I am having some hatch on day 21 plus 20 hours.
Hatching 101 says 23-25 days is possible.
Hatching 101 says 23-25 days is possible.
Simulated Natural Nest Incubation~Experiment #1 So it begins....
- Thread starter Beekissed
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #412
Okay...clearly I'm not a good broody. Maybe I'm too old of a broody to do this whole incubation thing. I "aired out the nest" while I went up to feed this morning...but forgot to come back and close it back up. Just remembered. Internal temps are now 80*. If I hadn't killed them with my temp spike the first day, I probably just killed them with this.
I am hopeless at this incubation stuff. THIS...this is why I've let the experts do it all these years. I have ADDDDDDD, not just simple ADD, but the big kind and it's exacerbated by old age.
I just can't cut a break on this experiment.
Good thing I just had to eat, drink and eliminate when incubating my own children or they would never have survived!
Well...on the bright side, egg production is picking up, all the eggs I cooked this morning were fertilized and my old and best layer, a little New Hampshire, has started laying again and I would love, love, love to have a chick by her. So, if I have to go into a third nest scenario, I'm prepared...and it could be that way was how it was supposed to be, who knows?
I am hopeless at this incubation stuff. THIS...this is why I've let the experts do it all these years. I have ADDDDDDD, not just simple ADD, but the big kind and it's exacerbated by old age.
I just can't cut a break on this experiment.
Well...on the bright side, egg production is picking up, all the eggs I cooked this morning were fertilized and my old and best layer, a little New Hampshire, has started laying again and I would love, love, love to have a chick by her. So, if I have to go into a third nest scenario, I'm prepared...and it could be that way was how it was supposed to be, who knows?
- Feb 11, 2014
- 493
- 160
- 161
Hi, my name is Laurie, and I have been following this thread at BYC's emailed invitation for awhile. This is a GREAT experiment. I did something like this as a kid, MANY years ago, with my Mom's tomato worms: at the end of the summer, the sphinx moth larvae buried themselves in a box full of what I believed to be the perfect dirt for them, and in the spring they "hatched" and emerged - not as sphinx moths, though, but as little devils, indistinguishable from my little baby brother. Ha ha, that was only a (recurring) nightmare; they did indeed metamorphosize and hatch into moths, but the moths were so deformed as to not be viable. The humidity in their dirt was way off, either too dry or too wet, and I did not care enough about the worms to try the experiment again.
But with my chicks, I am obsessed. I am today watching over the last of some Silkies to hatch over the past three days. This is my second hatch ever, and it is from a homemade incubator. I did many things wrong (like lock them down a whole week early, for example), and i am struggling with humidity issues even as I type. But 12 out of 14 pipped their shells, and all but 2 of those have hatched and fluffed out. This is day 23. OK. What I'm trying to point out is that incubation need not be cut and dried, with inflexible rules. I appreciate - love - Bekissed's sense of humor and perspective. I wish I had it, but i have only enough to appreciate it. Truth be known, I am a sore loser. Persistence will get you through day 23, I'm sure.
I have some ideas that might help with the "nest." But first you have to remember that a brooding mama hen is basically a THERMOSTATICALLY controlled heat source. And yes, she is insulated and provides controlled humidity.
I made/make my incubators from styrofoam boxes lined with Reflectix (aluminized bubble wrap). You can use this Reflectix to line anything; it helps to keep temperature variation to a minimum, and it is easy to work with. I think nests would benefit from its incorporation, but it needs to "ventilated."
The other thing I use is a digital electronic thermostat. You could EASILY cut the plugs from two heating pads and use them as heat sources for the top and bottom of your nest. You simply connect them together and then to the output of the thermostat switch. These electronic thermostats are the wave of incubating future. They come with a temperature probe that you can put in your homemade or silly putty egg and place with your hatching eggs. The temperature variation with these thermostats is rarely greater than 1/2 of a degree. Mine turns on at 99 and off at 100, but you can play with this number. There are different models, and they all can be calibrated. None have good directions I hear. This is as close to a broody hen's constant infallible temperature control as you are ever likely to get. If you don't understand about wiring, get some help - or get a book on wiring. The thermostats sell on ebay for less than $14.00 if you take the time to look.
Humidity, ugh! You can wick moisture into your substrate. I like to use basic Carefresh as a humidifying agent. It absorbs a LOT of water and, kept in trays in my bators, will maintain humidity levels for awhile before I have to replenish water. You could use things like Depends or Hydrogel in your soil mix to keep it at high moisture levels. I use mortar mixing tubs to hold the substrates for my reptiles. I have yet to see it mentioned, but you can use that large plastic canvas needle pointers use, for keeping your eggs and chicks supported and separate from your moist soil. I don't like working with wire or hardware cloth, so I use this stuff a lot. That latex shelf liner seems a lot like shaking to me, and I use it on top of the plastic canvas.
I did not turn or use a turner for my current hatch; I simply propped up one end of the box, then the other, at random intervals, more or less. This current hatch - 12 out of 14 - is not too bad. This "turning " method was totally experimental this time, and I will be using it in the future. With eggs placed in either a paper carton or plastic tray, it takes the hassle and expense out of egg turning. Easy do and it works.. It was a good thing to try.
Hope these suggestions are helpful in one way or another. PM me if you have questions. I, too, am afraid of my Hovabator, but, experiments being the great things that they are, I might try experimenting with it. Yours
But with my chicks, I am obsessed. I am today watching over the last of some Silkies to hatch over the past three days. This is my second hatch ever, and it is from a homemade incubator. I did many things wrong (like lock them down a whole week early, for example), and i am struggling with humidity issues even as I type. But 12 out of 14 pipped their shells, and all but 2 of those have hatched and fluffed out. This is day 23. OK. What I'm trying to point out is that incubation need not be cut and dried, with inflexible rules. I appreciate - love - Bekissed's sense of humor and perspective. I wish I had it, but i have only enough to appreciate it. Truth be known, I am a sore loser. Persistence will get you through day 23, I'm sure.
I have some ideas that might help with the "nest." But first you have to remember that a brooding mama hen is basically a THERMOSTATICALLY controlled heat source. And yes, she is insulated and provides controlled humidity.
I made/make my incubators from styrofoam boxes lined with Reflectix (aluminized bubble wrap). You can use this Reflectix to line anything; it helps to keep temperature variation to a minimum, and it is easy to work with. I think nests would benefit from its incorporation, but it needs to "ventilated."
The other thing I use is a digital electronic thermostat. You could EASILY cut the plugs from two heating pads and use them as heat sources for the top and bottom of your nest. You simply connect them together and then to the output of the thermostat switch. These electronic thermostats are the wave of incubating future. They come with a temperature probe that you can put in your homemade or silly putty egg and place with your hatching eggs. The temperature variation with these thermostats is rarely greater than 1/2 of a degree. Mine turns on at 99 and off at 100, but you can play with this number. There are different models, and they all can be calibrated. None have good directions I hear. This is as close to a broody hen's constant infallible temperature control as you are ever likely to get. If you don't understand about wiring, get some help - or get a book on wiring. The thermostats sell on ebay for less than $14.00 if you take the time to look.
Humidity, ugh! You can wick moisture into your substrate. I like to use basic Carefresh as a humidifying agent. It absorbs a LOT of water and, kept in trays in my bators, will maintain humidity levels for awhile before I have to replenish water. You could use things like Depends or Hydrogel in your soil mix to keep it at high moisture levels. I use mortar mixing tubs to hold the substrates for my reptiles. I have yet to see it mentioned, but you can use that large plastic canvas needle pointers use, for keeping your eggs and chicks supported and separate from your moist soil. I don't like working with wire or hardware cloth, so I use this stuff a lot. That latex shelf liner seems a lot like shaking to me, and I use it on top of the plastic canvas.
I did not turn or use a turner for my current hatch; I simply propped up one end of the box, then the other, at random intervals, more or less. This current hatch - 12 out of 14 - is not too bad. This "turning " method was totally experimental this time, and I will be using it in the future. With eggs placed in either a paper carton or plastic tray, it takes the hassle and expense out of egg turning. Easy do and it works.. It was a good thing to try.
Hope these suggestions are helpful in one way or another. PM me if you have questions. I, too, am afraid of my Hovabator, but, experiments being the great things that they are, I might try experimenting with it. Yours
- Thread starter
- #414
Thank you for the detailed explanation and advice! I'll take it into consideration for the next time I~if ever~ I venture down this road. This experiment is about low cost and using things you have on hand at home, if you can, and trying to use the natural nest materials and the variable settings on the heating pad to control the heat and humidity. I think all of it will work if the human factor wasn't so faulty...but I'm working out the kinks.
The next nest will be brought up to heat before eggs are ever added~I'll do this by placing baggies of water(how many eggs I'll be hatching) in place and let the nest temps rise to the appropriate temps and then will replace the bags with eggs. When airing out the nest I'll set a timer to remind me to go back to it and close it up. I think these two things will really help and, of course, not going out of town in a crucial moment when the ambient temps will bottom out.
All in all this has been a real learning experience for me and I'm anxious to try the next nest to see if I can do it with more precision and less mistakes on my part. As for the heating source and the humidity and heat holding abilities of the natural nest, I think they are right on the money and function amazingly well if one can just learn how to use them...and I'm learning.
The next nest will be brought up to heat before eggs are ever added~I'll do this by placing baggies of water(how many eggs I'll be hatching) in place and let the nest temps rise to the appropriate temps and then will replace the bags with eggs. When airing out the nest I'll set a timer to remind me to go back to it and close it up. I think these two things will really help and, of course, not going out of town in a crucial moment when the ambient temps will bottom out.
All in all this has been a real learning experience for me and I'm anxious to try the next nest to see if I can do it with more precision and less mistakes on my part. As for the heating source and the humidity and heat holding abilities of the natural nest, I think they are right on the money and function amazingly well if one can just learn how to use them...and I'm learning.
- Feb 11, 2014
- 493
- 160
- 161
Hey, Beekissed, you are truly welcome for any suggestion you might ever find helpful, really. I admire your sense of adventure and commitment to learning , and I better understand now the nature of your experiment. It IS a great experiment, and I will keep myself informed of the things you learn from it. I'm sure I speak for many, so keep on keeping on. 
- Thread starter
- #416
Thank you! I've been soaking up all the good suggestions and advice on this thread...it's lovely! I can never learn enough in this life to consider myself done.
Bee it is people like you who open our minds to try new things, to not be afraid to fail, to ask and question everything. I thank God for you!!
Lisa
- Thread starter
- #418
Bee it is people like you who open our minds to try new things, to not be afraid to fail, to ask and question everything. I thank God for you!!
Lisa
And I you, my dear Lisa!
im thinking about trying this, bujt have no idea where to get a heating pad that says on all the time. id also have to talk my husband and mother in law into helping
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