Incubator History...did you know?

LaurieLovesLearning
LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,604 admin
edited May 2019 in The Back 40: Animal Husbandry & Harvesting
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/egypt-egg-ovens?

Those are EGGS in there!

Very, very interesting. I would like to know how they turned that many eggs. The design looks similar to a mud pizza oven with a few tweaks. I tried to find possible DIY instructions, but didn't find any. I would be very interested in finding some and learning just how they work. I bet it isn't very complicated as people make DIY incubators all the time.

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  • Jimerson
    Jimerson Posts: 291 admin

    Apparently they had workers turn the eggs!

    From the article:

    "A few rooms were used as accommodation for hatchery workers. Their main job was to monitor the fire and to turn eggs regularly—a crucial aspect of hatching. According to Phillip J. Clauer, an assistant teaching professor of animal science at Pennsylvania State University, egg-turning prevents embryo membrane from getting attached to the shell, which can lead to chicks hatching with deformities."


    Really cool idea overall.

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  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,604 admin

    I wasn't sure if they turned each by hand or had a method to turn more at once...that was what I wanted to know. One by one would take forever.

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  • Jimerson
    Jimerson Posts: 291 admin

    By the look of the set up, I bet the turned them one by one. Especially if this is an ancient Egyptian technology; apparently they were no strangers to long and arduous tasks! 😅

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  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,604 admin

    Yes, I am leaning toward a very manual system, but maybe they moved a rug and hoped some would roll the right way? I read that the success rate was not very high, and if it was a chance thing by rolling eggs in this way, that would make sense.

    I could just not imagine being IN an incubator, rolling each egg. I guess it would be like a very hot & humid (and stinky) greenhouse. I wonder what health hazards existed because of this practice?

    My interest would be in building a similar very much smaller version. I'm not doing it, just fascinated with the idea of an outdoor pizza oven incubator...

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  • Grammyprepper
    Grammyprepper Posts: 168 ✭✭✭

    And there lies Laurie's REAL interest....she wants the outdoor woodfired pizza oven LOL! ;)

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  • cre8tiv369
    cre8tiv369 Posts: 67 ✭✭✭

    You mean to tell me pyramid construction workers were not fed pizza and beer? <gasp>

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  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,604 admin
    https://community.thegrownetwork.com/discussion/comment/841105#Comment_841105

    Oh don't you know it!!!

    I actually have a free plan downloaded for a Pompeii oven from Forno Bravo. Someday I hope to see it come to fruition. Yum...Pizza, bread, slow roasted everything...

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  • LaurieLovesLearning
    LaurieLovesLearning Posts: 7,604 admin
    https://community.thegrownetwork.com/discussion/comment/841121#Comment_841121

    Nope, everything just tasted like chicken...

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