Just set my first eggs! Follow my progress here!

[sunny & the 5 egg layers]

I just set my very first eggs in my homemade incubator. The eggs came from a fellow BYC member. She was great and even gave me some extra!


My homemade incubator is made out of a 10 gallon fish tank, woven wire, 100 watt bulb, old woodstove fan, some plastic cups, flower pots, foam insulation, funnel and tube, and a thermometer/hygrometer. Here are some pictures. The only thing I had to pay for was the thermometer/hygrometer which was $12.








The top of my incubator which is now all lined in tinfoil.



My old woodstove fan

The bottom of my egg turner.













Today's pictures:

Now we wait.

Feel Free to hatch a long with me if you have eggs due around March 4th!

 

[Desirai]

that's so neat!

What is the fan for?

Why do you have the eggs in that makeshift egg carton thing?

I'm a newbie just trying to soak up information

 

[meshellrose]

I set my first batch in my first homemade incubator today too Hoping for good hatches

 

[sunny & the 5 egg layers]

that's so neat!

What is the fan for?

Why do you have the eggs in that makeshift egg carton thing?

I'm a newbie just trying to soak up information

The fan is to circulate the air in the incubator to keep the tempature the same all the way around. It is called a forced air incubator if it has a fan. An incubator without a fan is called a still air incubator and the tempature is different throughout the incubator. Here is a diagram that explains it more: http://cmfarm.us/stillair.html

I have my eggs in that egg carton so that I can turn them everyday. Eggs should be turned 3 times a day.

 

[Belinda's Funny Farm]

Good Luck! I built the same incubator last year and had a 65% hatch. Part of the hatch problem, I think, was that I didn't know I was supposed to keep rotating the eggs until you set them. I have now bought a Brinsea 20 and just started 24 eggs in it today. I will use the aquarium incubator for the newly hatched chicks since the Brinsea gets so crowded once they start to hatch.

 

[Desirai]

So.. you just tilt your eggs every few hours in a different direction?

 

[sunny & the 5 egg layers]

So.. you just tilt your eggs every few hours in a different direction?

Right. In the morning I will tilt them the opposite direction they are already in... for example:
Morning turning:






Noon turning:




Evening turning:




And so on. You turn your eggs 3 times a day until day 18 of incubation. At this time you go into what is called lock down and you do not turn your eggs during lock down or open the incubator until hatch.

 

[Arielle]

NIce set up. Very creative. I have not seen a wood stove fan used before--creative for sure. How well are the temps holding in different areas of the fish tank?? THe view must be great looking thru the clear glass. You will be able to take wonderful pictures. Keep the pics coming.

Now you have me thinking about an old 35 gal tank that has been sitting around doing nothing.

GL

 

[sunny & the 5 egg layers]

NIce set up. Very creative. I have not seen a wood stove fan used before--creative for sure. How well are the temps holding in different areas of the fish tank?? THe view must be great looking thru the clear glass. You will be able to take wonderful pictures. Keep the pics coming.

Now you have me thinking about an old 35 gal tank that has been sitting around doing nothing.

GL

The woodstove fan was from an old woodstove that we were no longer using. I only have one thermometer in the tank which is directly above the eggs. According to that thermometer the temps are great (about 100) When the temps get too high or too low I just have to adjust the dimmer switch I have hooked up to my fan and my light. I will most definitaly keep the pictures coming.

 

[2hot2chicken]

Thats a great setup! Since you said you had to keep adjusting the light n stuff to keep the temp stable I wonder if you could wire up a cheap home thermostat to it. We bought 1 digital basic model thermostat at Home depot for our house for $16.99. Im not en electrician and been outa school way to long but I think it could work if wired right to the light????? I have an LG but I also have a few old aquariums laying around and am gona try this soon. Watching yours to see how it does. By the way I love your egg turner!!! Really state of the art in design and function! (worst part is I wouldn't a thought of it

)