Do homemade incubators work and which is the best one to make?

[walkswithdog]

Lots of the reptile sites sell the Ranco prewired and one has it already set on a stand of sorts if you're not feeling adventurous. You learn more wiring things yourself.

 

[al6517]

Yes they do work, with a well thought out plan and some attention to detail you can be very proud of having made and Hatch your own little fluff balls.

AL

 

[Gatekeeper]

I made a homemade incubator out of an old Fridge and a hatcher out of an old stand-up freezer. First hatch attempt was terrible. I did some tweaking corrected my mistakes and yesterday and going on now there are over 600 eggs hatching. I glanced and on one rack there were 112 pipping or hatched out of 120. I didnt want to mess with the other trays ...

Be sure to make a false back to allow for a return air flow

Be sure to test your thermostat for at least 2 days before setting eggs and test it with water in the unit.

Make sure you have enough air holes. (I had to add more because the temperature would spike around day 17-18 when the chicks seem to become more active)

I dont have an automatic turner. All my racks (trays) are tilted on a 35+ degree angle. I have three trays per bator all I do is turn the trays. Takes a matter of 50-75 seconds to turn them all. Since the racks tilt, the hatcher and incubator or changable.

Good luck.

Gate

 

[countrygirlLivinInDaCity]

Thanks so much you guys!

i only want about 30-40 eggs so well a fridge still work well for those? and i was thinking about making the incubator out of a styrofoam cooler would that have a good sucsess rate of not?

 

[pascopol]

Quote:
I have no opinion on Rancos, I never use them.

Here is the one I've been using in my homemade bator, it works very well.

It cuts off the temp very sharp within .01-02 F

http://www.coldbloodedpet.com/Zoo-Med-500R-thermostat-remote-sensor/M/B0002AQD9A.htm

about 26 bucks