Home made incubator, new to chickens, constructive criticism.

[Howling hills]

I built to built this incubator to hatch snakes 10 years ago , now I’d like to try hatching chickens so I bought a couple egg turners. I plan on placing the temp and humidity probes in a more central location, adding large bottles of water in the bottom fo temperature stabilization, and potentially making 2 more shelves so I can ad 2 more egg turners. What do you think? Am I overlooking something?

 

[jher77]

Did it hatch snakes successfully?

I don't see a vent.

 

[Mellowmalt]

looks ok to me, just be aware that eggs close to the heat mat might get warmer than eggs near the door. glass is a bad insulator so heat will be lost there and heat will be added at the back. A strong fan should rectify this prblem to some extent so I am guessing you would need much more ventilation for chicken eggs than reptile eggs not so much for ventilation but for improved heat distribution.

Also good point about the vent, you could open the incubator 3 times a day to compensate but a few vent holes would be good, you don't need many or for them to be very big, too much loses too much heat - those are the biggest challenges when making your own.

 

[Howling hills]

Did it hatch snakes successfully?

I don't see a vent.

Yes I did the only vents are where the plugs go out the back about the size of a golf ball and the seal at the bottom of the door is damaged, this allows some air to get through.