Setting 18 store bought eggs in homemade bator! 1/23

[Adam7]

Finished building my incubator a few days ago and I wanted to run a test batch through it. I went and bought 2 dozen eggs from my local Natural Grocer. The cartons say the eggs are from Amish farmers so I am hoping they are fertile. I cracked open 6 of them to check. 3 were not fertile, 2 looked fertile and 1 had a broken yolk. I checked the date on the cartons and the eggs are only 7 days old. This will be my first time trying to hatch anything. I know the odds are against me but I think it would be really awesome to hatch store bought eggs!

 

[Adam7]

So I called the producers of the eggs and asked if there were any roosters and they told me "some not many". So it is possible that they are fertile but I suspect fertility rates will be low.

Also the breeds they use are Bovine Browns and Hy-Line Browns.

 

[Oakieridge]

If they don't hatch I would look around on craigslist and see if anyone has hatching eggs for sale. But it is possible some will hatch for you. We bought some eggs from a friend when we first got our incubator. She had washed the eggs and we had put them in the fridge for 3 days before I decided I wanted to try to hatch them. We ended up with 5 of the 12 hatching we still have 4 of them. It was a nice surprise to see what hatched out, lol.

 

[Adam7]

If they don't hatch I would look around on craigslist and see if anyone has hatching eggs for sale.   But it is possible some will hatch for you.  We bought some eggs from a friend when we first got our incubator.  She had washed the eggs and we had put them in the fridge for 3 days before I decided I wanted to try to hatch them.  We ended up with 5 of the 12 hatching we still have 4 of them.  It was a nice surprise to see what hatched out, lol.

There are plenty hatching eggs around here. I just want to say that I hatched store bought eggs lol. But yeah if this batch fails I will most likely try some local eggs.

 

[Oakieridge]

Lol that is the same reason I hatched eggs that had been in the fridge. Good luck with the hatch!

 

[Adam7]

Temp is holding steady at 99.5-99.6 and the humidity is at 38%.. Now the waiting game.

 

[jakewelder]

Just finished my incubator. Made out of ice chest like yours. Temp holding at 99-100. Looking for a fan . Two bulbs d a hot water heater thermastte. Can't wait to get it going. Building an egg turner first.

 

[Adam7]

Just finished my incubator. Made out of ice chest like yours. Temp holding at 99-100. Looking for a fan . Two bulbs d a hot water heater thermastte. Can't wait to get it going. Building an egg turner first.

Congrats! Post some pictures when you get a chance! Do you plan on setting some eggs in it soon?

 

[jakewelder]

Got some coming by mail from South Dakota and some coming from Florida . I Don't count on a big hatch. 50% would be tremendous . Making the incubator is more of a backup at this time. Going to go to Trader Joes store for some fertilized eggs. And give them a try too. Making a push pull egg turner. Think I have it figured out. Not real happy with my thermostat, my go ahead and get a wafer type. My eggs should be here tomarrow.

 

[Adam7]

Got some coming by mail from South Dakota and some coming from Florida . I Don't count on a big hatch. 50% would be tremendous . Making the incubator is more of a backup at this time. Going to go to Trader Joes store for some fertilized eggs. And give them a try too. Making a push pull egg turner. Think I have it figured out. Not real happy with my thermostat, my go ahead and get a wafer type. My eggs should be here tomarrow.

I had serious problems with my thermostat at first. Two things were necessary to fix it. First the modification where you drill many holes.

I actually drilled more then the 3 shown in this video.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...kYHYBw&usg=AFQjCNFJysuzZb-BkHK2hKZo_L0vMaUBpA

Second thing I had to do was to move the thermostat MUCH closer to the light. I still need to find a better way to mount it but ill show you a picture of how I have mine. My temp stays rock solid at 99.5-99.6. It took 2 days of warming up to normalize the temperature swings. I also put a bunch of baby food jars with water in them to help stabilize the thermal mass in the bater. It really helped the swings.