Home made incubators and egg turners

[cookiesdaddy]

I'm going to try a different bulb and run the fan 24/7 to see if that helps. I will post my results. Thx

Please post result. I want to learn from your mistake

 

[Fred's Hens]

Have u used one of these?

Yes. The temp swing is only 1 degree. 90.0 to 100.0

 

[falconertomt]

For an egg turner you can buy one for about $45 and quail rails for another 20, or, if you are a crafty type you can buy a motor for $5 and build your own. I am going to try the build your own, but I'll admit that I bought one for my first. You can get a motor or the egg turners here:
http://incubatorwarehouse.com/egg-incubator-accessories.html

 

[imthegrt1]

Ok first thing first egg turner is on sale for 40 at t and s.
Now the cheap way would be to put them in a carton and turn side to side like I did with mine

 

[imthegrt1]

2nd I also built a cooler bator in January
Here is a few pic
Of mine

 

[imthegrt1]

I used two bulbs 40 and 60 watts
It seem that with 25 watts it took longer to heat up and temp drop into low 90's

 

[imthegrt1]

Temp stays good the first few days but notice that as the days go the range spreads
Have put the water heater therm I. Different spots the range has been for me 97-106
Now my first trial I had 13 eggs in only two were duds 3 hatch and rest would have but I put them in upside down and the died
Have had cooler in house and in garage thinking room temp would make a difference no luck. Hope that helps some. I'm now revision my cooler bator thinking of using a dimmer instead of a thermstat hope my info helps great project

 

[Fred's Hens]

Dimmers just don't work. They have no ability to actually turn on or off by themselves. They only work if one baby sits them 24/7 for 21 days. Impossible.

I see you're using a hotwater heater thermostat. Those are notoriously cheap, but highly swing oriented and not very reliable for sensitive temperature holding. Just cannot ask it to do what it was never designed to do inside a water heater.

There are many, many better choices. Some are digital and dead on accurate in holding steady, to a tenth of a degree. For inexpensive, the bi-metal version sold for $16 at Incubator Warehouse is my choice. It's in two of my boxes. They'll hold to within a one degree swing. 99.0 on the low swing to 100.0 on the upper swing. That's perfect and an nice 99.5 average.




To achieve that level of steady, it is recommended that these bi-metal thermostats be located within 2" of the light bulb.

Incubator Warehouse. Great store. Great products. Fair prices.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Above, it is seen within a safety cage I made. This is prevent rubbing against it. It is "hot" in that current is going through it. Not enough to really hurt you, but it would give you a good poke.


Here you can see it being mounted. The adjust shaft reaches through the box and can be dialed up or down from the outside of the box, just like hova bator type incubators/

Use Gorilla glue to anchor one of these plastic wall anchors into the box. Let dry over night. Then you can screw the thermostat or any other device, like a fan, wire tie, light fixture, safety cages made from hardware cloth, etc.

 

[farnorth]

I would not use a CFL bulb, the CFL bulb takes much longer to heat up to full temp than an incandescent, thus your temp swing of 4 degrees. I am working on an almost identical cooler. Main difference is that I used 2 bulbs, one of which stays on constant and one that comes off and on with the water heater thermostat. Not sure how much of a temp swing I will get as I still haven't gotten my fan or my digital thermometer.