Homemade Styrofoam incubators

[PrincessKiara]

I have a brand new Styrofoam cooler, a 40W incandescent bulb rigged to an old extension cord, and a fish tank thermometer. Looking at all the designs available online (top window, bulb on the side; side window, bulb on the top; eggs on mesh and water container below mesh; etc.), I'm now wondering what works for the highest hatch rate. Does anyone have experience with homemade Styrofoam incubators? And if so, did you find a top, side, or back position for the bulb best?

I was thinking of putting the bulb in the middle of the Styrofoam lid, cutting a viewing window in the side to be covered with clear plastic, and nestling the eggs and thermometer on wood shavings in the bottom, with manual turning and misting with a spray bottle (I live in a high humidity tropical area, if that makes any difference.) Will that work, or is there something else I can do to give better results?

TIA <3

 

[floppysquirrel04]

You will need a calibrated thermometer, a fish tank thermometer won’t cut it. They don’t work well. I made one, but haven’t gotten around to using it yet. Also 40 watt seems pretty high, unless you have it on a dimmer, which I highly recommend. By being able to adjust the brightness, you can adjust the temp. Have it run for a few days before you put eggs in to make sure temp and humidity are keeping up. Go on amazon and look at good thermometers, with a homemade bator definitely get the best one you can. Don’t use shavings in the incubator, it’s a fire hazard and unnecessary. Have them on some kind of grate. Go to articles on this website, and read as much as you can about hatching eggs. Homemade bator hatch rates don’t seem to be super great, but will work if you make sure to do it as best as you possibly can. My bulb is on the side of my bator, but like I said, I haven’t used it yet. For a window, I just took a piece of glass from a small picture frame from the dollar store and taped it on. Temp needs to be 99.5-100.5 roughly, and humidity needs to be about 30-40%, give or take some depending on how much the eggs are losing weight, you figure out what’s best for you. Good luck!

 

[Mountain Roost]

I just happened to see your thread as I was finishing mine. Take a look. It is all about my styrofoam incubator and hatcher.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-diy-incubator-and-hatcher.1449865/