anybody have an extra bator??

[Bring]

I've never hatched out my own eggs before. I want to try but the prices are too much for me, even the cheaper ones. I have 8 chickens and 3 ducks so I know how to take care of them once they've hatched. I'm hoping against hope that somebody has an extra bater they are willing to give me or sell me for dirt cheap.

 

[saddina]

Do a search for miss prissy's bator, costs about $15 to make one, less if you have parts in your junk drawer.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=1996-chic-chick-bator

 

[jbowyer01]

Ms. Prissys bator works great! I did two hatches in mine and had great results. I made two, I'd send you one for the shipping amount but really it would be cheaper if you made it yourself.

 

[ChanceRider]

You might also check on Craig's List and/or FreeCycle. You can post "wanted" ads on both groups. I was extremely lucky and bought a GQF cabinet incubator and separate GQF cabinet hatcher for $50 each off someone who had them both listed on CL. The deals are out there, you just have to be persistent in checking for new listings.

Good luck!

 

[Bring]

I looked at the link and I don' t have any of that stuff lying around. Do you think it would cost more than $41.00 to buy all the stuff I need? There's a Little Giant air incubator for sale for $41.00 new at tractor supply website.

 

[vkp23]

As long as you know the basic principals for what you need the bator to do you can find all kinds of cool ways to accomplish what you need. I made mine from an old mini fridge that didn't work any more. I spent $2 for my analog thero/hydro, $10 each for my lights $10 for the Plexiglas and the rest I had laying around. Duct tape, PVC pipe to house thermostat. And the thermostat it's self is an old aquarium heater thermostat. You just need a heat source, an insulated container, a way to control heat levels, and a way to monitor heat and humidity. Thats pretty much it. There was a guy here from Indonesia I believe who would heat his bator with oil lamps when he had power outages. There are a lot of helpful threads on this site that will help you out. Here is my bator.

 

[Bring]

Quote:
the fan that's in there, is that just to keep the warm air moving? How'd you cut the hole in the front of the fridge?

 

[vkp23]

The little fan I had in there to move air around should the temp get too high. I have since learned how my bator works and how to keep it at steady temps and no longer need it. So I took it out and use the bottom for hatching. The story was funny for how we got the window cut out. My husband has a drimmel and we had intended to on using the cutting tool since it can cut through metal. We the stupid thing doesn't hold a charge so we got as far as getting the plastic off the inside and the foam cut out enough for the window, and the thing died. So we got out a chisel and hammer and my husband chiseled out the metal part at the line where we cut the foam. That left some jagged edges. So we hammered the edges rounded to the inside and covered the inside of the door and the inside edge of the window out to the outside of the door with red duct tape. Then I framed the outside with the red duct tape to make it look nicer. I had gotten a piece of plexiglas and cut it in half and drilled holes in the four corners. I put one piece on the outside and the other on the inside. So it's double paned. It keeps it insulated but since it's not sealed around the "windows" it allows for fresh air to creep in the tiny cracks between the door and pane. It works really well. Holds temps and humidity perfect! The top light has a dimmer switch and I keep it on at all times on dim. the bottom light is connected to the thermostat. I turned the thermostat on full blast and watched my temps. As soon as it hit the right temp of 100-101 I turned the dial down on the thermostat till the light went off. Kept an eye on it for a could of days before adding eggs and the temps held just right. At that point all you need to do it add little bowls of water to get the humidity up. I add paper towel to the bowls to add surface area for the water to evaporate and that helps to boost humidity. At lock down I just add another little bowl of water and make sure the other if full and thats it.