We all have to start somewhere...new incubator

[harleyjo]

I am really excited. We went to town today to do a few things and I was going to pick up things so that my guy could make me a homemade incubator. We started looking at things and instead he just bought me a cheap incubator. It is a Hova-Bator 1602N Thermal Air. This is nothing fancy. It is still air and I will maybe eventually add the fan and turner. I am just excited to finally have one. I am starting to collect eggs today. I don't have a clue about what I am doing though.

 

[riftnreef]

I've been hatching for a while now, and all I have are two Little Giant still air bators...one with a turner that I use for incubating, and one without that I use for hatching. I have two because I do a lot of staggered batches of eggs...often I will have 3 or 4 different groups of eggs going at once and the second bator allows me to lock down a batch without stopping the turning of the others. Once they are done, I just sanatize it, and get it ready for the next group.

I've had some pretty good hatches in those cheap incubators, some 100%, it's just a matter of being able to control the outside environment better. My most recent batch was likely lost as the temps here went from the 40's to the 80's overnight. The house got much warmer, and so did the bator...up to 104! That's why I keep my bators in the basement during the summer months, but I bring them up during the winter.

Best of luck to you, and happpy hatching!!!!

 

[Rebecky54]

Be sure you read this first -- it should help you achieve a good hatch.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=14596-incubation-cheat-sheet

Becky

 

[harleyjo]

I am just setting it up today and trying to fully understand all of this. I have my eggs I have been collecting yesterday and today sitting in egg cartons, fat end up in the carton at room temperature. I am now trying to set up the bator. I read the post from a link here in this thread. Don't know whether to put water in the bator now or wait until lock down. I also am a little confused about getting the temp set right. I have the have the bator turned on and the red light shuts off and it is not up to 100° so I keep adjusting the temp to increase it. I am assuming this is right. If this is the way it is done this is going to take awhile to get it set right. Also should the red vent plugs be in the bator or out right now?

 

[Taylorhens]

I can't answer your questions, harleyjo, but I'm right there with you! I've got an ebay bid on my first 'bator right now. Hopefully it will arrive early next week. Since none of my roos are old enough to have discovered girls yet, I'm hoping to acquire some fertile eggs from a couple of local breeders I've spoken to once I set the bator up and see if I can make it work! *getting excited*

 

[harleyjo]

I would put my eggs in later today or tommorrow if I can get this all set up. My house isn't finished yet so my choices of where to set the bator at is limited. So for now I have it in my office/sewing room. As close as I could get to no drafts. Problem for right now, we have no AC in the house so things are going to flucuate. For this reason I am seriously considering no water in the bator until lockdown. I think with the red vents open as I have read that most people have better success with hatches if they do it that way, we will get humidity going into the bator from the room air. Now just trying to get a the temp regulated. How high do I want to go? I have been aiming for 100°. Do I just lay the eggs on the wire or do I set them in cartons with the bottoms cut out? Then for turning the eggs do I just turn them over? My instructions talk about an x on one side and an O on the other side.