Incubation with desk lamp.. tips?

[Ch1ck3n5]

Hi!
This is my first time hatching chickens, I have 3 Easter egger eggs and 3 Australorp eggs. If they hatch I’m going to be giving them to my community’s hobby farm, anyways for an experiment I am using a desk lamp with a shoe box to try to incubate. I have:
Desk lamp with 40 watt bulb (read that this was the best one to use)
-Shoe box lined with clothed, and a nest made of clothes as well.
-a little thing of water for humidity
-a thermostat to measure the heat.

I’ve been rotating my eggs about 3 times a day, but I’m just looking for helpful tips with this process!
Is there anything else I could do to help their growth? I tried to candle one of my eggs today but I couldn’t see into the egg, today is Day 3 and the egg is light blue so I’m assuming this is why I couldn’t see anything. The centre of my “nest” is around 98.6 degrees, is this too cold? And how much should I touch my eggs? I’m assuming not a lot!
If anyone has any advice I’d love to hear it!
Thanks

 

[chuckachucka]

The temperature should be 99.5 degrees. Hopefully the clothes in the box are clean because otherwise bacteria could be a problem? I would recommend using some kind of polystyrene for insulation or even wrapping towels around the box to improve heat retention and increase the temperature a bit. If possible add a dimmer switch adaptor to your lamp so you can adjust the heat easily because it will vary a lot depending on the temperature of the room. Does the box have any kind of window for you to be able to check the temperature without opening the lid? Ideally you need to check the temps several times a day because it will vary. Turning the eggs is important but apart from that touch the eggs as little as possible.

 

[Ch1ck3n5]

The temperature should be 99.5 degrees. Hopefully the clothes in the box are clean because otherwise bacteria could be a problem? I would recommend using some kind of polystyrene for insulation or even wrapping towels around the box to improve heat retention and increase the temperature a bit. If possible add a dimmer switch adaptor to your lamp so you can adjust the heat easily because it will vary a lot depending on the temperature of the room. Does the box have any kind of window for you to be able to check the temperature without opening the lid? Ideally you need to check the temps several times a day because it will vary. Turning the eggs is important but apart from that touch the eggs as little as possible.

Thank you! I've wrapped the box with towels to keep heat in and it seems to have worked. Able to get it to 99.5 when I checked when I was rotating the eggs, however dropped back down quickly when I opened up the box and had it opened after a few minutes. Guessing it's best to keep it wrapped up always then unless I'm rotating the eggs. When would be the best time to candle?

 

[ChickNanny13]

Search for the posting "Hatching 101 by Sally Sunshine" .... Candling day 7th, 10th, 14th, 18th the last day as it's lockdown. Best wishes