are homemade incubators really cheaper than buying one

[quintinp]

mine is way better than my crappy "little giant incubator"

 

[quintinp]

spent 20 for mine

 

[abritton77]

Ive got 1 with 2 lg turners in it and a digital controller and I've got about $120 in it. I did have all of the building material and the lights though. As far as hatch rates I am consistently getting 80% plus and an older guy that I now that has an older GQF cant hardly believe it. I also have mine out in a garage that is un-heated and temp was below freezing at times last month. I do think though that I may have been better off buying a used cabinet model. I have seen them on craigslist for around 300.
Really I get allot of satisfaction knowing that I built something that actually works. Anybody can go out and buy one.....what fun is that? It was also a very good project for my little boy to experience. He was fascinated at how I made the light builds come on and go off.

 

[dwdoc]

Absolutely: https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=73772-bucs-bator-build

 

[tigercreek]

I made mine from a 3/4 plywood shipping crate. Bought the auto turner, a couple of computer fans and 2 , 100 watt light bulbs. Scrounged the controller at work ( I'm an insturment guy ). Works great, and I have room for WAY more eggs than I will ever hatch! $45 for the turner, couple bucks for the light bulbs, the experience, ..........priceless! .......stan

 

[paddock36]

I agree that homemade is cheaper. I made mine for that very reason. Mine holds 28 eggs.
I hatched 18 out of 24 eggs on my most recent hatch. It hatched every egg that showed development. I made mine from a cooler that I got for free on freecycle. I bought the light kit and the thermostat, but everything else I had lying around from other projects.

 

[shelleyd2008]

I'm in the process of making a cabinet incubator. New, these things would cost over $600. So far I've got about $90 'invested' in this one and I don't have to buy any more 'parts'. So I would say that it is cheaper to make your own.

If you decide to make a smaller (cooler) bator though, it doesn't really pay to make one if you don't have most of the materials on-hand. I was going to make one of those before and it would have been about $30-$35 for the parts. A new LG bator costs about $45, so not worth it there.

 

[I-Have-Happy-Hens]

Mine was $10 and it can hold at the most 25 Eggs