Incubator Safety
Using an incubator allows a farmer or individual to safely incubate a wide variety of bird eggs. Many types of incubators exist and they vary widely in size. A large incubator will successfully house 400 eggs with ease on various shelves. Small incubators hold only a few eggs at a time. Some incubators automatically turn the eggs daily, but with others the owner must hand turn each egg to insure its viability.
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Purchase or Build
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Purchase a dependable egg incubator to insure that the eggs safely hatch. Purchasing a used incubator can be dangerous. The incubator could break down halfway through the eggs' gestation, killing the fetuses. Many people choose to build an egg incubator by hand. If the incubator is hand constructed, be sure to try it out and run it non-stop to determine if it will be able to successfully incubate eggs and maintain an even temperature for days on end before placing fertile eggs into it.
Indoor Placement
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Always place the incubator in a room with a steady temperature of around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the incubator away from open doors that can create a draft and make the temperature fluctuate. Be sure the incubator is plugged into a reliable electrical source that does not suffer outages. If power outages are common in the area due to storms or other reasons, consider purchasing a backup generator.
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Sunlight
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Maintaining a steady external temperature around the incubating unit will help it more easily preform its job. Never place the incubator in direct sunlight where the daytime temperature within the incubator may rise. Sunlight can dramatically increase the internal temperature of the incubator and quickly destroy the eggs. Keep the incubating unit away from heat sources.
Setup
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The incubator's internal temperature will need to be set at 102 degrees Fahrenheit. Once incubation of eggs begins, the internal temperature will hold at 99 to 102 degrees. Maintain water within the water reservoir at all times, and use warm water when filling the reservoir. Set the thermometer within the incubator where it can be easily seen at all times. The temperature should never top 103 degrees or the eggs will be damaged.
Ventilation
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The incubator has vents above the eggs and below the eggs. To safely operate the incubator, the vents need to be gradually opened until they are fully opened three days prior to the eggs hatching. If the vents are not gradually opened, the needed evaporation will not occur. Low ventilation can easily cause chick death. High ventilation makes the hatching of the eggs difficult for the young chicks because the shells stick to the chicks.
Humidity
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During the first 18 days of development, the eggs require a humidity level of 50 percent to 55 percent. To maintain adequate humidity, the pan within the incubator must be kept full of warm water daily. During the last three days of incubation, adding a warm moist sponge will help increase the humidity level to 65 percent so the chicks can easily hatch. Low humidity in an incubator can cause the chicks to die within the egg. High humidity will make the yolk unabsorbed so, when the chicks hatch, they are covered in yolk and a mess within the incubator is produced.
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References
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- Photo Credit chick image by João Freitas from Fotolia.com
