Phunktacular
Songster
I've been chatting, here and there, about an incubator that I've build. This particular incubator that I've been using to incubate and hatch out of worked beyond what I had expected. It is very simple and I feel anybody can build it. I believe, with everything included that I used, total cost to me was less than $50. If you're patient enough, you could even find the beverage cooler for free. Mine was free, otherwise the cost would be more.
Main Parts list:
1: The controller - I used the SHT-2000 Temp/humidity controller. This controller has been amazing. I priced all sorts of incubator controllers and realized that the market is very small for US type controllers that actually read out in Fahrenheit degrees. So, I spent less than half of an inkbird and got this for only $25. It will only read in Celcius but, once you know the conversion, you just set it and the temperature never really changes. What do I care what the controller reads?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HB1F7N6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
2: Heater - I looked at all sorts of heat sources, as well. From PTC heaters, heat tape, 12V heaters for car defrosters and ended up with a small heater that I found in the clearance section at Wal-Mart for $2.50. I think regular price is about $10. Still not that bad.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-Mini-Ceramic-Heater-DQ1723-BLK-Black/205984526
3: Humidity - I looked on all of the incubator source sites and the least I'd get a humidity device for was near $50. That's a tin pan with slots to put a sponge of some sort for evaporation of water. I wanted something that the controller could turn on when needed and off once it was high enough. I ended up going the absolute cheapest route I could and bought a USB donut mister. It is exactly as simple as it sounds. It has a cord that about 6-8 inches long and is only about a 2 inch diameter float and you just put it in a bowl of water and when power is supplied via USB it shoots a light mist into the air directly above it. You can find these for about $4 on amazon. If you are willing to wait a month for delivery, you can get them for $1.50 each from AliExpress. You'll want extras. I originally bought 2 of them and the first one stopped working after the second week. I ordered 2 more, in case they fail every 2 weeks but, the next one lasted the next 6 weeks while I hatched several batches of quail.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077ZBFC76/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
or
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/400...rchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_55
SUMMARY
The only complicated thing involved in the build is, you need to rout the power through the controller. The controller only applies power when the parameters are reached that you establish. For example, it maintains an open circuit until the temperature drops below what you set it to and then it closes the circuit and the heater comes on until the temperature you tell it to stop. You'll need to do this for both the humidifier and the heater.
For the heater, it was simple. I just clicked it on and routed through controller. When the controller activated the heater, a little red LED would light on the controller and I could confirm the heater was working because, there was also a light on the switch of the heater that lit.
The misting donut, this also had a small LED in it so, while it was running it would light up and I'd see the mist coming out of it. I put in a Rubbermaid storage bowl without the lid. I'll link it at the end of this section. I always used hot tap water when I filled it. That served 2 purposes. The temperature of the water never went below the ambient temp of the incubator and it also helped raise the humidity when the door was opened to fill the bowl. I never had to worry about eggs being misted with cold water. Now, because the misting donut was powered by USB, I didn't wire it directly to the controller. I chose to use a USB extension to wire to the controller. That way, upon failure, I could just unplug the old and plug in the new. I didn't actually do this intentionally for this reason but, my laziness turned out to be brilliant because, I needed to replace it after 2 weeks.
Water Bowl -
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Rubberma...-097-16d94986bba037&athancid=null&athena=true
USB extension -
https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Extension-Cable-Male-Female/dp/B00NH136GE/ref=sxin_2_pb?crid=2EBJIXDW6OMXF&keywords=usb+extension+cable&pd_rd_i=B00NH136GE&pd_rd_r=42de22a8-34b8-43ec-a3ef-218929189ac2&pd_rd_w=6jnEw&pd_rd_wg=xDtt2&pf_rd_p=50bbfd25-5ef7-41a2-86d6-74d854b30e30&pf_rd_r=1SC3Q7GWZHZYV9GTTWXK&qid=1570156143&s=electronics&sprefix=USB+ext%2Cinstant-video%2C163
Now, you'll need some external wire to connect all of the items to the controller but, you can find that in any Lowes or Home Depot. I think I got mine at Tractor Supply. I chose not to build a turning system into it because, it was my first build and I wasn't so confident it was going to work as well as it did. So, I used the turner for my Little Giant incubator on an adjustable wire shelf build into the cooler and it worked as expected. The cooler that I have has a magnetic seal on the glass front door. Using a magnetic mounted AccuRite thermometer/hygrometer that I bought from TSC for about $12, in any 36 hour period the temperature never dropped below 99 deg F or over 100 deg F. Humidity hovered between 50-55%. I chose 50% as a low because it's a mid range for incubation and low for hatching and 55% as the high because its the high for incubation and the mid for hatching. I used the same incubator as the hatcher as I incubated other eggs.
Every batch I had over 6 weeks, I averaged nearly 90% hatch rate and every bird that hatched lived. I didn't lose a single bird after hatch while brooding.
I'll go back and read over this and see if I missed anything that I feel is relevant and post on it later.
Thanks for listening. I'm very proud of the success of it and I'm crazy anxious for my next build and will do my best to document every step of the build.
Main Parts list:
1: The controller - I used the SHT-2000 Temp/humidity controller. This controller has been amazing. I priced all sorts of incubator controllers and realized that the market is very small for US type controllers that actually read out in Fahrenheit degrees. So, I spent less than half of an inkbird and got this for only $25. It will only read in Celcius but, once you know the conversion, you just set it and the temperature never really changes. What do I care what the controller reads?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HB1F7N6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
2: Heater - I looked at all sorts of heat sources, as well. From PTC heaters, heat tape, 12V heaters for car defrosters and ended up with a small heater that I found in the clearance section at Wal-Mart for $2.50. I think regular price is about $10. Still not that bad.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-Mini-Ceramic-Heater-DQ1723-BLK-Black/205984526
3: Humidity - I looked on all of the incubator source sites and the least I'd get a humidity device for was near $50. That's a tin pan with slots to put a sponge of some sort for evaporation of water. I wanted something that the controller could turn on when needed and off once it was high enough. I ended up going the absolute cheapest route I could and bought a USB donut mister. It is exactly as simple as it sounds. It has a cord that about 6-8 inches long and is only about a 2 inch diameter float and you just put it in a bowl of water and when power is supplied via USB it shoots a light mist into the air directly above it. You can find these for about $4 on amazon. If you are willing to wait a month for delivery, you can get them for $1.50 each from AliExpress. You'll want extras. I originally bought 2 of them and the first one stopped working after the second week. I ordered 2 more, in case they fail every 2 weeks but, the next one lasted the next 6 weeks while I hatched several batches of quail.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077ZBFC76/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
or
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/400...rchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_55
SUMMARY
The only complicated thing involved in the build is, you need to rout the power through the controller. The controller only applies power when the parameters are reached that you establish. For example, it maintains an open circuit until the temperature drops below what you set it to and then it closes the circuit and the heater comes on until the temperature you tell it to stop. You'll need to do this for both the humidifier and the heater.
For the heater, it was simple. I just clicked it on and routed through controller. When the controller activated the heater, a little red LED would light on the controller and I could confirm the heater was working because, there was also a light on the switch of the heater that lit.
The misting donut, this also had a small LED in it so, while it was running it would light up and I'd see the mist coming out of it. I put in a Rubbermaid storage bowl without the lid. I'll link it at the end of this section. I always used hot tap water when I filled it. That served 2 purposes. The temperature of the water never went below the ambient temp of the incubator and it also helped raise the humidity when the door was opened to fill the bowl. I never had to worry about eggs being misted with cold water. Now, because the misting donut was powered by USB, I didn't wire it directly to the controller. I chose to use a USB extension to wire to the controller. That way, upon failure, I could just unplug the old and plug in the new. I didn't actually do this intentionally for this reason but, my laziness turned out to be brilliant because, I needed to replace it after 2 weeks.
Water Bowl -
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Rubberma...-097-16d94986bba037&athancid=null&athena=true
USB extension -
https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-Extension-Cable-Male-Female/dp/B00NH136GE/ref=sxin_2_pb?crid=2EBJIXDW6OMXF&keywords=usb+extension+cable&pd_rd_i=B00NH136GE&pd_rd_r=42de22a8-34b8-43ec-a3ef-218929189ac2&pd_rd_w=6jnEw&pd_rd_wg=xDtt2&pf_rd_p=50bbfd25-5ef7-41a2-86d6-74d854b30e30&pf_rd_r=1SC3Q7GWZHZYV9GTTWXK&qid=1570156143&s=electronics&sprefix=USB+ext%2Cinstant-video%2C163
Now, you'll need some external wire to connect all of the items to the controller but, you can find that in any Lowes or Home Depot. I think I got mine at Tractor Supply. I chose not to build a turning system into it because, it was my first build and I wasn't so confident it was going to work as well as it did. So, I used the turner for my Little Giant incubator on an adjustable wire shelf build into the cooler and it worked as expected. The cooler that I have has a magnetic seal on the glass front door. Using a magnetic mounted AccuRite thermometer/hygrometer that I bought from TSC for about $12, in any 36 hour period the temperature never dropped below 99 deg F or over 100 deg F. Humidity hovered between 50-55%. I chose 50% as a low because it's a mid range for incubation and low for hatching and 55% as the high because its the high for incubation and the mid for hatching. I used the same incubator as the hatcher as I incubated other eggs.
Every batch I had over 6 weeks, I averaged nearly 90% hatch rate and every bird that hatched lived. I didn't lose a single bird after hatch while brooding.
I'll go back and read over this and see if I missed anything that I feel is relevant and post on it later.
Thanks for listening. I'm very proud of the success of it and I'm crazy anxious for my next build and will do my best to document every step of the build.
