First Time DIY Bator SUCCESS!!

[RoosterMania]

Well, about 28 days ago I built an incubator out of styrofoam and duct tape. I have approx. $50 in it for the thermostat/thermometer. There were days I let it run out of water. There were days the temp swung +- 5 degrees from 99.5. I put 9 RIR eggs in and hoped for the best. I candled them on day 10 or 11 and only four of them had anything growing in them. On day 18 I filled the water tray and locked her down. Today was day 21 and so far 3 of the 4 viable eggs have hatched. Of course now I have plans to build a nice plywood cabinet Bator so we can go big or go home. I just wanted to share the success and thank those on this forum who unknowingly helped make this an awesome experience for me and my family.

I'll upload pics as soon as I figure out how

 

[mereinolan]

How did you do the 1st incubator? And what kind of thermostat/thermometer did you get?

 

[RoosterMania]

I have a friend who gave me some Styrofoam insulation for shipping cold items. I duct taped it into a box and added a window using glass from a $1 picture frame. The light fixture cost $2.00 and the fan and wiring I had on hand. The only real expense was the thermostat and thermometer/hygrometer. I picked those up from Incubator Warehouse for around $43 shipped. I used egg cartons with the bottoms cut out attached to a dowel rod via zip ties to hold the eggs, allowing them to be turned easily. A cheap aluminium pan made a good water dish and I put four plastic baby food containers filled with water in the bator to act as heat sinks. On day 18 I removed the egg cartons and laid the eggs in an aluminum pan on top of a piece of wood to keep them out of the water pan. I had to spray some water in there a few times to bump the humidity up, but I just did that through the vent holes as not to cool the temps.

It was a neat little experiment just to see if I could do it and now I'm going to use the thermostat, light fixture and fan to built a Cadillac model.

 

[boyswillbeboys]

Yay, that is great to hear.

I made a cooler bator (still air) and am on Day 4, I candled, and 4/6 have veins, one I'm not sure about, it may be veins or a blood ring, I'll give it a couple days, and 1 may be clear, or maybe behind, I haven't pulled it yet.

I used only things I had on hand, a plastic cooler with a missing lid, a brooder lamp, with a 100W bulb, two pieces of tin foil, and a card board box, I filled 2 sandwich bags (ziplock) with water for heat sinks. I've had a couple short spikes up to 104, but holding mostly steady between 99 and 102, which is perfect for a still air, I'm so excited.
edit: I'm using one digital and one analog meat thermometer to watch my temperature

 

[RoosterMania]

Cool. What kind of thermostat are you using?

 

[boyswillbeboys]

I am just using meat thermometers, and can modify the cardboard placement as required, if the temperature shifts