Can I see pictures of your COOLER INCUBATORS?

Lach Cnoc Farm · May 20, 2009

I was at Wal-Mart today and saw a pretty big Styrofoam cooler for $9....it looked perfect for a nice 'little' homemade incubator...

then i realized i didnt know how to make one out of it, lol. ive been so busy checking out cabinet incubators but i have seen so many pictures of the styro kind and heard about how great they work. I have been going back n forth between this kind and a cabinet incubator...i just cant decide, so i thought maybe if i saw some more pictures and got more reviews on styro bators it might help me make a decision...

ETA: well now that i saw an actually hard cooler incubator, i wanna see more if anyone has any!

thanks everyone..

yellowchick · May 20, 2009

I'll get a picture tonight but I got mine from wal mart and it was $20. It was big, Huskey brand, maybe a 48qt? It doesn't hold heat well but is working fine.

kysilkies · May 20, 2009

Here's a couple pics of ours with 4 fuzzy heads(Silkies) due in the next week!!!! It's a HOVABATOR

We have 3 thermometers in there, we use the avg but rely more on the one above the eggs...Pad to the right is used to write down time turned and whether "X" or "O" is up...

cluckychick · May 20, 2009

Here's our homemade bator:

TicketyBoo · May 20, 2009

I just slapped mine together using suggestions from several different places.
There are a few things I will improve before the next hatch, but overall it works quite well. Mind you I haven't actually had anything hatch from it yet!
But it was definitely cheap to construct.

I used an upside down egg carton (one of those tri fold plastic ones) to prop the eggs up on, I also have 3 thermometers in there because I don't trust any one of them but I figure between the three, one must be right!
My DH got a water heater thermostat but IMO it's useless and I would not put one in again.
I just used a pigtail light socket and mounted it in the side of the cooler, it does not get too hot and certainly not hot enough to melt the foam.
I put a dimmer switch on it and that is the handiest thing thus far.
I also had to punch a hole in the far right back of it for air circulation, I have to plug it overnight when the nights are cooler here (we keep a cold house overnight) then I unplug it during the day time.
I use a 60watt bulb.

I have had one temperature dip that was unexplained, it was after I refilled the water dish and the temp wouldn't go up again.
Otherwise, it's been pretty consistent.

TicketyBoo · May 20, 2009

I should add...
I put a glass window in, it does fog up. So I treated it with Rain-X which makes a huge difference.
Also, someone had suggested carpenters glue to hold the window, that's silly. It all melted out as soon as the bator was turned on. Thank goodness for the duct tape backup.