Last altered 18-11-2009
Can I buy a Bellsouth 100 Manual turn and upgrade it to semi automatic or fully automatic?
Yes! YOU CAN! My apologies to Mr Obama! You can upgrade the manual to semi automatic,
the manual to fully automatic,
and the semi automatic to fully automatic.
|
Can I upgrade my old gearbox turner to the new digital turner?
Yes but call us to make sure we match the right kit to the older models.
|
Should I place the incubator on a piece of carpet or a towel because the bench seems cold?
Definitely not, a fluffy towel will block up the air holes in the incubator and so the air flow will be disrupted and incubation will be difficult
|
Should I place a towel over the incubator so it keeps its temperature in the winter?
No, again it blocks up the air holes in the incubator so the ventilation will not work correctly. The incubator should only be used in the range of room temperature between 15 and 30 degrees C. It will not operate correctly outside this range. Drafts in a room can also make a room act colder than it is, so dont place the incubator on the floor, or in a draft.
|
There is no fan in the incubator, can I put one in there? I have read on the internet polystyrene incubators need a fan?
A fan is required in some cheap incubators as they do not have electronic thermostats. With a mechanical thermostat, the control is situated high above the eggs. So when the temperature is set, it will be subject to changes in the room temperature. The thermostat can only regulate where it is, which is not where the eggs are. As a result, a change in room temp changes the thermal gradient in the incubator and so the egg temperature. The mechanical thermostats are also subject to air pressure changes which will cause the incubator temperature to go up when the air pressure goes up and down when the air temperature goes down.
The electronic thermostat in the Bellsouth 100 is not effected by air pressure and so does not react to it, and because the sensor is level with the top of the eggs, will accurately maintain the temperature at the top of the eggs, negating any effect of changes of room temperature within the 15-30 degree range. So no fan is needed, indeed there is no fan under a broody hen. A fan is needed in multi level incubators.
|
Can I put two different ages of eggs in the incubator at once? Yes you can but it is a significant disadvantage for 2 reasons.
1/ The first chicks to hatch will walk all over the other eggs, knocking them around, and soiling them with hatch residue. This enables cross contamination of the eggs.
2/ The eggs due to hatch should not be turned, and the eggs which still need incubation should still be turned. Opening the incubator to turn the eggs during hatch is a significant problem for the chicks just hatching, so it cannot be recommended. Not turning the eggs which have a long period still to incubate is not good for the those eggs, so they are compromised as well. So not a good idea unless you have another incubator, and transfer the eggs out to hatch in a separate machine.
|
Can I mix up 2 different eggs in the incubator? I have heard you can do it in some incubators.
In still air incubators we set the temperature at the top of the egg to bird body temperature, basically 103F. The incubator has a thermal gradient, which is a neat way of saying its hotter up higher and cooler down lower. So if I put a big egg in and I have set it for an average egg the top of the big egg is higher, and so the egg is hotter. Alternatively the small egg is lower than the average so the temperature for that egg is lower. In a forced draft incubator all the temperatures are the same, but the humidity cannot be adjusted for the differences needed between egg species so it is a compromise with any incubator to mix egg species.
|
|