Insulators?

[kizza07]

Hi everyone!
I have some good and some bad news!
Good news is that mum and I went and bought a BETTER!! thermometer!

Bad news is that it reads that the temp is 34 degrees celsius (93.2 degrees fahrenheit)

So does anyone have any insulation ideas?
I put foil in as well.
Mum doesnt want me to wrap it up in any cloth because of fire hazards... So what else can I do?

Thank you in advance for any ideas and help!!!

Kizza!

 

[skeeter]

use a bigger light bulb

 

[kizza07]

lol , thank you! I will talk to mum about it, as im only allowed to use what Ive got atm!

 

[d_rooster]

Look around the house for a higher wattage light bulb. You might be able to exchange it with the one in the incubator.

Also, if you have another cardboard box you could put the plastic incubator inside of that or cut the cardboard and attach it to the bottom and sides of your plastic incubator.
If you could round up any packing material such as styrofoam or bubble wrap that could be attached to the outside for insulation, too. If you're really lucky, your Dad, a relative, or neighbor might have an extra piece of fiberglass or foam insulation that is installed in the walls of homes for insulation that you could use.

It might help to just sit your plastic incubator on top of a towel, even if your mum won't agree to let you wrap the whole thing in one. Heat can be lost through the contact between the incubator and the surface that it is sitting on. If it's sitting on concrete, stone, or ceramic tile those are particularly chilly.

In the meantime, keep your eyes opened for the possibility of someone throwing away a styrofoam or other type of cooler box. Over time, I bet that you can scavenge the materials to build a better incubator. Even if this week's eggs don't work out, I bet the neighbors with the chickens could be talked out of a few eggs again at some point in the future. Just don't give up. Eventually it will all come together and you'll be able to hatch those little chicks.

 

[hypnofrogstevie]

How big is this "bator" I am guessing? If it was home made I go with a reptile heating lamp with a dimmer

 

[kizza07]

Hey, Mum let me put a towel over the top and it came up with 40 degrees!!! That is 104 degrees fahrenheit!!!
So I took the towel off and was hoping that someone could tell me what to do with the towel?

I will try putting it underneath. The bator is on carpet.

Thr bator is biggish. I will measure it as soon as i get time. I have to go to bed now!

 

[Farmer Kitty]

If putting the towel over it brought the temp up to high then put the towel over only part of it. In other words, if you covered the whole top before try covering 2/3 of the top and keep adjusting until you get the right temp. Once you find the correct coverage you could pin the towel back so you know what fold you need. I hope you resolve your temp issue and your hatch is great!

 

[d_rooster]

See if Mum has some thinner towels such as old kitchen towels or napkins that you could layer on top of the incubator. Or, you might have some old clothes that are too small for you that could be put to good use, such as an old t-shirt. I bet your Dad has some old t-shirts or shirts that your Mum would be glad to toss. Most Dads usually have old clothes with holes or stains that Mums would like to trash (but check with your Mum first)

. Look for cotton or thin wool material. I would not recommend using synthetic fabrics such as acrylic, polyester, nylon, lycra, etc. near any source of heat.

 

[kizza07]

okay thank you!! I am testing things now! The towel was adjusted and adjusted so i took it off, but then i also had to remove the foil as it STILL got too hot!!
So i will remove all foil and see what temp comes up and then i will use a thin towel!

Do you think that kind of heat would have killed them? It was that heat for about 1/2 an hour... Im so worried. The oldest egg is 4 days old...

 

[d_rooster]

I am betting that your eggs are still okay if they only had 30 minutes or so at the 40 degrees C. You've basically got a still air incubator so the temperature of the air may vary a little throughout your incubator. Were you measuring that 40 Celsius at a level even with the top of the eggs, the bottom floor of the incubator, or somewhere else?