keep the temp up----instead of them heating all they will do and can not keep up. Did you change the fans with original replacement?

Things you can do.

You can bring the heat up in the bottom by placing a older heat pad(one that stays on all the time) in the bottom of the incubators or using a 25/40 watt light bulb close to the bottom but not where it burns something and just let them run 24/7----not hooked to the thermostat. You said they were stacked------I would think the ones on the top would be absorbing some heat from the lower ones which should should help a little to keep the heat in the bottom of them Closer to the set temp.


Now lets talk about eggs. When you candle on day 18 to move them into the hatcher----are you having to remove alot at that time or you loose more from day 18 to hatch??

Here is what I have found----Using 3 or 4 cabinet incubators----removing some eggs from each to put into the hatcher-----I had to take The same thermometer and calibrate "ALL" the cabinets to the same temp so the eggs would hatch on the same day. My first time using 2 cabinets-----I had a 24 hour delay between the eggs from 2 incubators hatching----thought I was having a bad hatch----but all the other eggs hatched the next day. I found the temp was about 1 degree lower on one cabinet----both with electonic/digital thermostats reading the same thing. I now calibrate any others to the same temp.

My main cabinet incubator and cabinet hatcher are homemade but both look like GQF's, plus I have a GQF and a Dickeys and another home-made I bought used. My hatch rate is usually 95 to 100% counting what goes into the hatcher to hatch. As everyone else I do have to remove a few infertile/bad eggs on day 18 when I am moving the eggs to the hatcher. I usually only candle on day 18 unless I need a little more space then I might candle a earlier day and again on day 18.

 

[snaffle]

It sure seems that there are a lot of people having problems incubating.

One thing I do, is after I remove eggs...I wash out the bottom of the styrofoam incubator with clorox and water... rinse well.

For the top part I wipe it off with bleach/water on a rag.
and I use a blower...the type that is used by groomers to blow the water out of a dog's coat...
and I blow the dust off the fan.

I have 4 Hovabator Genesis 1588


I was told many years ago to put my incubator in the basement because the temperature is more constant down there. I had placed it on the kitchen counter,but had problems. We turn out thermostat in the house down every night in the winter and the flucuation was too much

This winter I ran into problems and spoke to a tech at the factory. He explained that those itty bitty heaters in the small incubators are not strong enough to heat the incubator when the room temperature is so cold. My basement in the winter was below 60

I know keep my incubators in the living room. In the winter I layed a piece of that soft rubber shelf liner over the top of each one to help hold the heat in. I am no longer covering them.

I noticed a few days ago that they are heating a degree higher and I turned them down just a bit.

I have also stopped adding water in the incubator because the humidity is staying above 20 now that we are not using the furnace.

I increased the humidity in the hatcher from 40- 50 up to 65.

Seems to be helping.for the past month.

Oh...one more thing. For the longest time ... people have told me that the thermostats and hygrometers can go bad even in the best incubators. This winter I finally decided to believe them. Big difference once I realized they were right.

 

[ki4got]

How are your incubators set-up?

They are stacked in sets of two with a 2 x 4 under them to keep them off the floor.

Meaning are they in a unheated/cooled building?
The building is well insulated and does not have big temp changes in the room.

Are they setting on the floor or raised?

Did you change any of this 3 years ago?
Nothing has changed as far as location or room.

When the temp drops is it usually when its colder inside the room?
No ... it is heated when the temp cools and cooled when the temp is hot.

When it rises is it warmer in the room?
No it has very little if any difference.

Did you put in electronic thermostats in all your incubators----If so are you stil using the waffers as a back-up?
The dickey already had one so I put one in all of the other three incubators. As for waffers one was taken out the other two have back up. They all have new waffers. I replace them usually every year to be safe.

How big is your hatcher?
The hatcher is the same size as a GQF. Four levels.

I never hatch in my Incubators---I always use the hatcher which can hold 250 +or - eggs.
I rarely let them hatch in the incubator. I use the hatcher.

I am just ready to toss them all out and get a new Brinsea. Not that I can afford to do that but this is ridiculous.

if you do, where are you located? might be interested in getting one or more and tinkering with it. (gqf sportsman, I already have the 1550 hatcher but my sportsman is on loan)

 

[marchick]

I just wanted to show my new babies! I finaly helped this one hatch after 40hrs from first pip! She couldn't walk or stand just kept falling on her back.I used two hotdog holders through the air vent to chip at the shell! She almost died on me twice after I took her from the bator.! Look at her now! It was a long night! We have bonded!Love her!

 

[Rancher3535]

Live in Idaho the opposite side of the US from you.

 

[gimmie birdies]

Idaho and WA are polar opposites, but Eastern WA and Idaho are the same cat, but eventually we want to move to Idaho.

 

[ladycat]

I've been hatching small batches of chicks every few days all spring. Here's what I have still coming up.

Marans and Seramas in lockdown now. (After they hatch I'll have room for the turkey eggs that are arriving in the mail).

And I have the following due dates:

5/18 Quail
5/20 Polish, Marans, and Olive Eggers
5/21 Quail
5/22 Turkeys
5/24 Marans
5/25 Quail
5/31 Turkeys
6/1 Turkeys (date is appx because they *may* have been under a broody for up to 4 days)
6/4 Turkeys

And more eggs waiting for room in the incubators.

 

[WalnutHill]

Wow...I thought my hatch schedule was tough. You have no room for latecomers!

 

[ladycat]

Wow...I thought my hatch schedule was tough. You have no room for latecomers!

It's tight!

I put eggs under broodies, but they all got flooded out but one. Those hatched last night. I normally put mom and babies in a cage, but I had to go ahead and take the babies because everything is such a mess out there from unrelenting rain.

I have a styro bator going and 2 of the 24-egg Brinseas, so I don't have a lot of capacity. It takes a tremendous amount of juggling.