I need an incubator.

2lumpy · Mar 23, 2014

Is there is anyone in south central Utah that has a reliable incubator they'd rent or sell. I hate to send $230.00 for a new one, just for an experiment.

I hold a dozen hen pheasants and a couple of roosters over, from the ones i raised and released last fall, just to see if could get them to lay an egg. I'm gathering 6 to 8 eggs a day right now and would like to see if I can hatch a couple of dozen chicks, just for entertainment's sake.

Or, if you own an incubator that you use and would let me bring a couple dozen pheasant eggs over to add to what you might be hatching now, I'll appreciate that as well .

Thanks a lot.

DC

tailchasers · Mar 23, 2014

Box, saw dust or wood shavings, heat lamp, and thermometer. Keep um at the right temp and wait for them to hatch.

"Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway."

Stonefly · Mar 23, 2014

you might ask if anyone has chickens? A few years ago I let a couple local boys put some grouse eggs under 2 of our hens and they hatched. Rooster killed 2 of the chicks and 3 chicken chicks, dont know if it was because they were grouse or just a bad rooster, He didnt even make a good soup either. Good luck

elkassassin · Mar 23, 2014

tailchasers Plan will work but you've gotta Baby Sit the damn thing!

Holding exact/steady Temps is Damn Critical on Turkeys!

Don't know about Pheasants?

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2lumpy · Mar 23, 2014

LAST EDITED ON Mar-23-14 AT 10:36PM (MST)[p]I'm still looking for an incubator but...........

tailchaser, I am going to give it a try. Figure I can't hurt anything to try. Have you actually hatched out any this way? Any more specifics you could give me would be helpful.

Here is what I've been thinking after reading your recommendation. I need to find a location like a heated building that doesn't vary in temp regardless of the time of day or night. Put a metal box full of sawdust under a heat lamp. Adjust the height of the lamp until it delivers a constant 95-96 degrees to the surface of the saw dust. I have a high/low memory thermometer that I can monitor to make sure it does vary more than 2 or 3 degrees. Set a small room humidifier with a fan a few feet from the box so the eggs don't dry out. Build a plastic mesh that goes under and over the eggs so I can easily roll the eggs every 6 or 7 hours. Get this all working well and adjust to temp and humidity. Then load up the plastic mesh with eggs (10 or 12) and lay it on the saw dust.

What do you think tc, would that work?

DC

2lumpy · Mar 23, 2014

stonefly, good idea, I'll try that too. Why not, I have no risk, these eggs are just going to waste right now.

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

DC

Gator · Mar 24, 2014

They eat good too.
Put a ad on Craigslist or KSL looking for someone that has a incubator that is willing to hatch them out on a 50-50 deal on all live chicks, That what a did and it worked pretty good.

"I have found if you go the extra mile it's Never crowded".
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Longbow6360 · Mar 24, 2014

You need an incubator. I use to raise pheasants, quail, ducks and geese and you can't hatch them without moisture and the right temps. Then you need to adjust the humidity and temps the last three days. Find someone who has chickens and ask them to toss yours in too. I use to do it all the time. It didn't effect my brood so what the heck. Go to you feed store and ask who has one. Good luck.

elkmtngear · Mar 24, 2014

Hatched some wild pheasant eggs in a small incubator when I was about 11 years old. Started with seven chicks and I think four survived until they were big enough to let them go.

Pretty fun project for a kid!

Best of Luck,
Jeff
http://elkmtngear.com

sjhgraysage · Mar 24, 2014

Longbow is spot on, humidity is crucial especially for the hatch.
Maybe contact your local 4H leader? Those Styrofoam incubators will work but without an egg turner they are quite a bit more work.
By the way if you store fertilized eggs correctly, cool with a bit of humidity, they will keep for quite a while, close to a month, until you can set them.

2lumpy · Mar 24, 2014

elkmtn, I've never grown up, so qualify, for sure. I'm still having fun. Spend every minute of every day working at it too!

longbow, you're a heck of a good guy, I like your style. That Alaskan's air must have something to do with it. Your advice is always spot on and I appreciate it.

I'm still looking for an incubator, and gathering eggs, had another three this morning. That's 11 in 24 hours, one egg per hen.

Guys, I can find plenty of cool places to store these eggs but how can I keep them humid? And for storage, how humid is too humid.

sjhgray, I've called the 4H and school FFA offices, they are using theirs, but thanks for the suggestion.

Still looking around town for some laying hens too.

I need to gather up a little man courage and fry/hard boil up a few of these and give them a taste. Maybe I'll try them on my wife first, I'm betting she'd let me know, right off, if they taste like chicken eggs.

Thanks again.

DC

Ridn9high · Mar 24, 2014

LAST EDITED ON Mar-24-14 AT 06:31PM (MST)[p]It's fun, but takes lots of work. We used to raise pheasant and have incubated and hatched plenty of eggs. We would use damp paper towels to keep the humidity in the incubator. Also write the date on the egg when it was laid. This helps you keep track when that egg is going to hatch.

I had a friend when I was growing up that his family raised 1000's of pheasant each year for hunting clubs in the valley in California. We were close with the family and learned a lot about raising game birds. Their incubators put my little one to shame lol

2lumpy · Mar 24, 2014

Ridn9, you brought up a perplexing question I've had regarding eggs of different starting dates being in the same incubator.

Most web sites on the subject tell me to avoid that because of the need to add humidity the last three days of the incubation period, like on days 19, 20, 21. This, I guess, is to soften the shells a little to allow the chick to break out. By having other "later" to hatch eggs in the same incubator you adversely effect the other eggs with too much humidity, before they are ready. Do you believe the damp paper towels on the eggs ready to hatch and not on the other eggs helps avoid the pre-mature humidity issue?

DC