DETAILS
I decided to build a homemade chicken incubator to hatch baby chicks when it's convenient to do so. It allows us replace our layers as needed without depending on a hatchery or a broody hen.
Building a homemade incubator is not that difficult, but it could be a tad bit time consuming for someone who has never use any power tools or have experience with wires. But I tried to make this build as simple as possible for everyone.
In addition to this article describing the build with pictures and diagrams. Below are two YouTube videos with instructions on how I built my homemade incubator, as well as how I wired the light, motor, thermostat, and timer module. There are also instructions on how to configure the thermostat and timer modules. I also provide links to the components I used to simply your experience even more.
Each video contain links to the products I used to implement the automation of the incubator. Let me know if you give it a try.
THE BUILD
You can start by using a Styrofoam container, wooden box, or rubber tote. Once you decide what container to use the next step is making cuts to attach an incandescent light bulb to heat the incubator. Such as it the images below.
I chose a Styrofoam container because of insulation. I cut out a section of the lid to make a window to see into. There is a lip in the cutout to hold the plexiglass. Then I glued the plexiglass to the lip of the Styrofoam lid.
A hole was cut into the side of the Styrofoam container to hold the incandescent light bulb used to heat the incubator.
Next to the light bulb is a fan mounted to circulate air. There is not cutout for the fan, it just mounted about a quarter of any inch from the Styrofoam wall. There are small holes behind the fan to allow a little fresh air into the contain. The white container covering the fan is to protect the chicks from getting caught in the fan.
Also inside the Styrofoam container is a wooden structure to hold the eggs, which a motor is mounted to turn the eggs at least 3 times a day. This can easily be scaled up to use a larger container to hold more eggs.
On the outside of the Styrofoam container are partial cutouts to hold the thermostat and timer delay switch. However, the holes are not cut all the way through. They are partial to house the modules.
With all the cutouts finished and components fitted in the incubator, the next step is to wire each of the modules.
PARTS AND CONFIGURATIONS
Below is a list of the components I used to build the automatic incubator along with the settings configured.
W1209 thermostat settings:
XY-LJ02 timer delay settings:
TYC 5-6 rpm synchronous motor
CONCLUSION
I enjoyed building this chicken incubator, and it was much cheaper than purchasing one of this size.
Having all these components in place makes hatching eggs on the homestead simple and easy. I have been successful hatching chickens using my homemade Styrofoam incubator. Currently, it can hatch up to 15 eggs at one time. However, it can easily be scaled up to hatch 100 eggs using the same motor, timer, and thermostat, but building or using a larger container and egg structure to turn the eggs. An additional light bulb may also be to needed to heat the larger chicken incubator.
YouTube Videos of Builds:
Please post any comments or questions.
I decided to build a homemade chicken incubator to hatch baby chicks when it's convenient to do so. It allows us replace our layers as needed without depending on a hatchery or a broody hen.
Building a homemade incubator is not that difficult, but it could be a tad bit time consuming for someone who has never use any power tools or have experience with wires. But I tried to make this build as simple as possible for everyone.
In addition to this article describing the build with pictures and diagrams. Below are two YouTube videos with instructions on how I built my homemade incubator, as well as how I wired the light, motor, thermostat, and timer module. There are also instructions on how to configure the thermostat and timer modules. I also provide links to the components I used to simply your experience even more.
Each video contain links to the products I used to implement the automation of the incubator. Let me know if you give it a try.
THE BUILD
You can start by using a Styrofoam container, wooden box, or rubber tote. Once you decide what container to use the next step is making cuts to attach an incandescent light bulb to heat the incubator. Such as it the images below.
I chose a Styrofoam container because of insulation. I cut out a section of the lid to make a window to see into. There is a lip in the cutout to hold the plexiglass. Then I glued the plexiglass to the lip of the Styrofoam lid.
A hole was cut into the side of the Styrofoam container to hold the incandescent light bulb used to heat the incubator.
Next to the light bulb is a fan mounted to circulate air. There is not cutout for the fan, it just mounted about a quarter of any inch from the Styrofoam wall. There are small holes behind the fan to allow a little fresh air into the contain. The white container covering the fan is to protect the chicks from getting caught in the fan.
Also inside the Styrofoam container is a wooden structure to hold the eggs, which a motor is mounted to turn the eggs at least 3 times a day. This can easily be scaled up to use a larger container to hold more eggs.
On the outside of the Styrofoam container are partial cutouts to hold the thermostat and timer delay switch. However, the holes are not cut all the way through. They are partial to house the modules.
With all the cutouts finished and components fitted in the incubator, the next step is to wire each of the modules.
PARTS AND CONFIGURATIONS
Below is a list of the components I used to build the automatic incubator along with the settings configured.
W1209 thermostat settings:
Temp: 37.5
P0: H
P1: 2.0 (default)
XY-LJ02 timer delay settings:
P6:LP for infinite loop
P6:OP = 004.0 (4 seconds)
P6:CL = 04.0.0 (4 hours)
TYC 5-6 rpm synchronous motor
CONCLUSION
I enjoyed building this chicken incubator, and it was much cheaper than purchasing one of this size.
Having all these components in place makes hatching eggs on the homestead simple and easy. I have been successful hatching chickens using my homemade Styrofoam incubator. Currently, it can hatch up to 15 eggs at one time. However, it can easily be scaled up to hatch 100 eggs using the same motor, timer, and thermostat, but building or using a larger container and egg structure to turn the eggs. An additional light bulb may also be to needed to heat the larger chicken incubator.
YouTube Videos of Builds:
Please post any comments or questions.
