Sanitizing an incubator: how much is enough?

[le_bwah]

I'm getting ready for my second round of quail and wanted to know how sanitary is "good enough" for a Janoel12 incubator. If I've washed the easily-detachable pieces with soap and bleach, is there anything else to do? Let sit in the sun? Just a nervous bird mom looking for advice.

 

[Spartan22]

I normally wash the washable parts with soap and water and dry, the areas that I can’t take to the faucet and wash, I use rubbing alcohol on paper towel to sanitize and dry and air out.

 

[RosieR]

I washed detachable items with soap and water and took a Lysol wipe to everything else. I’m hoping it was sufficient. I didn’t have bleach on hand.

 

[Morrigan]

I have a different incubator, but I use a very light bleach solution on the tray upon which the eggs actually sit and then rinse it thoroughly. For everything else, I wash what I can in soap and water, carefully wipe parts that can't take water, and then put everything in the sun for a couple of hours.

 

[le_bwah]

Sounds like I've done what I can. I'll see about letting it sit in the sunlight. "Quail math" struck me today, and I bought more eggs off eBay. Here's hoping this batch turns out as well as the last!

 

[RosieR]

Sounds like I've done what I can. I'll see about letting it sit in the sunlight. "Quail math" struck me today, and I bought more eggs off eBay. Here's hoping this batch turns out as well as the last!

I’m lucky Ebay eggs aren’t really a thing in my country lol I would buy so many. What is quail math?

 

[le_bwah]

"Chicken math" is self-perpetuating chicken acquisition. You have a certain amount of room for birds, but there are so many kinds and colors, so you get a few more, but now you're out of room, so you build a bigger enclosure so you can get even more birds and on and on. It's a bit easier with quail; there are only so many colors to "collect", but that's what got me. I saw some cream/pastel/Italian ones and couldn't say no.

 

[RosieR]

"Chicken math" is self-perpetuating chicken acquisition. You have a certain amount of room for birds, but there are so many kinds and colors, so you get a few more, but now you're out of room, so you build a bigger enclosure so you can get even more birds and on and on. It's a bit easier with quail; there are only so many colors to "collect", but that's what got me. I saw some cream/pastel/Italian ones and couldn't say no.

Oh yeah I get that! At least quail are small

 

[cmom]

I only use soap and water. If there is a stain I may spray a little bleach on it but rinse it out well.

 

[Sara L]

"Chicken math" is self-perpetuating chicken acquisition. You have a certain amount of room for birds, but there are so many kinds and colors, so you get a few more, but now you're out of room, so you build a bigger enclosure so you can get even more birds and on and on. It's a bit easier with quail; there are only so many colors to "collect", but that's what got me. I saw some cream/pastel/Italian ones and couldn't say no.

Quail math is pretty dangerous, because you can fit so many more eggs in the incubator since they are smaller than chicken eggs... I figured out I can fit 80 quail eggs in my incubator... then I built a second one, which fits around a hundred... and have plans for a cabinet incubator, which would fit several hundred... Quail are awesome little birds

Hatch day for first incubator was yesterday and today, second incubator eggs will hatch within a week. Below are some of the chicks who hatched.