Homemade incubator

[dandydoodle]

I am going to be making a homemade incubator in the next to days. Any suggestions things your have found out work or don't work. Any advice before I start this would be appreciated. I am going to go on the homemade incubator section and check those out. Other then that I don't know what else to do.

Thanks,
MIchelle

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

They all work. When you pick the parts you want to use we can tell you how best to make them work.

 

[rebel yell]

Go ahead & do your self a favor & order your self a good old wafer thermostat, little bit more expensive than a water heater thermostat but well worth it, just my opinion.

 

[Cranman]

My advice is to have two light bulbs, one on all the time and the other controlled by the thermostat. Also mount the bulb that's controled by the t-stat so it can be moved closer or farther away from the t-stat, this will affect your cycle time and it's easier if you can rotate it a little back and forth to find the sweet spot. Lastly be sure anything you use is durable since most anything that might fail mid hatch may ruin the hatch. I had a fan quit on me once and also a light bulb burn out. Luckily with the light I had the other one running and temps didn't get too low.

 

[dwdoc]

I agree with the other poster...a good fan and a t-stat.

I got a t-stat from ebay and it works like a champ:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Incubator-Therm...660?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f018315cc

BTW: I am not endorsing this product just sharing my experience.

 

[abritton77]

I highly recommend not getting a water heater t-stat. I put a mini digital controller off of eBay in mine and feel like it works really well. How big of one are you planning?

 

[gumbii]

i use a ronco temp controller... 50 bucks used... new they're like 150... but if i had to get another one, i'd get this one... http://incubatorwarehouse.com/index.php/digital-electronic-egg-incubator-thermostat.html

sounds too good to be true based on the price... but i am happy with the ronco... but it's super bulky...

 

[dominiquePL]

I don't know what/how big incubator you will be using but I recommend being carreful with the heat source - if you use light bulbs choose 25w max. Too much means hotter which will cause significant temp swings.
This time I'm using reptile heat cable (25W / 4.5 m long) and I love it - it heats up quickly, doesn't get too hot and cools down quickly. That is very important because when the thermostat turns it off you want it to stop producing heat immediately - otherwise the temp will continue going up and the hotter the heat source is the higher it will go.

One more thing - turn your incubator on at least 24 hours before putting eggs in. If you notice problems with temp, sort it out first.

Good luck!!

 

[aprophet]

Quote:
http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/RANCO-Electronic-Temperature-Control-3ZP77

If this is the one you are talking about Johnson controls make almost the same thing and they are 49-$52 online most weeks you just need to see how much power you are using if you go over 16 amps you will need a relay

 

[midget_farms]

I built my own & just completed my first hatch just under 2 weeks ago - I'm collecting eggs for my second hatch now & plan to set this weekend.

My advice -

1) use a thermostat - any one you want - you will figure it out. I use a house thermo & it works just fine.
2) you need water trays to control the humidity. Use paint trays - the kind with the sloped bottom - Humidity is effected more by surface area than total amount of water. I had plastic bowls with sponges in there for my first run - they were perfect for incubating - but I was unable to raise the humidity for lock down. I beleive this cost me most of my chicks. I now have the sloped paint trays in there. When I add more water I get more surface area exposed & the humidity goes up. It works great.

3) Insulate & seal exposed wood - it will suck the water out of the air if you don't.
4) Have a method of adding water w/o opening the lid. I bought 2 copper 1/2 in pipes bent in a 90* angle. I slipped them through a hole in the bator & they extend just over the water trays. I can pour water into the trays from the outside - this can be done with garden hose or even a straw if you are patinet enough.
5) build some sort of turner - mine is not automatic - I have to turn it by hand - but it turns them all at once. Its a simple teeter-toter design - I turn once in the morning- once when I get home & once before bed. Works great!

Other than that - have a good time with it!