making a nest inside the incubator??

[KattyKillFish]

anyone every hear of putting the eggs in a little wooden box and filling the box with paper towels torn into strips for use as nesting material?

i was thinking of trying it because naturally, under a hen, the eggs are in a crowded environment and have their own little 'indent spots' so that they egg does not roll around so much. thoughts? anyone try it?

sounds like a good idea, but i'm scared to try without first consulting all you BYC members.

thanks in advance!

 

[KattyKillFish]

anyone?

 

[adrian]

This is what I do, minus the shredded paper towel. I just put down moist paper towel and grip mat on top of it. They don't roll that way. My hatcher is set up with a plastic bin just small enough to fit in the center, and moist towels lining the bottom of the incubator rather than the liner and wire. Works wonders at not only raising humidity, but maintaining it! It's great.

The shredded paper towel sounds like a good idea for babies, though. They are in a naturally crowded, constricted environment under the hen after they hatch, and trying to simulate it would probably result in happier babies. I am going to give this a try with my upcoming hatches and I assume it will do the babies good.

Just wanted to say it will take some time for the incubator temperature to stabilize after so many new things are put in – so keep that in account.

 

[KattyKillFish]

i like the moist towels idea, i might give it a try, sounds a lot better than using the wire. i always feel so bad when i see a baby chick huddled in a corner on the hard wire floor all lonely and scared. the wire floor just doesn't seem to me like a newborn-friendly place for the chicks to "give birth to themselves"

 

[adrian]

I agree. It's not natural at all.

In the wild, they come out in a dark, moist, warm environment where they can hear other babies, feel other babies against them, and the mother's soft feathers. They don't have to look around much, and can just rest. They don't scramble around looking for their mother, as they know she is there. The comfort of being beneath their mother is no doubt important, psychologically. I think there was a study that showed that monkeys who didn't have something to cuddle with turned out neurotic, whereas those that did were well-adjusted. I think the same can be applied to almost all babies.

Also, if a baby hatches out with some of the yolk sac still attached, the wire can be dangerous... For that matter, some of the edges are pointy. In an incubator, babies hatch out in a light, large and empty environment where they stumble around, trying to find a mother figure. It's essential to their survival to have one, so instills panic when they can't find one.

I really think it's a good idea to try to emulate natural conditions as much as possible, no matter what subject we're dealing with.

 

[KattyKillFish]

Quote:
i saw a documentary on what you mentioned about the monkeys. so you guys think it's a good idea then

cool! i will try it out with my quails

 

[catwalk]

Really good point! I have Seramas hatching at this moment, and every now and then I have to pull them out of corners and from behind sponges. A shoebox lid would keep them all together and happy. While turning the eggs, they were in a shoebox lid lined in nice cotton batting torn out of a Broyhill wingback chair (nothing but the best for my little chickies). I thought they might get stuck in the batting, so now they're on shelf liner in their vast, brightly lit "interrogation room." Next time I'll do different.