As I have noted previously a few months back, I had decided on making an egg incubator out of a microwave oven. Now of course, one does not use the microwave components as that would only cook the egg.
That of course has to be stated with all the Obama voters present in the world today due to their gullibility.
I should have known when I researched making homemade incubators that something was amiss in no one really spoke of hatching chickens in them, especially with the electric water heater thermostat to control the temperatures.
Challenge is my middle name though, well it really is not, as I was named after of my beloved Uncle, who I will call Kipling here, but I prefer to do things as it empowers and advances the Spirit inside the incubator of God's greenhouse of human bodies, so onto my venture in egg incubators.
I started out with disassembling the incubator to which the devil broke a fan blade off the fan, which made it vibrate.
As that was a later moment of interest, I used a grinder to cut out the metal box to expand it all.
Thinking by what web posts stated that water thermostats grew on trees, as I had two old ones in my basement, I soon found neither went below 120 degrees.
Now 120 degrees is a balmy temperature for baths and doing dishes, but it cooks embryos of baby chickens.
After much search I found one online and ordered it for more money than I intended to spend on the incubator.
I will not be taking responsibility for wiring modes as if you electrocute yourself, that is your invigorating experience. Needless to say, I drew a wiring scheme of the hot wire came into the thermostat, joined up with the light fixture I installed and ran them both to my fan.
God is always good to me in adventures, as the space in that microwave was very small, but I was moved to place things and cut things so I had about one third of an inch to spare in light, fan and the tray.
It was so lovely that I stuck my finger into the plastic fan while running and wore off a fingernail and broke off another blade.
Suffice it to say that it vibrated horribly then, so I broke off all the blades except 4, two opposite each other and that was enough air to move the heat around.
The egg tray I ran a dowel through the center of the microwave and mounted a plywood board I drilled one and a half inch holes in it in grid, for around 30 eggs which I could sit.
Here am I rather chicken poor, so it took forever to get enough eggs to set, and I found out that only fresh eggs ever work properly, as my first try left me with one embryo and one little dead chick, which was a Black Dorking.
That wonderful thermostat was not NASA controlled I found out, and even with a half inch of board insulation, it was just too cool for the embryos, as chicks love to grow in 100 to 101 degrees.
Mine was running to 101, but dropping to 96 degrees.
Playing with the setting I by God's Grace after a few days and more old eggs, had a top temperature at 102 degrees and around 98 degrees for the bottom.
102 will hatch eggs out a day early and sometimes make the chicks malformed. It was all I could do, so into the incubator went a batch of old eggs and some newer Dorking eggs.
I was pleased with the temperature as I had the incubator in my porch, next to my little brooder of chicks I purchased through the mail.
Some people have fish in tanks, I have animals, as I have always loved having animals around and if one keeps them clean, there is no smell to them. My Mother was a Godsend as a child as we had piglets, chics, ducklings, goslings, pheasants, baby calves and I was told that while she was off having me in hospital, dad had the bright idea to bring his horse into the living room much to the delight of my siblings.
How does an infant top a 1200 pound horse? I must have been a bit of a come down.
At any rate, after trying to be a hen for 21 more days, no chickens hatched much to my chagrin.
So after prayer and having set 5 fresh eggs from a neighbor (I would have set the 18 she gave, but they were all Double AA size and were rolling around and broke every time I tried to turn them on my invention of an egg turner.
I checked my eggs in turning the 5 tonight at 5 tonight after playing with my pets, and I noted one egg had exploded I presumed as it was on it's side and I was certain through the window I could see a yolk, so I decided to clean things up the next day as I was in no mood.
An hour later I happened to mention to my Mother about that egg exploding like Obama's Gulf Gusher as rotten eggs are methane, and she said, "Those eggs were supposed to hatch so just bring them all out".
As I was going to do tomorrow's job today, I soon found the egg was a shell with nothing in it. I had a chicken, but could not find it in a space of 11 by 14 inches.
Fortunately I did not have to call out Janet Napolitano as the little rooster was laid flat in the back by the wiring where it had walked to.
I found three other eggs were picked and was very pleased to feel them vibrating in my hands as I put them into a brooder to hatch.
I just helped one get out of the egg and will be assisting another two as I finish typing this.
This is all recorded to prove it can be accomplished, but there are certain things which will help an incubator no matter what, and that is a room temperature of I believe at least 80 degrees. I started this project the end of May and now to July, the variance in temperature were quite different.
Into this, where I was in June filling up a water pie pan which I had a sponge in for humidity daily, this last weeks I have only been filling the pie pan up with water about every 48 hours as it is more humid currently.
I will have to break the unhatched eggs to ascertain if there was something wrong in incubation, but I suspect as my little green egg hen who had over 20 eggs and in a rarity sat on them hatching only 4............apparently she at age 3 has had enough of roosters and my hens were not conducting birds and bees recipes for reproduction.
It is possible though to build a functioning incubator which will hatch eggs, as long as you are like the Virgin Mary protecting Baby Jesus in the womb. It is why I have been trying to find some brood hens to make it all fool proof, but so many of the hatcheries now breed in Mediterranean foul so they can get egg production, most chickens will not set as they did a generation ago.
I will not know for certain until next year what results I will have on heavy breeds, but am working on Cochins and an Orloff which is a Persian Russian breed. I do though have several Old English Games and Krainkoppe which are a Dutch chicken which are certain brood hens.
Of course, I love my green egg hen, although it took her 3 years to go broody which is not exactly what one can depend on, so the necessity of an incubator which does not cost as much as Obama's spending debt.
The more expensive wafer thermostat would probably be better as is recommended, but I did not have room for one in my small space.
Here am I though more than thankful to God to teach my hands not to make war, but to build life again. It is a great deal like sewing up skin in putting in stitches. It is a great deal more rewarding fixing broken things with surgeon's knots than breaking things.
The secret to stitches is not the needle or hand, but the triple wrapping of the suture on the first knot as it holds then even with the viscosity of blood, and then one puts the standard starting knot as we all do with shoes.
So that is my adventure in homemade incubators, as they will work, with a great deal of effort and trials. But compared to several hundred dollars for commercial ones, my project for around 30 dollars (15 dollars shipping for that thermostat) was worth my existential experience.
Well I am off to birth chickens if they need help.
agtG
Red and yellow black and white They are precious in His sight Jesus loves the little children of the world.
-Ray Stevens
