Set my first batch of eggs in homemade incubator

[tmfineg]

Well, I have the fever! We got chickens in the spring of last year and there is no telling where this chicken adventure will take us!!

Yesterday I set 7 eggs, 2 Buff Ops, 4 Buff Brahamas I ordered in the mail. I threw in one mix of Austra White and Partridge Cochin for the fun of it.

I am using a homemade bater out of a styrofoam ice chest. The set up is good, I am just having trouble regulating the temp. I am shooting for 97-101. A 15 watt bulb was not hot enough, but the 25 was too hot. We have the 25 watt bulb rigged up to a dimmer switch. I check it about every thrity minutes. It seems to be fluctuating with the room temp in our house a little more than I like because our heat is set lower at night than during the day.

Today I wrapped a blanket around the bater hoping it would stablize. The temp spiked to 105 for just a few minutes,. I hope I did not fry the critters. Wish me luck!

 

[quintinp]

Well, the dimmer switch has never been "MY" first option for a temperature controller, but you also need to try different wattages of bulbs. I use the Water heater thermostat, and my incubator is very nice. I am not putting the dimmer switch down, but I really never thought it was something to be used in an incubator. I figured it was something that would be good for a brooder.

 

[gussie398]

Luck wished

! I made a cardboard box incubator, but when I opened it the temp would go down to 80 degrees and take an hour to get back up to 100. So I took them out after an hour, cooked them and fed 'em to the dogs. Yeah, didn't work very well. Hope yours goes better!

 

[tmfineg]

Temp has been consistently at 100.8 for 3-4 hours without any tinkering. I loosly wrapped a blanket around the bater. I think it worked. Looks like my dog is out of luck, no egg dinner tonight...lol.