First Time Building A Cabinet Incubator......

[rgvchicks]

hello everyone. well in the past year i've built homemade incubators from icechests, mini fridges, and standard size regrigerators but this is the first time building a cabinet incubator. on my way home i saw an old cabinet on the side of the road. i stopped checked it out and since i was bored as hell, i said WHY NOT....

..........put it in my truck and brought it home (you should of seen the face my wife showed as i pulled in the driveway).....

.....anyways, here's some pics..........not finished yet but probably will be in a couple of days.




Upper and middle part will work for incubating. the dimensions are 35" wide by 16" length so i plan on getting me 4 automatic egg turners from tractor supply which run at $35 each which will add to 164 egg capacity. the third area (the one with the plywood ) will work as brooder still not sure if leaving the other slut with wire mesh or screwing another peace of plywood.



bottom part will have the heat element of two 75 wat bulbs, 12 volt fan, and a plastic tray for the humidity. im still not sure of leaving the thermostat there cause i think it will be in the way of the egg turner, ill see what happens when i get them in the next couple of days.







the floorings will be as shown above with wire mesh. still in debate on what kind of doors i will use either wood with viewing windows or gettins some plexyglass and some hinges and using the whole peace as doors. any suggestions are greatly appreciated.



More pics to come once its finished.

 

[Wisher1000]

I have never built an imcubator, but what about insulation?

 

[NestingHillsSC]

I bought a friends homemade bator last night. Had it running all night and held right at 99.5. I think it weights 500lbs. lol. Going to start collecting some of my RIR eggs. And a few pekin duck eggs and see what I get.

 

[rgvchicks]

I have never built an imcubator, but what about insulation?

hello wisher1000, thanks for your suggestion.....i was also thinking bout insulation but if i put inuslation on the inside there is a chance that the automatic egg turners wont fit, maybe ill put the insulation thru the outside......thx again

 

[rgvchicks]

I bought a friends homemade bator last night. Had it running all night and held right at 99.5. I think it weights 500lbs. lol. Going to start collecting some of my RIR eggs. And a few pekin duck eggs and see what I get.

looks good...........whats the egg capacity..........egg turning will be automatic or manually?

 

[NestingHillsSC]

He said around 100 eggs. I redesigned the inside a bit. Had 3 drawers. The pan for the water was on top and the fan was hanging in the back on top. The bottom drawer was sectioned off in squares. Not really sure why he did that. So basically I took that drawer out. Moved the pan of water to the bottom. Rewired the fan and moved it to the bottom at an angle. Sort of a BIG fan. LOL. A bit over kill if you ask me. LOL. And I put a white plastic garbage bag on the bottom for easy cleaning. After this first test run I am going to paint the inside and outside. It's been sitting for months. They never cleaned it after there last hatch I don't think. I scrubbed and scrubbed then bleached then scrubbed then bleached. Still has a very musty wood smell. Probably from sitting in his barn for months. I think when I paint it will take care of that smell and will be a lot easier to clean and make the plywood last a lot longer.

You have to turn the eggs by hand. He has 300 chickens. He's been raising chickens his whole. Was very helpful to me when I first started. He told me all you have to do is basically put your hand on top the eggs and roll them back and forth a few times. He said he only did it once a day. And had 80% hatch rate. You know if you think about it. The hen doesn't take each egg and turn them over 3x a day. If you ever watched them sitting, they sort of do the back and forth method with there butts. I have put X's on the eggs the hen was sitting on and they were really never turned over. X's pretty much in same spot. I will probably rotate them like people say just because I have nothing better to do. HAHAHAHAHA

 

[NestingHillsSC]

Here's a pic of my setup now.



I since put the incubator on this stand so I don't have to get on my knees.

The cooler is were I store the eggs for hatching. Works great. Have 2 1 dozen egg cartons on top of two bricks. Then I put ice on the bottom. Just enough to get it at 55 degrees. Even after all night when I wake up it's still at around 62.

 

[rgvchicks]

He said around 100 eggs. I redesigned the inside a bit. Had 3 drawers. The pan for the water was on top and the fan was hanging in the back on top. The bottom drawer was sectioned off in squares. Not really sure why he did that. So basically I took that drawer out. Moved the pan of water to the bottom. Rewired the fan and moved it to the bottom at an angle. Sort of a BIG fan. LOL. A bit over kill if you ask me. LOL. And I put a white plastic garbage bag on the bottom for easy cleaning. After this first test run I am going to paint the inside and outside. It's been sitting for months. They never cleaned it after there last hatch I don't think. I scrubbed and scrubbed then bleached then scrubbed then bleached. Still has a very musty wood smell. Probably from sitting in his barn for months. I think when I paint it will take care of that smell and will be a lot easier to clean and make the plywood last a lot longer.

You have to turn the eggs by hand. He has 300 chickens. He's been raising chickens his whole. Was very helpful to me when I first started. He told me all you have to do is basically put your hand on top the eggs and roll them back and forth a few times. He said he only did it once a day. And had 80% hatch rate. You know if you think about it. The hen doesn't take each egg and turn them over 3x a day. If you ever watched them sitting, they sort of do the back and forth method with there butts. I have put X's on the eggs the hen was sitting on and they were really never turned over. X's pretty much in same spot. I will probably rotate them like people say just because I have nothing better to do. HAHAHAHAHA

lol...sounds like a plan.......this past year i never turned the eggs in all of my hatches and i still did pretty well between 60-75 percent but like you said, folk tends to give their opinion....so this time around i'm going to get some egg turners from tractor supply.....they've told me that without turning i had a good percentage hatch, i would have even a better if i turned.....

 

[sikes0368]

Keep showing pictures I'm thinking about trying to build on myself

 

[rgvchicks]

Keep showing pictures I'm thinking about trying to build on myself

id probably be heading to tractor supply on wed and get the egg turners, once i have them i'll continue with the pics......thx