Incubator Recap

[Zack]

Hi gang, Have a bit of an emergency at my end. A friend has 3 eggs that she wants to try to hatch (her hen abandoned them) not sure if they will be fertile or not.
I don't want to put them under my hen as she is already on her 2nd clutch and will need a rest.

Can someone tell me the equipment and method I need to use to attempt this. How do I make sure the humidity is high enough?

On the old forum there was a method mentioned using a plastic storage container. This would be a good way as I already have the containers.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Kazz

[josiedownunda]

Just an idea here! What about using your hen as a temporary incubator until you can determine if they are fertile and you set something up? ...just short term....
Maybe you could do a google search for ideas on an incubator or someone near you may have one you could use. Good luck!
Jo-Anne

[kim1]

Hi, as a temperary incubator I have used an old foam fruit box ( or an old foam esky) I cut a hole in it and rigged up a desk lamp that had a dimmer switch on it to shine in the box directly over a bowl of water (this created the humidity, I cut another hole in the lid and used an old peice of glass from an old photo frame taped over the hole so I could see inside, and I put n aquarium thermometer inside where I could see it. It worked so well that I still use this method, you just turn the dimmer switch up or down to control the temperature hope this helps. kim

[Zack]

Thanks Kim/Jo-Anne for the ideas. I am hesitant to use my hen as she is currently sitting on her 2nd clutch and they were laid alot earlier than these eggs. Don't want to stretch her out too much as she will need a rest after this clutch.

I currently have the eggs in one of my storage containers with a heating coil in the bottom. I have a container of water in there too, but am not sure if this is keeping the humidity or not.

Jo I did a search, but time will tell if this will work or not. If only incubators didn't cost so much.

I'll let you know how things go.
Thanks
Kazz

[fischer]

Hi Kazz, What sort of heating pad are you useing, if it gets too hot it has the potential to cook the eggs rather than incubate them, has it a temp control? If you put some sort of cover on the top, it should raise the humidity. .
Cheers Tony

[lovemytiels]

Hi Kazz, I have a word document that I downloaded from the net on instuctions on how to make a simple but effecive homemade incubator. I have not got hubby to make it yet as I have given him far too many other projects to do ;D . If you are interested i could email the instuctions to you. Probably won't help with the eggs that you have at the moment unless you can get it made quickly but it would come in handy for future use. Cheers for now Anna

[Zack]

Hi Anna Yeah that would be great if you could email the instructions to me.
Email address: [e-mail]

Thanks
Kazz

[eckie]

anna i would be intrested in getting that sent to my email if you dont mind
i have been looking for instructions to build one.
my email is [e-mail]
thanks jamie

[Smiley]

Incubating can be a hard one if you dont have the right stuff...The eggs have to be at 37.5 with the humitiy at 50% untll 3 days before hatching then goes up to 70%...And also the eggs will need turning as well...The type of inc you would need is not a chicken one,for these can be to rough for parrot eggs..And they can upset the blood on parrot eggs...If eggs have not been with heat they can be stored for a little while in a cool place not fridge...with turning complety over twice a day...Good luck...Are you planing on raisng them from the egg as well..


Natalie

[Zack]

Hi Natalie, thanks for the info. I have been turning them 3 times a day.
I will have to raise them from the egg. Do you happen to have a step by step routine that you use when in this situation??I have hand reared before but not from the egg. Imput and ideas would be great.

Tony, the heating coil I am using is like an electrical cord except it gets warm. I have that under a couple of towels. I have a thermometer with a probe. Stick the probe in where the eggs are and it tells you how warm it is in there and the outside temp too.
Been able to keep temp between 35 and 37 degrees C. It is the humidity that has me worried as I don't have and humidity gauge.

Thanks
Kazz

[Zack]

Hey Anna, Thanks for the email. I'll the system I am using at the moment has the same idea. ie. bowl of water. But i think it might be handy to make an incubator for those emergencies.

Thanks
Kazz

[eckie]

keep us notified on how you go raising from egg.
post some pics of the babies if you get them to hatch.

[fischer]

Hi Kazz, I think you can get whats called a wet thermometer from a company in Sydney, Multiquip is its name, or you can look in the Brisbane phone book companys that make incubators for the chicken industry, they use wet thermometers
in both commercial brooders and incubators, and they are suitable to small incubators, a wet thermometer measures humidity
Hope this is some use, Cheers Tony

[kim1]

I got my thermometer from Tandy Electronics it measures both temperature and humidity, Dick Smith has simular ones they cost about $15, I also got one for the brooder box that has a prob that goes inside the box and the unit sits on the outside it measures box temperature and room temps, great as the chicks get older I hardly had to turn the box on as the room temp was high enough, it also has an alarm when the temp drops to high or low brilliant.

[kim1]

ok obviously there is some sort of censoring on this site that is a little bit touchy, has any one else noticed that certain words get changed to ' thingy' when you post your reply? I've noticed it a few times and it gets a bit annoying. I didn't say thingy smith but we all know the name of the electronic shop I meant.

[hillcresttiels]

Hi Kim regarding Mr Smith those type of naughty words are automaticaly re written sorry carn't help,the only alternative is to mispell the word like Di-ck cheers Frank

[kim1]

Thanks Frank, the othe annoying one is teasp-oon how naught can that be.

[hillcresttiels]

Ok Kim Ithink i have fixed the teaspoon one for you as it is a common word here cheers Frank

[kim1]

Thanks Frank, teasthingy was a bit to wiered

[AussieBirds]

It looks like i have to go into the word filter and change a few words that are used a lot in avian terms. As far as the Smith one is concerned it filtered the first part of the name and substituted thingy for it ;D Okay you can now write Dick Smith.

John