We set 12 eggs in the incubator on July 4th. They were given to us by a nice woman who has a nearby farm. We don't know what kind they are, they are mixed white and brown eggs. We candled them last night and believe that approximately 8 are viable.
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Aw shucks on the small eggs making bantamsbut glad to know that size doesn't affect hatchability.
I've never incubated eggs before, my Dad always bought mail-order chicks from a hatchery. I got mine this year from the farm store bins. My kids have more experience than me because their kindergarten class hatched eggs as a class project.
Thoughts on making an incubator is that it might be cheaper, but then there's all the fiddling with it and having a higher hatching failure.The appeal of buying one, is that it should work out of the box. I say should because I've read where people have problems with them sometimes. To make my own incubator, I've kept a styrofoam mailing box about 12x12 and I'm sure I can get a computer fan from my hubby (he's a computer geek), but I don't have the light, & socket (unless I take the brooder lamp and use a sheet of glass on the top), thermostat and whatever else I need. July would be a good time for me because I could keep an eye on everything this month but next month will start all the back to school meetings. The other problem I see is that I'm only getting one egg per day as I only have one laying right now so it would take a while to get enough to make it worth the effort. I didn't refrigerate today's egg - the the three I have left from the weekend have been chilled down already. I'm being tempted. LOL
I wonder if I can talk myself into doing this: Baby chicks are so cute and seeing as my two oldest birds are both EE's, I won't have any EExBarred Rock (BR's only a couple of months old so I don't think he's going to be doing any mating yet (maybe I ought to look for the bulls-eye in one first). Might be good to practice a time or two before I try for a batch in the spring (and possibly for the classroom if the teacher likes the idea) Talk my self out: I'd be two or more weeks behind everyone here since I'd have to start collecting eggs for incubating. Can I get a incubator made for cheap? Should I even think about buying one (really ought to pay down debit)? Will they begin laying before winter? What if I end up with a lot of roos to process. Can I afford to feed a dozen pullets (if I'm lucky) for 8-9 months before I start getting eggs? Don't have an incubator. Have to set up a brooder. What will DH say (he thinks I'm a bit crazy already)? Don't have hen house finished yet and here I am considering adding more chickens. Can I keep DS2 from messing with the incubator (he has a hard time with "No", esp. from me)?
CG
My husband made mine. Of course he's a man and they like to over do things, but it turned out nice. You could use the cooler if you want to, but my husband made a box out of wood. We used dollar store picture frames and took out the glass for the windows. One sheet of styrofoam cut down for the insides, a computer fan, dimmer swich and a light kit. He drilled holes in the top for ventilation that I can close / open when needed. Our first hatch were mailed button quail eggs. I had 10 out of 15 hatch! Two were unfertilized, two died early, and the last poor baby just didnt make it out of the shell. So it was a good hatch for me! Good luck. You can do it.
Use a hair dryer.Okay, I set 7 eggs this morning (I fell asleep last night & didn't get then in the incubator). I am already having a hard time getting the humidity down in the incubator. I opened both holes and put a dry sponge inside too. Any other ideas?
I actually use the thermostat / humidity combo pack from the pet store you see in my avatar. Those worked better for me for some reason. I have them more on the floor though now. Good luck!