How to make my own cabinet incubator

[Texasclucker]

The ones you can buy are really expensive so I was curious since I have an antique little dresser that could be repainted and possibly made into one (and if i don't do something with it it is about to go in the trash) anyone who has built their own is your hatch rate good and is it easy to build

 

[cavemanrich]

Many peeps make their own incubators. I do not know your wood working abilities, and equipment/tools, so I suggest using something different.
Little dresser would need more than just repainting.
I suggest using a Styrofoam cooler.

Advantages; easy to cut openings/access as needed, with a knife.
Insulated, so holds heat and humidity well. This could be heated with a 60 watt incandescent bulb, or possibly even a 40 watt. You would need a control device to regulate inside temperature.
Here is a link to a thread I am currently following. That person is making an incubator from a crock pot.
You could use the same controls that they are using, or other similar.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/so-i-want-to-make-a-crock-pot-incubator.1477855/
Ask anything else you are not sure of.
There are 101 different ways to make something, and it will work. Sometimes, it is trial and learn method.

WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Texasclucker]

Thanks I meant painting it because it’s ugly it would be nice if there was a magical egg hatching paint

 

[Texasclucker]

I have an incubator I just think a cabinet incubator would be pretty cool to have

 

[Texasclucker]

But thanks so much for your time and that link I’ll check it out and a incubator out of a CROCKPOT!?

 

[Mellowmalt]

Hi texas, keeping chickens is not cheap.
Before you worry about how much the incubator will cost you, you need t have a brooder ready.
Then you will need to be aware of their food cost for a year and build a coop and run. Expect the run to cost as much as the coop in fencing material.

Once you have worked out how much that will all be, the incubator will be a maximum of 20% of that cost.

You might still want to shave off 10% off that. But to answer your question on whether it will work as expected staitght away. No, most likely not, it will most likely need some adjusting and tweaking which takes time and effort and possibly some lost eggs.

A homemade one will still need a fan, a thermostat, insulation (you can't just use a wooden cabinet or you will spend more on electricity than you would save making your own.

That would be like building your own car that uses 10x the fuel, just would not be worth it.

So after all that, if you want to save 10% of your cost of incubating your own chickens and are willing to spend 21 days tweaking the incubator for its first run then go for it.

I have built my own and I enjoyed doing it but I like making things and being in control of how it works.

Was it worth it? Yes but only because initially I had no clue which incubators were worth buying and which ones were really not. I would have been more gutted if I had bought a ready made one and it didn't work like I wanted.

One thing I can guarantee, if you do not add an egg turner whatever you save money wise you will spend in time turning the eggs all the time. An egg turner is the difference between plugging the incubator in and noticing chirping 3 weeks later or a full time job turning eggs every 3 hours and constantly worrying about turning the eggs while out shopping for 3 weeks straight.