Homemade cabinet Hatcher

[TheChicknShack]

Our first attempt at hatching eggs. And so it began....
We originally purchased a LG Styrofoam incubator w/ fan and turner. But controlling temps and humidity (in our South Dakota climate), became more work than it should of.

So after a few nights, of massive research, we decided to build our own cabinet incubator.

Version 1.0
We purchased a Beverage cooler from a Wal-Mart, and proceeded with the construction. All the parts, Light bulbs, computer fans, and thermostat, were installed using the bottle rack that sat on the top shelf. It heated beautifully, but everytime we ne)eded to adjust the temps, we had to open the door. Cords were run through the door seam, because we couldn't bring ourselves to drill holes in it. So...

Version 2.0

Purchased the wood, moved the light bulbs, fans, and thermostat. 2 100-watt light bulbs were used for heat, unfortunately they were not enough. Back to the research

. After reading a post on an incubators here, we decided to use a forced air heater and a baffle along the back wall. The thermostat is adjustable from the outside (

) with a screwdriver. (Version 2.1). It produced plenty of heat and runs once every minute or so, for approximately 5 seconds. Temps remained constant, air was flowing, and humidity remains at 44-48% with just a 9x13 pan in the bottom. Purchased a float from eBay, so water levels would remain the same.
We ran the incubator for 2 days before moving the eggs from the LG.

Version 3.0
10 days after our eggs went into our cabinet incubator from the LG, (notice in the pic) 55 more eggs were added

. But now, we needed something else. A hatcher. A 100-watt IncuKit from incubatorwarehouse.com was ordered. A new float for the water tank. And it was up and running in no time. Temps constant and humidity 70%. The first batch of 16 eggs were candled, 3 were not viable and 1 questionable. So 13 eggs, went in. 24 hours later, we had 5 eggs pip'd. Nervousness set in, "IT's TOO SOON!!"

An hour after the eggs started pipping,

We had our first chick.
We named it "Scooter". An hour later another chick hatched, then another, and another ...

Will post more pics soon, cannot find camera cord, DOOH!

 

[seann]

So cool, keep updating.

 

[Timba]

Wow that is AWESOME!!!! I too am currently making my own incubator and can't wait to put some eggs in it. Just waiting for a good thermostat to arrive and fine tune the temps. Good luck!!!! Post more pics, when you find that chord of course.

 

[TheChicknShack]

Cord found...

Version 3.5: Added a brooder (Split screen Chick TV

)


and now some pics of the peeps!

Our roosters are 2x Black Australorp and a Silver-Laced Wyandotte. Hens are Australorp, Buff Orpington, Black Sexlink, and Production Red.