DIY Incubator ?

[Jim H]

I also reviewed all the videos of Rush Lane Poultry and used his experience as my guide. I've built two or three boxes now and you learn a few things along the way. At about $30 for each, it is so affordable, why not?

Yes, you'll have fun building it. I sure did. Rush is a silicone man, whereas I like to use Gorilla Glue and allow it to set up, in different applications.






Gorilla gluing in these plastic wall anchors allows you to mount just about anything you wish. This was my major inventive thought along the way. Soft foam ear plugs for removable vent plugs also works well.

Now I know how I can anchor the screws in styrofoam. I have been trying to figure out a way, that seals the deal on that. Did you find the little bulbs you used to be sufficient, if so, what wattage are they?

 

[Fred's Hens]

OK, folks, I'll try to provide some specifics, but each and every creative mind and almost every box Rush Lane Poultry shows being built on his dozen videos comes out differently. There's no one right way. Lots of options.

First, watch those videos. Seriously. Even old Rush changes what he thinks from year to year as the videos are updated and new gizmos come to the market. He started with hotwater heater thermostats, but has long ago given up on them as the little thermostat sold on Incubator's Warehouse is far more accurate. Of course, it cost $16 too.

Place the thermostat as close as possible to the bulb(s) for faster cycling and far less swing. Experiment on the bulb wattage. This depends a lot on the size of your box. I find a couple of 25 watt work for smaller boxes while a larger box might need two 40 watts. Two bulbs are great as there is fail safe if one burns out. You'll see the burnout out bulb and replace it. But with only one bulb, you'd better check more often, I guess. Start with fresh bulbs each time.

It takes lots and lots of tweaking and testing. Don't rush expensive eggs into an untested project box. Took me a few days of testing and trial testing to be confident. Two panes of glass keeps fogging away. Hardware cloth is great from building shields to keep the chicks off stuff.

Watering is easy. It's a cooler. LOL
Different computer fans operate a bit differently. Run it with a 50 cent power inverter from Good Will or Thrift store find. Easy. 5 volt output spins slow. 9 volt output spins just about right, imho. 12voult output inverter spins it at it's maximum and is a bit noisy. Rubber grommets mounting the fan helps quiet things. Use cut pieces of fuel line or aquarium tubing or whatever you have to make 1/2" stand off posts for the fan.

Run tests with two or three different thermometer/humidity gauges. You'll find they read out differently. Test with a couple of water bottles to simulate the bio mass of a two dozen eggs. Just stuff you learn as you go.
Have fun. Great project and I actually prefer my home made boxes to the retail stuff, to be honest.

Don't forget to provide a few vents down low on the box and a few on the lid for oxygen exchange.

 

[Jim H]

OK, folks, I'll try to provide some specifics, but each and every creative mind and almost every box Rush Lane Poultry shows being built on his dozen videos comes out differently. There's no one right way. Lots of options.

First, watch those videos. Seriously. Even old Rush changes what he thinks from year to year as the videos are updated and new gizmos come to the market. He started with hotwater heater thermostats, but has long ago given up on them as the little thermostat sold on Incubator's Warehouse is far more accurate. Of course, it cost $16 too.

Place the thermostat as close as possible to the bulb(s) for faster cycling and far less swing. Experiment on the bulb wattage. This depends a lot on the size of your box. I find a couple of 25 watt work for smaller boxes while a larger box might need two 40 watts. Two bulbs are great as there is fail safe if one burns out. You'll see the burnout out bulb and replace it. But with only one bulb, you'd better check more often, I guess. Start with fresh bulbs each time.

It takes lots and lots of tweaking and testing. Don't rush expensive eggs into an untested project box. Took me a few days of testing and trial testing to be confident. Two panes of glass keeps fogging away. Hardware cloth is great from building shields to keep the chicks off stuff.

Watering is easy. It's a cooler. LOL
Different computer fans operate a bit differently. Run it with a 50 cent power inverter from Good Will or Thrift store find. Easy. 5 volt output spins slow. 9 volt output spins just about right, imho. 12voult output inverter spins it at it's maximum and is a bit noisy. Rubber grommets mounting the fan helps quiet things. Use cut pieces of fuel line or aquarium tubing or whatever you have to make 1/2" stand off posts for the fan.

Run tests with two or three different thermometer/humidity gauges. You'll find they read out differently. Test with a couple of water bottles to simulate the bio mass of a two dozen eggs. Just stuff you learn as you go.
Have fun. Great project and I actually prefer my home made boxes to the retail stuff, to be honest.

Don't forget to provide a few vents down low on the box and a few on the lid for oxygen exchange.

Thank you sir, I'm liking using 2 bulbs more and more and plan on using his latest thermostat in my build. Glad to see a post on about what volt output works best. I will have to check the many converters laying around and see what I have. Also good info on using some type of rubber for mounting the fan to cut down on noise…..thank you

 

[twlyons1]

We are doing our first dozen and on day 7 with a DIY still air, thinking seriously of making it with a fan though to air circulate for better stability of temperatures. here is a pic of it. 40 watt bulb (2 pack $1.00 ), 150 watt clip on light fixture ($9.00), single gang box (.34), light dimmer (5.89), light switch cover (.25), temp/humid (7.00), Styrofoam box (2.54), picture frame glass (2.00), all bought at Wal-mart. Total of $28.02

Planning to get a 110v computer fan from Goodwill for about 3-4 dollars and put in line with the light bulb so it will speed up as the light is adjusted brighter.

I cut the cord about 8" from the fixture and put it together with the dimmer and added the remainder of cord for the main plug in cord.

 

[Jim H]

We are doing our first dozen and on day 7 with a DIY still air, thinking seriously of making it with a fan though to air circulate for better stability of temperatures. here is a pic of it. 40 watt bulb (2 pack $1.00 ), 150 watt clip on light fixture ($9.00), single gang box (.34), light dimmer (5.89), light switch cover (.25), temp/humid (7.00), Styrofoam box (2.54), picture frame glass (2.00), all bought at Wal-mart. Total of $28.02

Planning to get a 110v computer fan from Goodwill for about 3-4 dollars and put in line with the light bulb so it will speed up as the light is adjusted brighter.

I cut the cord about 8" from the fixture and put it together with the dimmer and added the remainder of cord for the main plug in cord.

Thank you for responding, I really like the big window in the front.

 

[twlyons1]

The glass came from an 8"x10" frame but the glass is 11 1/2" x 9 1/4" , 2 bucks from Wal-Mart. had to use Leatherman's branch cutting blade to rip open the side for it to slide up in to the upper edge, I layed the Leatherman on its side with the blade laying flat and just started scratching back and forth on the outer edge of the Styrofoam to make a slot for the glass to slide up into, after I got it to slide in nicely I cut out the opening,,,,,, the upper glass just missed from going inside by about 1/4" to 1/8" , I was glade so there is no sharp edges considering cheap picture frame glass.

 

[Jim H]

The glass came from an 8"x10" frame but the glass is 11 1/2" x 9 1/4" , 2 bucks from Wal-Mart. had to use Leatherman's branch cutting blade to rip open the side for it to slide up in to the upper edge, I layed the Leatherman on its side with the blade laying flat and just started scratching back and forth on the outer edge of the Styrofoam to make a slot for the glass to slide up into, after I got it to slide in nicely I cut out the opening,,,,,, the upper glass just missed from going inside by about 1/4" to 1/8" , I was glade so there is no sharp edges considering cheap picture frame glass.

Thanks for the tip