Incubators: ins and outs

[EggsNchooks]

Hey everyone, happy Easter

I’m new to chickens, incubating and brooding.

just wanting to know how to start my journey off on the right foot and raise healthy happy chickens.

I’d like to buy an incubator around $100. Can you recommend a good trustworthy brand? Is it good to have one that automatically turns or is it better to hand rotate? How many times do you hand rotate? How do you start incubating, how long do you incubate for? Can different humidities and temperature yield more pullets then roosters and vice versa?

has anyone ever tried making a solar powered incubator? Just thinking of how to save on electricity.

Also, can anyone recommend a good brooding box setup and how long do chickens stay in the brooding box before staying outside full time?

thanks in advance!!

 

[alwaystj9]

There are a bunch of articles on incubators posted under the articles section.
I use the cheapest of the cheap: an old non-egg-turning styrofoam model but hey, it works for me. Check out the article
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/top-5-types-of-incubators.76384/
and there are a bunch more that may answer your questions.

 

[EggsNchooks]

There are a bunch of articles on incubators posted under the articles section.
I use the cheapest of the cheap: an old non-egg-turning styrofoam model but hey, it works for me. Check out the article
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/top-5-types-of-incubators.76384/
and there are a bunch more that may answer your questions.

Oh! I’m very interested to hear your method. Have you got any links or articles on how to set one up? Thank you!!

 

[Tonyroo]

Type on the search button for diy incubator. There's a lot of different ways to make one and you can choose the size and shape, also power output for it.

I never bought an incubator I always made one, but my latest incubator is the best fool proof one I made so far. Uses 45 watt total, the only time spent on the incubator is turning the eggs 3 times a day. I pretty much never fuss with it. My last hatch in December was 100 percent hatch. That was from my own flock. The Ebay eggs, 7 out 18 eggs hatched. Half were infertile and some had blood rings.

If you need answers post your questions, There's very knowledgeable people that will answer it.

 

[Tonyroo]

Is it good to have one that automatically turns or is it better to hand rotate? How many times do you hand rotate? How do you start incubating, how long do you incubate for? Can different humidities and temperature yield more pullets then roosters and vice versa?

has anyone ever tried making a solar powered incubator? Just thinking of how to save on electricity.

Also, can anyone recommend a good brooding box setup and how long do chickens stay in the brooding box before staying outside full time?

thanks in advance!!

Auto or hand turning is based on preference.

You have to stabilize the incubator first making sure the temperature and humidity is consistent. Then you place the egg in the incubator, there are other threads that provide detail instructions of maintaining and knowing what to do during lockdown.

There's no proven theories on temperature influencing the sexual outcome.

I don't know anyone trying to make a solar powered incubator, there are problems with that. Mainly inconsistent power supply which you don't want when incubating.

Figure out the size you need, get some cardboard, shipping tape or masking tape, and box cutter. Gather those items and build one. Brooder are temporary space on a chicks life, so when your brooding is done, break it down and throw it away.

Putting chicks outside is based on current temperature in your area, but most people put them at 4 weeks, there usually fully feathered by then.