starting incubating **need help**

[brownmill609]

hello, i have built a standard incubator commonly found on the website for "homemade incubators" consisting of a cooler, a hot water heater thermostat, and a power supply. finally finished off with a pc cooling fan. well im having slight issues, it will heat the cooler to the desired temperature than shut the light off but will NOT turn it back on to maintain the needed temperature.


and also, one question: i have 8 hens and 1 rooster. everyday when i collect the eggs they are cold. now if i want to incubate them is it okay to put them in the incubator cold, or do i have to catch them immediately after theyre laid while theyre still warm?

any help or links to help will be greatly appreciated. THANKYOU to anyone and everyone for your help!!

- Brown Mill Boy

 

[Raven81]

i have successfully had eggs in the fridge & then one of my hens died suddenly so i put some of her eggs out of the fridge in the incubator & had them hatch. its not reccommended & i did bring them up to room temp for 2 days before i put them in the bator.
i have read posts on here about ways to use a thermostat & getting it to regulate properly.

 

[Cacciatore]

Welcome from Northern California.

I don't incubate but plenty of people on here o so you should get all the info you need.

 

[Wild Trapper]

from Ohio

You might ask your question in the Incubating & Hatching Eggs section and get better results. I have a Hova-Bator so, not sure much about DIY incubator projects. However, if the eggs you collected didn't freeze and were only there a short time they should be good. Just be sure to bring them up to room temperature before placing them in the bator.

 

[4-H chicken mom]

and

from Ohio. So glad you joined. More info needed for bator help. What temp is it going down to before the light does come back on? What is the distance from the thermostat to the light bulb? It could be just fine turning the thermostat, the wattage of the bulb or the distance between them. You can see mine on my BYC page.

 

[Desert Rooster]

Hello

from Hesperia, Ca and

 

[brownmill609]

Quote:
it does not turn back on at all, that is the problem. i have the exact same hot water heater thermostat shown in your BYC page, with an almost identical setup. i have a 75 watt bulb, with the thermostat mounted to the side of the cooler just several inches from the light bulb. any suggestions, or ideas of improving it?

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

from Texas

You can hatch cold eggs, you can ever store eggs before you incubate them.