Lockdown approaching...please help a newbie!

[ChickenChik]

So lockdown is Saturday!! I can't believe it. I feel like we put those puppies in like 3 months ago. Everything has been great(knock on wood), study temp. and humidity. Oh and this is our first experience incubating. We have 24 in the bator with no quitters so far!!!!!!! What I am wondering is..what can I put in the bottom of my bator to put the eggs on so that clean up will be easier? I don't have any egg cartons so I would like to just line the bottom of the bator with something. I have a LG and I have heard that they are hard to clean after hatching. Oh and speaking of that how do I clean it or what do I clean it with after hatching. Come on people pour your knowledge on me

 

[debilorrah]

Oh honey go buy a couple dozen eggs and use the cartons!!!! Makes things sooo much easier. I clean mine with antibacterial soap, but I have a Brinsea so I can stick it in the sink. For the top, though, I use a bleach and water solution and spray it on wipe it off an clean again with water.

 

[ChickenChik]

Well if I do the egg cartons do I need to cut the bottom off?

 

[debilorrah]

Quote:
Nope! I do mine in sets of two - cut them down on the sides so the chick can get out. Most of the egg stays in the carton. There is nothing you can do about the amount of fluff that comes with a hatch though

 

[panner123]

Use a very light bleach soultion to clean it with. Use a soft cloth and wipe it clean, rinse and air dry. Be sure to let it set in the sunlight for a few hours before using agian. After a couple of hundred hatches, you will not be able to get the stains out, but it will be clean. Try to find a second bator at a yard sale and use it as a hatcher, that way the incubator stays clean.