making first home made incubator

[aran]

Hi guys...I just had a crazy idea...I have kept and bred tropical fish as a hobby for many years now and have bunches of equipment lying around. I have noticed over the years that my fish room ( with multiple tanks in it) is always very hot and humid. Is there any reason that one could not put a 300watt aquarium heater submerged in a container of water in the bottom of the incubator to provide both humidity and heat? They have an accurate thermometer and thermostat control ( at least the expensive ones do!)

Just an idea.

aran

 

[aran]

so assuming i dont do anything crazy and just make a standard styrofoam incubator i still have some questions:

1. There seems to be different answers on the forum in terms of heat and humidity at different times in the 21 days.
--> can someone please clarify this for me...what temps/humidity at what stage, when and how much to adjust etc.
2. Egg turning--> assuming that my ability to creat an automatic egg turner is likely to be about as good as my ability to make a chicken coop from scratch (bloody awful basically), and that I will have to hand turn the eggs...how many times/day and how much do you turn them ( i mean do you turn them completely over?, I would be able to turn them before work , after work and a few times in the evening...would that be enough?
3. How many eggs typically hatch, i mean i know this obviously varies but if i were to want to get say half a dozen to 10 chicks at the end of this how many eggs should i purchase.
4. Is there any difference in bantam eggs vs regular eggs in any of the qestions above.
5. Is the waiting after they ship done at room temperature? in the warm incubator? is it necessary?

thanks guys in advance...my son has been bugging me about doing this so we are going to give it a whirl.

 

[BirdBrain]

Aran,
I have not made an incubator either (I'm dying to), but I have learned a ton from this website (thanks to whoever posted it first!). http://www.homestead.com/shilala/incubating.html The link is to the page that talks about incubation, but they have a lot of info about other things at this page http://www.homestead.com/shilala/sitemap.html

Hope that helps.

By the way, what is the count down now on finishing your residency?

 

[redneck]

Just a note, check this thread, simple and effective. www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=7451

 

[aran]

thanks for the links guys!

Im on the way to building my incubator as of this morning
--> have cut and fitted the wire mesh floor and wall for the eggs to sit on and have cut and fitted the window into the top of the styrofoam container.
--> should be able to easily hatch 2dozen eggs in this thing if it works.

just need to rip the fan out of the old broken computer in the basement and then get a hygrometer and im in business...oh yeh will probably need some eggs too!heheeh

 

[aran]

sorry BB i didnt read your last question...I finish residency on June 23rd!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I will be doing a little research and study from then until the end of august when i sit my boards then I start as an attending on September 1st!

YEAAAAAAAAAH finally i will be able to afford to fill my car up with gas instead of just putting $20 in each time.

 

[DesertDawg]

A real good source is Chicken Chronicles. Check this page out on incubation temps and humidity for different breeds. http://groups.msn.com/CHICKENCHRONICLES/incubationamphumiditychart1.msnw
and this one for embryo development http://groups.msn.com/CHICKENCHRONICLES/anatomy.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=756.
This site has everything you ever wanted to know about chickens and other birds and eggs.
There is so much to read I can't keep up.

 

[aran]

thanks for all the info guys i really appreciate it. So it sounds like care of one of our awesome BYC members I will be getting some wickedly cute bearded silkie eggs sometime in the next week or so to try and hatch. So today is all about finishing the final touches on the bator to get it going in preparation. It is all but finished. At this stage it is a still air incubator but thanks to "redneck" I will have the ability once i get a power supply to put an old computer fan in there. One more question just thinking outside the box...I have LOADS of old aquarium equipment from my discus fish breeding days...I wonder if I would be able to use a high flow fish tank air pump to push a little air around inside the incubator...i mean its not like we want a tornado in there right? just a little air movement to keep from getting hot and cold spots...am i right?

 

[AccidentalFarm]

Thats right, aran. The air movement is just meant to keep the temps more stable throughout the bator. Good Luck on yours- I'd love to see finished pics.

 

[aran]

ok ...the incubator now has a lightbulb with a rheostat ( dimmer), and a computer fan so circulate the air...pretty basic design but we will see how it does...it is heating up right now. I bought a new thermometer/humidity meter (digital ) so hopefully it is going to be in the 100F and 50% humidity range!!!! cross your fingers.