Simulated Natural Nest Incubation~Experiment #1 So it begins....

[Beekissed]

Temp crept up to 101...so I turned it down to the #3 setting. So cool that as the temps drop outside this nest is finally heating up inside...it's been a slow climb but steady all the same.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Every 4 days, you might want to allow your "hen" to get off the nest and go eat, drink and do her job. Figure about 30 minutes "unplugged" ought to simulate it fairly well.

I like to hover at that 99-99.5 mark, because the eggs will start to generate their added heat, should the embryos take off, around day 13 or so.

Watch out for intense sunlight or other factors that might cause a spike, due to huge upswing in ambient temps. Those eggs can easily handle a short time of 100-101 spike. But, that assumes there's room to take that spike.

Which is why I don't care for a constant 101. There's not enough "head room" for an up jump.
Looks like fun, Jules. Have fun.

 

[Zanna]

Following along..........

 

[Beekissed]

Every 4 days, you might want to allow your "hen" to get off the next and go eat, drink and do her job. Figure about 30 minutes "unplugged" ought to simulate it fairly well.

I like to hover at that 99-99.5 mark, because the eggs will start to generate their added heat, should the embryos take off, around day 13 or so.

Watch out for intense sunlight or other factors that might cause a spike, due to huge upswing in ambient temps. Those eggs can easily handle a short time of 100-101 spike. But, that assumes there's room to take that spike.

Which is why I don't care for a constant 101. There's not enough "head room" for an up jump.
Looks like fun, Jules. Have fun.

Fred! Glad you came! That's what I figured as well...a "off the nest" time now and again would be just about right. I'll be watching that temp closely..this box is in my bedroom.

So, if I can manage it, keep it at the 99-99.5 mark, then. I have a pad of feathers under the "hen" that I can remove if need be to decrease temps even further if I should hit a spike. I've got it so that I can adjust things in various ways. Right now I can go down two more settings on the controls before I lose the ability to reduce via thermostat.

I guess all DIY incubators are a little fiddly at first until you learn their capabilities?

 

[Fred's Hens]

I built a couple of boxes this winter. Boredom and snow bound does that. LOL

Anyhow, I tested them relentlessly under every imaginable wattage, ambient condition, humidity, and everything else I could possibly think of. I tweaked until I felt comfortable. I've got some most important eggs going in this spring and I didn't want to screw them up.

I used ziplock bags of water as bio mass to simulate the presence of the eggs during testing.

 

[Beekissed]

I built a couple of boxes this winter. Boredom and snow bound does that. LOL

Anyhow, I tested them relentlessly under every imaginable wattage, ambient condition, humidity, and everything else I could possibly think of. I tweaked until I felt comfortable. I've got some most important eggs going in this spring and I didn't want to screw them up.

I used ziplock bags of water as bio mass to simulate the presence of the eggs during testing.

I had read about using the water wigglers to insert the thermometer into but they are so big it would have taken up much space in my nest. You know? This is kind of fun! I'm praying that this works and works well because this will be my incubator for March if it's stable enough. If not, I'll be buying a basic model and proceeding like normal folks.....you knew I couldn't do this normally, didn't you?

 

[chickkrzi]

S

Ambient temps on the windowsill are 52*, the heating pad is on #4 setting and the internal nest temp is at 100* even.  I think that it may even out right there and I guess that's a good place? I know 99.5* is ideal but I don't think .5* will matter too much, will it? 

How about it, all you experienced hatchers?  Is it okay to keep it at 100* throughout the hatch if I can?  Are there any days in the 21 when that should change up or downward?  I hadn't read anything about that but then I could have missed something. 

Well just about everybody that uses a still air incubator will try keeping there temperature around 101. But.... seeing you're simulating a broody hen I'm thinking you'll need 100 - 99° temp and you should be OK. The only problem I see is you're not monitoring humidity. Just because you have moist material under your clutch of eggs means the humidity is the same as what a hen produces. I'm not really sure just what that number (humidity) would be, but I would start around 45%, first 18 days then bump it up to 60% last 3 days. You can get one at any pet store for just a few bucks.
Wish you luck with your clutch.

 

[enola]

I do the dry method. Boost humidity at lockdown to 60%.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Well, bee! I am subscribing to this!

Here's a neat-o fact. We ordered a Brinsea Mini incubator and when it came in we found we had received the "advanced" version (we ordered the "eco". Oh well! No harm getting the better model, right?). This version has a "cool down" setting built into it. They say you can turn it on to cool down the eggs for something like 30 minutes-1 hour once a day. The instructions say this is to mimic a mother hen leaving the nest to bathroom eat and drink every day and shows good potential for increasing hatch rates significantly! They actively suggest turning the cooling feature on to increase hatch rates.

Also, I would be sure to candle all the eggs at some point in the middle of incubation... I know many people have noticed that their broody hens will remove rotten, undeveloping eggs from the nest during their brooding. The theory is they probably can smell it when it starts to get "off" and we just don't have the noses chickens do.

I think the last thing you will have some trouble with is on "lockdown" (the last 3 days). Some hens help chicks out of the eggs, call to the eggs to encourage hatching, shift them to help them hatch, etc and it tends to get quite a bit wetter under a hen with all that insulating water-producing (and water-proof) skin and the eggs hatching... You'll have to find a way to bring your humidity up I think and may have to sit with your nest for a long time!

This is super cool! Looking forward to hearing more about it!

 

[ocap]

Are you guys able to keep it exactly on 99.5 in your incubators?

no..... plus or minus 0.3