Home made incubators and egg turners

Date sort Score sort
My 2x bulbs are fixed now about 12inches from bottom . The fan is right in the middle mounted to the top lid.its weird of i move thermostate away from the egg towards to box wall i then get temp between 37.1 to 37.9 but it does not stay for long it keep moving between that rage as when the thermostae turns on and off.
Where should i place my thermostate as i thought that the heat should regulated from eggs area. But as i said if i move the thermostate away from the eggs the temp come to rightish range.
2) is the fan above the eggs about 20 inches ok or it will try the eggs althought hygrometer reads right humidity which i require.
3) does the fan has to be mounted on any specific place in incubator ? Mine is on top in the middle?
Mister B said:
First, where is the thermostat in relation to the bulbs and the top/bottom of the incubator?  Since heat rises, I put the light near the bottom of the incubator.  I also isolate the thermostat from direct light.  I put mine in a recept box (one of those blue boxes they use for electrical work) and drilled some holes in the side for air flow.  Then I attached my fan to the side of the box to draw air across the thermostat.  I positioned my thermostat near the top of the incubator.  Also, I use two quart mason jars of water to work as heat sinks.  The water absorbs heat energy and releases it when the light is off.  A brick would work the same, but I need water in there for humidity.  I will try to remember to put some pictures up tonight.
Click to expand...
 
yuaan said:
I desperate for some suggestiins. I have build styrofoam incubator and have installed stc1000 thermostate. It has .3 clicks. I set it to 37.5 so it goes up to 37.8 and then cooling mode starts and goes down till 37.2 and then thermostate kicks in again but 2 thermometers i have stats between 35.4 to 36.9 i am getting mad why i am not getting accurate temp. I have thermostate and thermometers probs on top on tge eggs . I am getting so ennoyed why there is a massive difference. Just to give u a bit info on my incubator.
I have 2x 40w bulds and the fan is right at top in the middle on incybator and the eggs underneat.
Any suggestion what may be wrong?
Click to expand...
Try switching to 25 Watt bulbs and don't have the fan blowing directly on the eggs or the thermometers. Place the fan to blow on the light bulbs but not on the eggs or probes. The fan is probably messing with your readings and/or cooling the eggs when the bulbs go off. I am posting pics of mine for you.
 
Really old plastic cooler.
Made a plexiglass window in the top. Sealed down with clear silicone sealant.
For some reason during the hatch when the humidity was high this window warped and started pulling up in the corners.






Drilled a hole in the lid to put the probe in.
This also gave a vent for air. Sometimes the hole was plugged with foam earplug, other
times (like during hatch) it was left open.





Inside my incubator.
The light bulbs could be moved closer and further from the water heater thermostat.
It worked best when they were right on top of the thermostat.
Chicken wire divider needs to be replaced with screen or hardware cloth, because the chicks were almost able
to climb through it.
Probe wire is velcroed to the wall.
Water tray is from rotisserie chicken. I also had a second smaller water tray (from a frozen entrée) that went in the area under the light bulbs after day 19.





My PC fan was a very large one. I got it on ebay for like $3.50 and that included shipping. It's huge but doesn't blow very hard....just a faint breeze. Blows across the light bulbs does not blow on the thermometer or the eggs themselves.




This is a letter tray from the stationary section at Kmart.
It fit perfectly. Even had room for the water tray underneath.




My home made egg turner. LOL
Glued a wedge shaped piece of wood to the bottom of an egg carton and cut the lid off.




Hope this helps a little with ideas for someone.
 
The end result.

My first eggs/chicks ever to hatch myself.







He/she's the one on the left, was followed by the one on the right



Then several hours later the other 4 eggs all hatched.

 
i am going to be building an incubator soon and after i go visit family i will be hatching a small bunch of coturnix. i am super excited!

so... i want to make sure my facts are right...
99.5-100*F
humidity at 40-50% through day 14, then about 70% day 18
turn 3 times per day until day 13, day 14 stop turning

am i correct?
 
I am getting so annoyed that i feel like throwing the home made incubator in bin . I spent so much money on this . I am confused on temperature. when i place the thermostat probe on top of the egg along with thermometer probe . Temerature on thermometer shows very low and when i place the thermostat probe a bit away from the eggs the temperature stays much better in range , I have bought quails eggs who are in the incubator. I feel like breaking it but then when i think about the eggs and the amount of time i wasted on this project , i think i better give a go .
why is it the if the thermostat prob is away from the eggs but the thermostat probe on top of the egg i then get good range of temp.
first i had my fan mounted right above the eggs in middle of incubator then i mounted it to side of the bulbs still its weird that thermostat gives good reading on thermometer if its away from the eggs ,
why why why
 
ohiogoatgirl said:
i am going to be building an incubator soon and after i go visit family i will be hatching a small bunch of coturnix. i am super excited!

so... i want to make sure my facts are right...
99.5-100*F
humidity at 40-50% through day 14, then about 70% day 18
turn 3 times per day until day 13, day 14 stop turning

am i correct?
Click to expand...

You are correct. If you have a hard time raising humidity, lower temp by a half degree.
yuaan said:
I am getting so annoyed that i feel like throwing the home made incubator in bin . I spent so much money on this . I am confused on temperature. when i place the thermostat probe on top of the egg along with thermometer probe . Temerature on thermometer shows very low and when i place the thermostat probe a bit away from the eggs the temperature stays much better in range , I have bought quails eggs who are in the incubator. I feel like breaking it but then when i think about the eggs and the amount of time i wasted on this project , i think i better give a go .
why is it the if the thermostat prob is away from the eggs but the thermostat probe on top of the egg i then get good range of temp.
first i had my fan mounted right above the eggs in middle of incubator then i mounted it to side of the bulbs still its weird that thermostat gives good reading on thermometer if its away from the eggs ,
why why why
Click to expand...
Do you have a fan in the incubator? What thermostat are you using? How many thermometers have you used to make sure the one you are using is accurate?

If you can take a detailed picture of the inside of your incubator I can be more helpful.
 
farnorth said:
Really old plastic cooler. Made a plexiglass window in the top. Sealed down with clear silicone sealant. For some reason during the hatch when the humidity was high this window warped and started pulling up in the corners. Drilled a hole in the lid to put the probe in. This also gave a vent for air. Sometimes the hole was plugged with foam earplug, other times (like during hatch) it was left open. Inside my incubator. The light bulbs could be moved closer and further from the water heater thermostat. It worked best when they were right on top of the thermostat. Chicken wire divider needs to be replaced with screen or hardware cloth, because the chicks were almost able to climb through it. Probe wire is velcroed to the wall. Water tray is from rotisserie chicken. I also had a second smaller water tray (from a frozen entrée) that went in the area under the light bulbs after day 19. My PC fan was a very large one. I got it on ebay for like $3.50 and that included shipping. It's huge but doesn't blow very hard....just a faint breeze. Blows across the light bulbs does not blow on the thermometer or the eggs themselves. This is a letter tray from the stationary section at Kmart. It fit perfectly. Even had room for the water tray underneath. My home made egg turner. LOL Glued a wedge shaped piece of wood to the bottom of an egg carton and cut the lid off. Hope this helps a little with ideas for someone.
Click to expand...
Awesome simplicity I love it! Thank you for sharing. Turning my eggs is a chore currently lol
 

Similar threads

pac
    • Love
    • Like
My first Quail. A mini blog.
13 14 15
Replies
148
Views
7K
pac
pac
C
I made 2 eggs turners which one would you use?
Replies
3
Views
574
cjweaver
C
RoseHawke
RoseHawke's Hatching Journey
Replies
6
Views
195
RoseHawke
RoseHawke
Eldon956
No eggs and Few eggs layed usually unfertiled....
Replies
3
Views
637
Nabiki
Nabiki
Worm94
Questions about DIY incubator and current incubator
Replies
3
Views
996
gimmie birdies
gimmie birdies

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom