Millybrook
Hatching
- Aug 20, 2017
- 3
- 3
- 9
EDIT: Apologies, but the experiment ended early. The element gave out! 
I'll check in again after finding a better heat source.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Howdy. This is my first time here as Millybrook, but I've been around chickens for decades and want to start by posting an ongoing experiment in low-wattage, high-insulation incubating.
I wanted to make something that could be: 1. as low wattage as possible, 2. as cheap as possible, and 3. able to withstand very large ambient temperature shifts.
Process:
1. First I made a wooden box with a lift-off lid and removable floor. Having it all unsealed top and bottom means there are very small gaps through which air can pass, however there are no 'vent holes' as such. Box is about 18cm high and I suppose 60cm each side.
2. I made a mesh enclosure with sides about 9cm high. It's got no top or bottom, it just sits inside the outer wooden box. Space between the two is about 10cm.
3. The space between the two boxes (wood and mesh) is filled with natural wool, like so:
Note that I used natural wool as it's hard to make wool burn, so as I see it there's less danger should something go wrong. However it's important to note that nothing that's either organic or flammable actually touches the element (see next picture). I would not make this incubator using insulation that might readily burn. The wool stuffing comes up to the top of the mesh sides, roughly speaking.
Beneath the eggs I've put about 1cm of shredded paper, and beneath that is a square of styrofoam. The eggs tend to bed themselves in the paper, and I think this is a good thing because it helps them retain heat. The styrofoam on the very bottom is probably unnecessary. Indeed the first time I ran this incubator I had no styrofoam sheeting, just wool around the sides and shredded paper beneath (albeit a bit thicker, probably 3cm).
In the above photo you can also see the probes for the thermostat ($24) and a separate thermometer. They're rubber banded to a little bit of aluminium so they don't fall between eggs.
In practice the thermostat and thermometer give wildly disparate readings, so I tend to use the eye socket method of testing temperature.
4. I made a lift-off wire mesh lid with a wooden frame that sits snugly over the egg area. Underneath this mesh lid, attached to it by folded scraps of mesh, is the element. The latter item, made of silicone, is normally used to wrap around water pipes to stop them freezing. It cost about $15 Australian and from memory is 15 watts. With the 3 watts for the thermostat, total running wattage of this incubator is 18 maximum (and in practice probably less).
A bit of experimenting with thermometers placed in different zones gave me the best layout for the element. The gap in the middle is big because the centre of the unit tends to stay warmer. However bunching the lines of element too closely together around the outside tended to produce a hot spot near the edges. Trial and error helped work out a nice placement.
5. I found a ceramic tile that just about fit over the mesh area, and helps distribute heat more evenly. This is lifted off whenever the mesh lid is taken off to turn eggs.
6. I laid a folded wool (pure wool again) blanket on top snugly all around.
7. Replace lid snugly.
8. Adjust thermostat to 37.5 to 38.5 at the top of the eggs (heat element cuts in and out at those temperatures).
Ignore the numbers showing on the thermostat in the picture!
Eggs are turned twice daily. Turning by hand is crucial to let in fresh air. This can never be an auto-turn incubator.
Observations so far:
Last summer I ran this incubator without the styrofoam floor and with more shredded paper underneath (resulting in probably similar insulative properties).
However I had a couple of setbacks.
The biggest was realising on day 2 that both the thermostat and thermometer were inaccurate in their temperature readings. I'd inadvertently set the incubator to be 1.5C too hot! Unfortunately this setting had lasted well over a day.
On day 10 I candled all the eggs and was surprised to find any developing at all. A little over half showed signs of growth. The remainder stayed clear. I believe they were cooked.
At day 20, eggs began hatching. Five healthy chicks jumped out that day.
Day 21: another 9 hatched.
Day 22: 5 hatched.
Day 23: 4 hatched.
Of the unhatched chicks, 1 had pipped but was dead in shell. The remainder were all clear save one that had died at about day 10.
Total: 23 chicks out of 42 set. It appears that almost all of the developing eggs hatched with no problem.
The hatch was quite 'draggy'. Clearly this incubator has hotter spots and cooler spots. However all the hatched chicks with one exception made it to adulthood (I lost one chick due to a predator).
Ambient temperature:
This is the most pleasing aspect of this unit. House temperature last night was -2C. (It's a very airy, gappy building and was -5C outside.) The small element had no trouble getting the eggs to temperature and switching on and off according to the thermostat. After lifting all the lids to turn eggs at 9pm last night, temperature was back at the ideal range in about 10 minutes.
Power consumption:
Extremely low.
I'm absolutely not running this thread as a complete 'how to' or to suggest anyone else copies my idea, but I'm really interested in anyone else's opinions about the experiment, and I look forward to posting updates when the current batch of 46 eggs (at day 4 now) reaches candling age and later arrives at a hatch date. Unlike the first batch, these eggs have been turned during storage, and there was no temperature spike to cook any of them, though to be honest I still don't have a reliable thermometer, so a little eye socket guesswork is involved. Anyway, we'll see...
Thanks,
Jen
I'll check in again after finding a better heat source.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Howdy. This is my first time here as Millybrook, but I've been around chickens for decades and want to start by posting an ongoing experiment in low-wattage, high-insulation incubating.
I wanted to make something that could be: 1. as low wattage as possible, 2. as cheap as possible, and 3. able to withstand very large ambient temperature shifts.
Process:
1. First I made a wooden box with a lift-off lid and removable floor. Having it all unsealed top and bottom means there are very small gaps through which air can pass, however there are no 'vent holes' as such. Box is about 18cm high and I suppose 60cm each side.
2. I made a mesh enclosure with sides about 9cm high. It's got no top or bottom, it just sits inside the outer wooden box. Space between the two is about 10cm.
3. The space between the two boxes (wood and mesh) is filled with natural wool, like so:
Note that I used natural wool as it's hard to make wool burn, so as I see it there's less danger should something go wrong. However it's important to note that nothing that's either organic or flammable actually touches the element (see next picture). I would not make this incubator using insulation that might readily burn. The wool stuffing comes up to the top of the mesh sides, roughly speaking.
Beneath the eggs I've put about 1cm of shredded paper, and beneath that is a square of styrofoam. The eggs tend to bed themselves in the paper, and I think this is a good thing because it helps them retain heat. The styrofoam on the very bottom is probably unnecessary. Indeed the first time I ran this incubator I had no styrofoam sheeting, just wool around the sides and shredded paper beneath (albeit a bit thicker, probably 3cm).
In the above photo you can also see the probes for the thermostat ($24) and a separate thermometer. They're rubber banded to a little bit of aluminium so they don't fall between eggs.
In practice the thermostat and thermometer give wildly disparate readings, so I tend to use the eye socket method of testing temperature.
4. I made a lift-off wire mesh lid with a wooden frame that sits snugly over the egg area. Underneath this mesh lid, attached to it by folded scraps of mesh, is the element. The latter item, made of silicone, is normally used to wrap around water pipes to stop them freezing. It cost about $15 Australian and from memory is 15 watts. With the 3 watts for the thermostat, total running wattage of this incubator is 18 maximum (and in practice probably less).
A bit of experimenting with thermometers placed in different zones gave me the best layout for the element. The gap in the middle is big because the centre of the unit tends to stay warmer. However bunching the lines of element too closely together around the outside tended to produce a hot spot near the edges. Trial and error helped work out a nice placement.
5. I found a ceramic tile that just about fit over the mesh area, and helps distribute heat more evenly. This is lifted off whenever the mesh lid is taken off to turn eggs.
6. I laid a folded wool (pure wool again) blanket on top snugly all around.
7. Replace lid snugly.
8. Adjust thermostat to 37.5 to 38.5 at the top of the eggs (heat element cuts in and out at those temperatures).
Ignore the numbers showing on the thermostat in the picture!
Eggs are turned twice daily. Turning by hand is crucial to let in fresh air. This can never be an auto-turn incubator.
Observations so far:
Last summer I ran this incubator without the styrofoam floor and with more shredded paper underneath (resulting in probably similar insulative properties).
However I had a couple of setbacks.
The biggest was realising on day 2 that both the thermostat and thermometer were inaccurate in their temperature readings. I'd inadvertently set the incubator to be 1.5C too hot! Unfortunately this setting had lasted well over a day.
On day 10 I candled all the eggs and was surprised to find any developing at all. A little over half showed signs of growth. The remainder stayed clear. I believe they were cooked.
At day 20, eggs began hatching. Five healthy chicks jumped out that day.
Day 21: another 9 hatched.
Day 22: 5 hatched.
Day 23: 4 hatched.
Of the unhatched chicks, 1 had pipped but was dead in shell. The remainder were all clear save one that had died at about day 10.
Total: 23 chicks out of 42 set. It appears that almost all of the developing eggs hatched with no problem.
The hatch was quite 'draggy'. Clearly this incubator has hotter spots and cooler spots. However all the hatched chicks with one exception made it to adulthood (I lost one chick due to a predator).
Ambient temperature:
This is the most pleasing aspect of this unit. House temperature last night was -2C. (It's a very airy, gappy building and was -5C outside.) The small element had no trouble getting the eggs to temperature and switching on and off according to the thermostat. After lifting all the lids to turn eggs at 9pm last night, temperature was back at the ideal range in about 10 minutes.
Power consumption:
Extremely low.
I'm absolutely not running this thread as a complete 'how to' or to suggest anyone else copies my idea, but I'm really interested in anyone else's opinions about the experiment, and I look forward to posting updates when the current batch of 46 eggs (at day 4 now) reaches candling age and later arrives at a hatch date. Unlike the first batch, these eggs have been turned during storage, and there was no temperature spike to cook any of them, though to be honest I still don't have a reliable thermometer, so a little eye socket guesswork is involved. Anyway, we'll see...
Thanks,
Jen
Last edited:
hello
and welcome to backyard chickens! thank you for joining us
