I need to get myself one of those. Luckily, the power didn't go out! But when it does (where I live) it usually takes them a few days to restore power, especially in bad weather. We need to invest in a generator!
I keep my humidity between 39 and 50 percent. If you want to you can add a very small computer fan and power it with a small charger chord from a old cell phone, but if you do you will need a couple small holes for circulating air. I think temps stay more even with a fan. Check out incubator warehouse online and also there youtube videos on incubator setups.I found an article on making a basic, still-air incubator, and I just had to try it. http://www.stormthecastle.com/how-to-make-a/how-to-make-a-homemade-egg-incubator.htm I made a few adjustments to work with things that I had around the house, and came up with this:
The light that I am using was taken from a set of old Christmas lights. I'm not sure about the exact wattage, but I do know that when I was a kid, it was hot enough to burn my fingers and it's able to get up to the temperature I need it to! I also like it's small size and that I can string it through the top. This takes up less room in the incubator, plus I can move it up or down to make minor 1-2 degree changes when necessary. I didn't put any cage wire on the floor as suggested to keep the babies clean, though I probably will before I put eggs in. Do you guys think this is necessary, particularly with hatching just a few chicks? The article suggested 50%-70% and I am aiming for 40-50%, after reading the forums. I've also raised my goal temperature to 100-102F, because the suggestions in the article seemed low compared to everyone's suggestions here. It's staying around 100 degrees pretty steadily, but humidity is going up a little faster than I'd like. I think I may poke some holes in the top to try and even it out I'm waiting a few days to see how well I can maintain temp and humidity manually, with no fan or thermostat. If all goes well, I plan to put in the eggs in the evening of Jan. 31, making Feb. 1 the first day of incubation. That just seems to make things much easier! I realize that this is more of a science experiment than an efficient way to hatch eggs, as I only plan to put about 6 in and will be lucky if one or two hatch, but I'm really excited to see if it will work! . I'm also using my own eggs from my chickens. When I crack them, almost every single one appears fertile, and I'm hoping the fact that they're not shipped will increase my odds also! I value everyone's opinions on this site a lot, so if anyone has done something similar please share! I would greatly appreciate any advice on humidity, temperature, your designs, or any small tweaks that would make this better, while still being very basic. I'll update this regularly! Wish me luck!!
good thing the incubation period is only 3 weeks so it's pretty easy to try it over...and over..and over again ;D I think they're doing good! I ended up moving them into my brinsea incubator around day 11 (I gave in and bought one because I plan on ordering about 2 dozen eggs and they won't all fit in my homemade one) The temps in my homemade one kept spiking in the morning (106/108) and I was getting worried it would fry the chicks. I didn't have time to keep tinkering with it in the morning so I figured since I had the brinsea I'd use it. I just did the 14 day candling last night and from what I can tell all 6 are good and air cells are growing. I'm pretty sure I saw one move! I found a styrofoam container from a christmas ham that is heavier duty styrofoam that I'm going to convert into another diy bator that will hopefully hold temps better!
Good luck with the next batch hopefully he's been doing his job lol
