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Breeding Your Own Chicks
Incubators
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Introduction Breeding Stock Suitable Eggs Incubator Egg Turning Temperature Humidity Candling Pipping & Hatching Optimum Conditions Useful Items |
Buy a good quality incubator with a good range of controls. Clean and disinfect it before and after use. It should be run for at least 24 hours before putting eggs in, so that its temperature, humidity and ventilation controls can be checked. An efficient thermostat and thermometer are essential. The electronic ones are far more precise than older versions.
Incubators are either ‘still-air’ or ‘fan-assisted. The former are usually small models where air cuurent is brought about by opening and closing ventilation holes, as necessary. The latter are larger machines where a fan is used to drive the air through. It is also possible to make your own incubator if you have the necessary DIY skills.
Incubator
Copyright © Katie Thear 2005
Those hatching eggs on a fairly large scale often have separate incubators for the setting and hatching periods so that more precise conditions can be provided. (See later). For the first 19 days the eggs are in setters and after that the egg trays are moved to hatchers. Some smaller models have different levels, with the top trays being used for setting and the bottom area for hatching. It is a good idea to contact the incubator manufacturers and ask for their catalogues. These usually include a wide range of ancillary equipment such as candlers and supplies such as egg sanitants.
Keep the incubator in a warm room where it will not be subjected to temperature fluctuations or knocks from passing traffic. Many people do not realise that the best way of ensuring that the optimum humidity and temperature levels are maintained is to have the incubator running indoors rather than in a cold outhouse where the humidity may be so high that the machine is struggling to compensate. The optimum temperature for the room in which the incubator is placed is 240C with a relative humidity of 60%, but the average centrally heated room in a house is suitable.
When I stopped using an outhouse for my incubator and put it in the spare bedroom, my hatching averages increased dramatically.
A hen’s egg takes an average of 21 days to incubate. (There may be early or late arrivals depending on the size of bird and environmental conditions).
Copyright © Katie Thear 2005