Lockdown on what day? Does the hour matter?

[Edwards' East of Eden]

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OOH! thanks for the idea! 8) i was wondering what i could get to use...

Ha. Be careful - I had to battle four raccoons for mine.

 

[Gypsy07]

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LOL! This whole thread is really funny. I'm loving the advice and recommendations and scavenged fish boxes....

The temperature thing: 99.5F is for a bator with a fan, and in theory it shouldn't matter where in the incubator you put the thermometer, as the fan blows the air around and evens out any hot/cold spots. 101-102 is for a bator without a fan, and the temperature should be measured at the tops of the eggs.

It's not that the eggs in a still air and a fan assisted bator need different temperatures to hatch, it's that air temperature and how it relates to internal egg temperature varies with the two different types of bator. The idea with both of them is to get your eggs' internal temperature to 99.5F. If you ahve a water wiggler toy and a thermometer with a probe, you can stick the probe inside the wiggler and put the wiggler in your bator. That'll give you an accurate measure of the temperature inside your eggs.

101-102 sounds fine for your still air bator, if you're measuring it just at the tops of your eggs. If you put the PC fan in, remember you might have to adjust temps a bit, cause 101-102 in a fan assisted bator is too hot...

As for turning, three (or five) times a day at set times is what's recommended, cause having a set routine makes it easier to remember to do. I don't think it makes any difference to the eggs if you do it at set times, or even a set number of times per day. I work weird shifts, and when I'm hand turning I never get the chance to do it at set times, and I still have good hatches. So if you get a flat tyre and you have to turn six hours late, don't panic. Just turn them, and then leave them to sit a bit past the next scheduled turn. There's no point in turning them, then turning them right back just two hours later.

Hope all that info might have helped you a bit...

 

[Jeffross1968]

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You have quite possibly given me the most massive headache of my 43 years. What was that middle thing?

Ok, I'm going to read this about 74 more times, and then electrocute myself while attempting the fan wiring....

 

[Edwards' East of Eden]

Come on, dude. Step by step. You can do it.