Tonight I was reading the excellent incubation guide—attached—by the small Roberts hatchery in Texas. They recommend making pedigree baskets from "plastic canvas knitting sheets." Had no idea what they were so googled it. They are flat sheets of thin plastic with holes. With some string or thin wire it'd be easy to make cages custom sized for your incubator. A little easier to work with than hardware cloth, with which I made baskets years ago, but probably not as long lasting. But maybe better than the mesh bags. I am using the bags this year but am concerned chicks will get tangled in them.
Here the product is at Amazon but WalMart and everyone seems to carry them:
https://www.amazon.com/Clear-Plastic.../dp/B07582CT2C
They come in different colors, too. You actually could use different colors for different matings.
Back to that incubation manual: it is unusually detailed. I found what they said about gradually reducing temperature during incubation interesting:
Temperature Vent Humidity
Day 1-4, 100–100.4 0-10% 43–48%
Day 5–8, 99.8–100 10-23% 43–48%
Day 9-10, 99.5–99.9 30-40% 43–48%
Day 11-12, 98.5–99.6 40-50% 43–48%
Day 14–16, 98–98.8 50-60% 43–48%
Day 17–18, 98–98.5 60-70% 43–48%
Day 19–20, 98-98.5 30-50% 65%
Day 21, 97–98 50-70% 65%
Apparently those are recommendations for forced-air incubators. Does anyone do something like this?
I have a new Brinsea Ovation 56 EX and have followed their recommendations to keep the temp at 99.5. However, chicks do create a lot of heat in their final days and struggling to hatch. I am thinking of dropping the temperature a degree then.
Here the product is at Amazon but WalMart and everyone seems to carry them:
https://www.amazon.com/Clear-Plastic.../dp/B07582CT2C
They come in different colors, too. You actually could use different colors for different matings.
Back to that incubation manual: it is unusually detailed. I found what they said about gradually reducing temperature during incubation interesting:
Temperature Vent Humidity
Day 1-4, 100–100.4 0-10% 43–48%
Day 5–8, 99.8–100 10-23% 43–48%
Day 9-10, 99.5–99.9 30-40% 43–48%
Day 11-12, 98.5–99.6 40-50% 43–48%
Day 14–16, 98–98.8 50-60% 43–48%
Day 17–18, 98–98.5 60-70% 43–48%
Day 19–20, 98-98.5 30-50% 65%
Day 21, 97–98 50-70% 65%
Apparently those are recommendations for forced-air incubators. Does anyone do something like this?
I have a new Brinsea Ovation 56 EX and have followed their recommendations to keep the temp at 99.5. However, chicks do create a lot of heat in their final days and struggling to hatch. I am thinking of dropping the temperature a degree then.
