Thank you BYC!!!

[marlishama]

I want to thank everyone who has posted information about hatching eggs...and a big thank you to those who posted all the wonderful plans for homemade incubators. I'm new ...only having gotten my first chickens in June 2013. Because of the good advice here, I only lost one and that was to a dog. Now I've built an incubator and I'm thrilled to say 9 out of the 12 eggs have little moving chicks in them! . This has been so fun for me and my 8 year old daughter. ...and here I thought if I got 4 I'd be happy! Thanks again for this fantastic site!!

 

[gimmie birdies]

what day are you on and what design did you go with?

 

[marlishama]

I'm on day 9. I've got some silver and gold laced Wyandottes and a couple of ee. Here's to hoping I don't have any drama with the hatching.

I went with the cooler style incubator. I had a Rubbermaid hinge top storage box that I lined on all four sides with styrofoam insulation that has a silver side, which faces inward to reflect heat. Cut a large hole in the top, covered with glass. A couple holes on each end for air exchange, open jars of water support a wire shelf, and a wire wall separates the fan and light bulbs (40watt x2) from the eggs. Two small pans of water but had to play a bit to keep the humidity up but if I pour a small amount directly onto the bottom of the incubator, it seems to help keep the humidity where it should be. Now I'm reading up on hatching...

 

[gimmie birdies]

just a tip. stryrofoam really holds in moisture, (doesn't breathe well) if you have 2 flat pans of water you have (I think) to much surface area. they say have a smaller surface area- deeper water container. like if you had an extra small plastic water bottle with a small (soda pop) top opening. Then it would not get too steamy.

I made a styrofoam bator and had one yougurt cup water in it , people said "hydrate, Hydrate!" so I put in larger cottage cheese cup, and the chicks got too moist. I traded out bators and made a cardboard one, used less water and the hatch was better, I kept getting smaller in my boxes and less water the better the hatch.

For you don't panic, you have time to correct it just start using less water and only add more when you get the first outer pip.

here is mine- I currently have 3 bators going at once. I am on day 8 on the 2 to the right and day 5 on the left. The 3 bators are in a wooden box with the lid off. For homemade still air I have the temp at 102 which is recommended for still air.

here is what they look like


this was one egg day 6



the eggs. I have hatched out 45 chicks or more last year in 9 separate hatches. I like 6-8 eggs per box, I dry hatch until first pip, normally, since these were fridge eggs (they lose moisture more) I have been adding only a cap full of water a day.

 

[marlishama]

Oh you may be thought I was having problems keeping the humidity down but actually it's been a problem trying to keep it up. If I don't add any extra water it wants to hover around 27 percent. I live in Canada and it's cold and very dry where I live so the air outside of the incubator is quite dry. I'm not sure how I'm going to get up to 65 to 70 percent they recommend. So a question for you ... can you hatch eggs in the carton if they're tipped a little bit on their sides to align the air sac properly or should you take them out and lay them on their sides?

 

[gimmie birdies]

I don't hatch in cartons, I live in the desert- it is cold here. indoors we have a woodstove going. I have nothing that checks for moisture. but when I dry hatch they still come out just right.