I am considering building a cabinet bator - Feedback helpful!

[flood]

I used a recycled water heater tstat and a 40W and had a horrible time keeping it right. I would sometimes flux 6 degrees and it had to be babysat ALL DAY. Then in the middle of the hatch I noticed the bulb itself was probably the culprit. It would go brighter and dimmer raising/lowering heat. It is hard to find good incandescent now.

 

[gimmie birdies]

yeah- I bought probably my last incandescents recently

I have to hand wash my dishes, becuse MY dishwasher worked fine till the took away my phosphates!!!!

 

[gimmie birdies]

(THEY)

 

[flood]

We had such a hard time figuring out why our dishwasher didn't work anymore! We switched to an old portable one from mama's garage and it works much better.

I am comparison shopping now. Parts for cabinet bator vs. one hovabator kit w goose rails and one LG quail kit. This would give me three total with the options we want.What I don't like about the styro LG is that temp in the house couldn't flux more than 5 degrees and it does. And, I had it in the closet away from drafts. It is hard to decide and I'm ready to start hatching NOW lol.

 

[fried green eggs]

With a hwt it has to be placed really close to the light bulb with the back/silver side out. The hwt needs to be mounted a bit away from the side wall and it will be more sensitive if holes are drilled into it. The first hwt I bought new at Lowes was faulty. I bought a new one and it works great in my garage brooder.

 

[flood]

I was just reading that in some other thread...and it's a good thing cuz I wouldn't have known what hwt or wht was! You know, truth is everything I could ever possibly want to know is already on BYC. You just have to read and try different searches for hours...which I've done lol. Gets a bit overwhelming after 5 or 6 hours. It is like getting lost at the mall of America. I even found the homemade incubator I saw on craigslist today. It is built out of a shipping crate. The Problem with doing this is I'll never get to know anyone! I forget to look at names unless they post to me.

Just in case someone else ends up on my thread after searching, these are interesting threads.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/736717/pics-of-my-homemade-cabinet-incubator - simple and - my fav

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/730140/oldclucks-cabinet-incubator-build - will use hers too

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/thermostat-modification

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...home-made-incubators-whether-they-work-or-not ...long overwhelming thead...good luck

This guy makes them and they look nice. https://www.backyardchickens.com/u/116656/mohillbilly


I've lost another that I was done with. Oh the "water wiggler" with ziploc baggies. That was good info for checking internal egg temp when setting up a new bator.

One thing I've noticed on mine and nearly every thread, there is help! Lots of it.

So, Thank you for help on mine! I still welcome ideas.


*I've finally found people's BYC pages that get referred to often...now to figure out how to make one...someday.*

 

[red golden]

If you click in my albums i built one like old clucks with a modification on the incukit. I also built a hatcher with differn't parts and setup from the incubator. If you wanna know how i built or other questions just hollar i'll help as much as possible. Btw the pheasants you see in the hatcher i just hatched ended up with 15 out of 28 in all . 22 went to the hatcher. I currently have about 75 out of 89 ga. giant bobwhite heading to the hatcher sat.

 

[flood]

Hey, thanks red golden. Are they identical? Hatcher/bator? Looks nice! I like how you made the drawers close like baskets with a top...did it just end up that way. Do the vent holes go to the outside? (fresh air)

I went ahead and satisfied my need for chicks and ordered some today....but I have to wait until April 15th to get them.

 

[red golden]

No i just looked at my albums my bator pics. didn't load. The hatcher has drawers that i can put eggs in and hatch after the incubation period. I made the drawers stacked so chicks can't get out. The holes in the drawers are on the inside to let the heat circulate. I will try to add some pictures of the incubator. My vent holes are on the back for fresh air ( top back ) and exhaust air ( bottom back ) .

 

[flood]

Thanks for uploading them, looking forward to it. I will check back later this evening.