The first time I incubated chicken eggs was almost 3 years ago in a homemade incubator. My daughter and I thought it would be fun to make our own incubator rather than buying one. First thing we did is got on the computer and researched as much as possible so we would have the best chance at success. We uses a plastic tote, lined it with Styrofoam insulation to help hold the heat in. Then we cut out a viewing window in the front of the tote. We used an 8x12 piece of glass that we took out of a picture frame and we duct taped it on the front. Then we took apart 2 different lamps that we no longer used and cut 1 hole in the top of the tote and another in the back. We installed the lamp fixtures, the one on top we used a 60 watt bulb, and the one in the back we used a 40 watt bulb on a dimmer switch so we could adjust temp as needed. I put a sponge in the bottom to hold water to control humidity. . Finally it was time to plug it in to see if it would work, we got it to the temp and humidity we needed and watched it for 24 hrs to make sure it was stabilized. . We used 2 different thermometers in it to make sure we were spot on. We had been gathering our eggs for a few days, storing them big end up and turning the eggs or tilting the egg carton an odd amount of times every day. Day 1 was here, we put about a dozen eggs in. We made sure to turn them 3 times a day until day 18 and I watched the temp and humidity very close. Temp stayed at 100 the whole time, humidity was at 45% til day 18 then we raised it to 65%. Waiting the last few days was like torture, it was so tempting to want to open the incubator even though I knew if I did I would be taking the chance of shrink wrapping...As we were waiting to see if any were going to hatch I started looking for day old chicks just in case we failed, I didn't want my daughter to get upset. Luckily by day 20 they started hatching and I didn't need to find day old chicks. It was the most amazing feeling to know we brought life into our eggs :) We had about 50% hatch rate, which I think is pretty good for out first time and with a homemade incubator. We hatched out a few more batches after that.
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| Pictures from my very first time incubating! |
The next hatching season we decided to get a little giant still air incubator, Ive got to say I think our hatch rate was better with the homemade incubator than with that one. This year we got a hova bator with a fan and an egg turner. I am starting to feel spoiled not having to turn the eggs myself anymore. I really hope that this season ends up being our best hatch season yet. Wish us luck!! We will wish you luck, happy incubating!!
The basics of incubating
21 days for chicks
1. Collect your eggs for incubating, make sure they are clean. Do not wash them or you will remove the protective liner. Do not use heavily soiled eggs.
2. Store eggs with the pointed end down in an old egg carton. Make sure you are turning them or tilting the box at a different angle 3 times a day so they don't stick. Store eggs in a room that is cool and not too dry. I like to store mine in an area that's around 50 degrees. You can store eggs up to 7 days, after that the hatch ability starts to decline.
3. Set up your incubator and regulate the temp. If it is a still air, 100 is a good temp and if its a forced air, 99.5 is good. You want the temp to always stay above 99 and never let it get above 102. Make sure the incubator is set up in a room that the temp doesn't change to much. Make sure you run the incubator for at least 24 hours, if not more before adding eggs to it.
4. Humidity is very important. Lots of people have different opinions on what works best. In my experience 40-50 % the first 18 days and 65% in the last 3 days has worked the best for me. To increase humidity add more water or a wet sponge to decrease open vent plugs, remove sponge if using one.
5. Ventilation is important as well. If you make an incubator make sure you put a couple of vent holes in it and use scotch tape to cover them. If you buy an incubator it will already come with vent holes. Usually the front vent plug is used to regulate humidity and the back one is used only when there is way too much humidity. Make sure you remove the front vent plug the day chicks start to hatch.
6. Turning eggs the first 18 days is very important. You should put an X on one side of the egg and an O on the other side, then you know which ones you have turned. Make sure eggs get turned an odd number of times, 3 times is good. Make sure you stop turning on day 18.
7. Candling is a good way to make sure the chicks are growing and that the eggs are fertile. Candling needs to be done in a dark room, using a flashlight. Use the light to see what is going on in the egg. If the egg is clear you know that it is infertile. The embryo has died if you see a blood ring, or if you see a dark spot that appears to be stuck to one side. The embryo is fertile and growing when you see a air cell in the bigger end, there's a dark spot in the egg and sometimes you can see the veins. I like to candle my eggs on day 7 then again on day 14 and sometimes on day 18. the dark spot should be bigger with each candling.
8. Hatching time!! Make sure you stop turning on day 18. Do not open the incubator for any reason until they have all hatched. This can kill them, it can shrink wrap them. It is very hard and very tempting to open but don't! Make sure the vent is open when they start hatching. Remove chicks after they are all dried off and put them into a brooder. Chicks can stay in the incubator for 24 hrs after hatching, so please wait until they are all dried and fluffy. Good luck :)
Incubating periods for other poultry and game birds .
| Days | |
| Chicken | 21 |
| Most ducks | 28 |
| Muscovy ducks | 33-35 |
| Turkey | 28 |
| Most geese | 29-31 |
| Ringneck pheasant | 23-24 |
| Japanese quail | 17-18 |
| Bobwhite quail | 23 |
| Chuckar partridge | 22-23 |
| Guinea | 26-28 |
| Peafowl | 28 |
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