Homemade incubator

[richje100]

Guys,

whats the easiest & cheapest way to make your own incubator?
ive seen wome ideas on here but they look complicated.
ive googled it & sen some easy ways but they are all different. some are just cardboard boxes with a light, some are polysterene boxes with some adaptions.
i want to get a few eggs so my kids can watch them & look after them.

 

[Mahonri]

do a search for gckiddhouse or ArizonaDesertChicks. they both have homemade bators with my eggs in them. I hope they work. Stay tuned.

 

[onthespot]

I think the cheapest way is a styrofoam box with a light on a dimmer switch that you regulate yourself, and a little fan and a pan of water, and regulate the humidity by hand. It all boils down to if you have a very stable place to put the incubator where the temperature never varies, and where you can check it often and make little adjustments with a dimmer switch to warm or cool the incubator. Keeping water bottles in the incubator will create heat sinks that will help to keep the temps stable as they help by absorbing extra heat, or releasing it if the incubator cools off a bit also. Hope this helps. If you are successful, and I think you may be if you continue to read a bunch on here, you will likely be bitten by the hatching bug and want to build a bigger, better one, but we will leave that for another chapter....

 

[richje100]

thanks. ill give it a go.
where would i get one of these boxes? someone said they are used to transport frozen meat, so i wonder if my local butcher has one i could have.

 

[BirdBrain]

Check with pharmacies, bait shops, and pet stores, especially ones that sell reptiles.

 

[onthespot]

or go to the convenience store or grocery store and get a use 'n toss styrofoam beer cooler for a few sheckles.

 

[kathyinmo]

You might check at your feed store for a free styrofoam container. They receive their meds in these, and just throw them away. They really are nice ones.

 

[richje100]

thanks for all the replies.
ive tried my local supermarkets but all the meat/fish are vacuum packed.
i didnt think pharmicies. ill try that tomorrow

 

[Chic Chick]

Go buy a sheet of styrofoam insulation and cut the pieces to the size you want and glue the box together. Cut out a piece in the middle of the lid and put some glass in for a window. Have a hole for incoming air, some vent holes for outgoing air, a heat source like a light bulb and a dish with water.
Check my page for the simple one I made. The fan is wired into the receptacle for the light and it blows the warm air across the light into the bator and all I have is one cord which comes out through the air intake. I put up a partial wall to block the direct heat.

 

[richje100]

*Chick Chick,
thats exactly what im looking for. have you got any close up pics you could send me so i can possibly work off them to copy?
rich