Putting the duck eggs in soon! Due March 27th!!! HELP NEEDED!

[duckncover]

I just picked 15 of them up. they are: Pekin, Mallard, Cayagua/Blue Swedish mix, and Blue Swedish. I'm letting my handmade incubator get ready now. I have a digital thermometer that reads 95-102 degrees. The humidity is 45% right now but should go up a little more. The other thermometer with the water wiggler is still warming up so as soon as it gets to it's final temp I'll put them in. I'm sort of nervous...I hope I get a few little guys.

 

[duckncover]

I really need some opinions fast. I have a temp that turns off at 102 and turns on at 95. But the other thermometer with the water wiggler only reads 95.4...I turned on the bator like 3 hours ago so should I still be letting the thermometer get to the temperature or not? I know it's supposed to be at 99.5 but I'm having a lot of trouble getting it to the right temperature. Should I turn it up or wait?

 

[duckncover]

Is anyone even going to reply? I'm kind of in a situation here and need some help and time is an issue...

 

[Sweetfolly]

Could you give a little more information on you incubator, before anyone tries to help you? It's hard to give advice if we don't know anything about what you're using for your heat source and thermostat.

I'm putting ducks eggs in soon too (I'm thinking Wednesday) - mixed from my Dark Campbells, Runners, and Hookbills that they laid before I managed to get them separated by breed. They'll be due March 31st - April 1st.

 

[firedove]

I guess I'm not sure what you mean by "water wiggler" but if it's a thermometer with a wick attached to the bulb at the bottom that is a "wet bulb" thermometer. The wet bulb should read lower than a dry bulb. For chickens you want the dry bulb at 99-101 and the wet bulb to read 86ish. I've never hatched ducks so I don't know what the wet vs dry should read for their humidity needs.

Maybe that helps some?

 

[duckncover]

It's a homemade incubator...It's supposed to be like the Chic Chick bator. It uses a hot water thermostat attached to a light bulb.

This is it but I have a different thermometer now.

I have this thermometer/hydrometer:

and this one is stuck in the water wiggler that reads 97.5 right now:

Water wiggler:

I currently have a 25w lightbulb in.

 

[firedove]

Well for that I have no idea. You do have me curious though, what purpose does the water wiggler have in the bator?

 

[duckncover]

I heard it simulates the inside of the egg. I guess the air temp changes a lot quicker than the temp on the inside of the eggs. I stuck the little wire from the second thermometer inside it like I heard you should. I'll look it up now...

 

[firedove]

Well that's interesting. I suppose it may be more necessary for a homemade 'bator to figure out if it's doing the job? I cheated and asked my parents for a top of the line small 'bator for my birthday last year so I skipped all the guess work.

Really though I think if your air temp and humidity are correct and remain constant throughout your bator your eggs should reach the right temp and stay there. If it is a still air bator (you didn't show a fan) then you will probably run into the issues of having parts of the incubator warmer than others, especially with the bulb off to one side. That may be your biggest hurdle to overcome. Lots of people who start with a still air will find themselves wanting to upgrade to one with a fan over time. Some people have great luck with still air but many find low hatch rates. One other thing I learned when I was researching which bator I wanted is that the Styrofoam bators can be pickier about air temp fluctuations outside of the bator so try to keep your room temp as constant as possible as well.

 

[RedfogsFlock]

You know since you made your incubator adding a fan shouldn't be to hard! You can use one of those little fans from an old computer.

That would help moderate the temp. too hopefully.