REALLY?!?!? They get warm enough? Wow, I may have to change my ways.....
Thanks for the update,
Michelle
Thanks for the update,
Michelle
HomeMade Incubator Contest - Win $20 BYC Store Gift Certificate
- Thread starter Nifty-Chicken
- Start date
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Nice looking. Do you have a parts or material list you could post?
Nice looking. Do you have a parts or material list you could post?
Not that I care or am anxious or anything, but are we done yet? Can the judging begin?
Do I need to make and submit a couple more so the pool is big enough?
I mean, just for the joy of seeing someone else win, of course.
I'm not really competitive or anything.
No, I did Not push a grandma at an egg hunt. She tripped next to me.
Do I need to make and submit a couple more so the pool is big enough?
I mean, just for the joy of seeing someone else win, of course.
I'm not really competitive or anything.
No, I did Not push a grandma at an egg hunt. She tripped next to me.
Thanks for all the pictures! The rocks work to stabilize the heat? Do they help with eliminating the cold spots? Maybe I need to move my fan but it seems I have a cool spot, although the mercury thermometers all read the same in various locations, but when I stick my hand in to turn it sure feels like there is a cool breeze.
Great job!!!!
Michelle
Great job!!!!
Michelle
This is not an entry to your incubator...it is just a helpful pic...just to help those who dont or cant spend the money for an auto turner...this is a pic of my homemade turner that is turned by hand but works great and it cost like 5 dollars to make...
Good job everyone!
Michelle
I christened mine "The Unintended Anniversary Gift Incubator."
Whoo hoo! Thanks for doing this! I was going to say putting it together, but we're the ones who assembled things....
Whoo hoo! Thanks for doing this! I was going to say putting it together, but we're the ones who assembled things....
Oh! Shoot! I finally managed to get pictures!
I'll write it out, and if it goes on the next contest, so be it!
Katies Readheaded Redneck GI Bator
First, I managed to get an old Army Field Ice Chest. Free. Big, insulated, steel, box of a thing that weighed a TON. When standing the normal way, it measured 2.5 feet tall, 2.5 ft wide, and 3.5 ft long. The lid opened on top like a normal chest freezer would do. It had a small drain hole in the bottom, where water would run out in the field. It had no cooling system; it was just a really big ice chest.
So, first step was to get it in the house. My son, age 11 (weighing in at about 45 lbs soaking wet) and I attempted to carry it up the front steps into the living room. I slipped on the stairs, ripped a muscle in my lower back, and ended up bed ridden for 11 days, and am still recovering, unfortunately. But we got it in the living room, through sheer red-headed stubbornness.
So, after taking a bunch of pain meds, we turned the cooler onto its side, so the door would now open like a refrigerator. Rather than trying to put feet on it, we just put it up on blocks in the living room. I guess that makes it a Redheads Redneck Bator. Next step was to cut a large view hole in the lid thank goodness for power tools. We placed a large sheet of plexi over the hole, caulked it in place, and ran a layer of duct-tape around the edges. (Yup, definitely a Redneck Bator). The old gasket that sealed the door was rotted and falling apart, so I removed that, and used weather-stripping to run a new gasket to seal the door.
I had a set of wire shelves left over from a kitchen remodeling project, and they fit inside just perfectly. I also discovered that a standard turner for a Styrofoam Bator fit perfectly in each shelf, so I had 4 shelves, each with a tuner.
For heat, I followed the same wiring that many on here have done the water heater thermostat, wired into a light fixture, and then to a plug. Since this was a fairly large Bator, I decided to use a ceiling fan light fixture, $5 at Home depot. It had 3 light sockets, and through a bit of trial and error, I discovered I needed 3 100w bulbs to adequately heat the chest. Also through trial and error, I figured out the best place to hang the thermostat, to which Id attached a heavy duty wire twisty, and found I needed to hang it on the second shelf.
Next was ventilation. I left the small drain hole open for an air vent. Then, on Gatekeepers advice (thanks Gate!) I cut a hole in the top of the Bator and dropped in a bathroom ceiling fan. I plugged it in, and then covered it with a shallow wooden tray, so that it wasnt pulling in too much cold air at one time.
Last was humidity, which Ive struggled with. I placed a roast pan on the bottom of the cooler next to the light. That wasnt enough, so I added 2 loaf pans in the little bit of leftover space on the bottom of the cooler. That still wasnt enough, so I added a second large roast pan on the lowest shelf, and that got my humidity up to the 30-33% humidity mark.
For the last few days, I added a humidifier next to the vent fan on top, and covered the whole thing with a Rubbermaid tub. It isnt elegant, but it has pumped up the humidity for the hatch.
I removed the turners, lined the wire shelves with the bumpy foam shelf liner stuff and set the eggs in on their sides. I debated doing an egg carton hatch, and decided to go natural this time and see how it works. I tried to group all of the bantam eggs on 1 shelf, since they may hatch first. There are well over 200 eggs in this Bator (I had a styro Bator going with the overflow, and added them in tonight when I removed the turners) and when I was moving the eggs, I only felt 4 that were light like nothing had developed! YIKES! So, well see what kind of hatch rate happens. I have eggs in here from so many wonderful folks on the board, and more types of eggs than I can even remember right now!
Hatch date is Monday the 18th of May!
I'll write it out, and if it goes on the next contest, so be it!
Katies Readheaded Redneck GI Bator
First, I managed to get an old Army Field Ice Chest. Free. Big, insulated, steel, box of a thing that weighed a TON. When standing the normal way, it measured 2.5 feet tall, 2.5 ft wide, and 3.5 ft long. The lid opened on top like a normal chest freezer would do. It had a small drain hole in the bottom, where water would run out in the field. It had no cooling system; it was just a really big ice chest.
So, first step was to get it in the house. My son, age 11 (weighing in at about 45 lbs soaking wet) and I attempted to carry it up the front steps into the living room. I slipped on the stairs, ripped a muscle in my lower back, and ended up bed ridden for 11 days, and am still recovering, unfortunately. But we got it in the living room, through sheer red-headed stubbornness.
So, after taking a bunch of pain meds, we turned the cooler onto its side, so the door would now open like a refrigerator. Rather than trying to put feet on it, we just put it up on blocks in the living room. I guess that makes it a Redheads Redneck Bator. Next step was to cut a large view hole in the lid thank goodness for power tools. We placed a large sheet of plexi over the hole, caulked it in place, and ran a layer of duct-tape around the edges. (Yup, definitely a Redneck Bator). The old gasket that sealed the door was rotted and falling apart, so I removed that, and used weather-stripping to run a new gasket to seal the door.
I had a set of wire shelves left over from a kitchen remodeling project, and they fit inside just perfectly. I also discovered that a standard turner for a Styrofoam Bator fit perfectly in each shelf, so I had 4 shelves, each with a tuner.
For heat, I followed the same wiring that many on here have done the water heater thermostat, wired into a light fixture, and then to a plug. Since this was a fairly large Bator, I decided to use a ceiling fan light fixture, $5 at Home depot. It had 3 light sockets, and through a bit of trial and error, I discovered I needed 3 100w bulbs to adequately heat the chest. Also through trial and error, I figured out the best place to hang the thermostat, to which Id attached a heavy duty wire twisty, and found I needed to hang it on the second shelf.
Next was ventilation. I left the small drain hole open for an air vent. Then, on Gatekeepers advice (thanks Gate!) I cut a hole in the top of the Bator and dropped in a bathroom ceiling fan. I plugged it in, and then covered it with a shallow wooden tray, so that it wasnt pulling in too much cold air at one time.
Last was humidity, which Ive struggled with. I placed a roast pan on the bottom of the cooler next to the light. That wasnt enough, so I added 2 loaf pans in the little bit of leftover space on the bottom of the cooler. That still wasnt enough, so I added a second large roast pan on the lowest shelf, and that got my humidity up to the 30-33% humidity mark.
For the last few days, I added a humidifier next to the vent fan on top, and covered the whole thing with a Rubbermaid tub. It isnt elegant, but it has pumped up the humidity for the hatch.
I removed the turners, lined the wire shelves with the bumpy foam shelf liner stuff and set the eggs in on their sides. I debated doing an egg carton hatch, and decided to go natural this time and see how it works. I tried to group all of the bantam eggs on 1 shelf, since they may hatch first. There are well over 200 eggs in this Bator (I had a styro Bator going with the overflow, and added them in tonight when I removed the turners) and when I was moving the eggs, I only felt 4 that were light like nothing had developed! YIKES! So, well see what kind of hatch rate happens. I have eggs in here from so many wonderful folks on the board, and more types of eggs than I can even remember right now!
Hatch date is Monday the 18th of May!
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