Incubating eggs to hatch about August 8th

[MeepBeep]

Of course, a separate hatcher would make staggered hatches MUCH easier.

It does, but ironically my hatcher was holding temp so well that I'm actually using it as an incubator now that the season is winding down, it's deep enough that I keep the 'incubating' eggs on the lower level and suspend a plastic bus pan as a second layer for hatching... It's been working out quit well at least for small hatches... Over the winter I will be building myself a completely 100% automated incubator, I don't mind hand rotating and monitoring the humidity all that much but there are certainly some times where I wish I could just ignore it and know a computer (microchip) is doing all the work for me...

 

[TeaChick]

I got the Brinsea since I needed one with the most consistent temps possible. (My house fluctuates a great deal). With the Brinsea, it is just kinda "whatever" if you want the auto turner or not. The Brinsea is super easy to hand rotate eggs, since you just roll the entire thing back or forwards to turn eggs.

Lots of people complain about cleaning the Brinsea, and it is true that all of the baby chick dust gets up into the top clear area. Every few hatches I unscrew the parts, clean it all, and then screw it back together. I don't mind, but it is why some people use two incubators, the Brinsea for the main incubation, and then something else as a hatcher. Of course, a separate hatcher would make staggered hatches MUCH easier.

My house fluctuates a great deal too (during the summer).
I kind of need something with automatic turning...

I don't mind cleaning between hatches. The more research I do, the more it seems like I'm going to end up with a Brinsea Mini, at least for my first incubator.

Maybe I'll check the BST forum for a used Octogon 10.

 

[TeaChick]

It does, but ironically my hatcher was holding temp so well that I'm actually using it as an incubator now that the season is winding down, it's deep enough that I keep the 'incubating' eggs on the lower level and suspend a plastic bus pan as a second layer for hatching... It's been working out quit well at least for small hatches... Over the winter I will be building myself a completely 100% automated incubator, I don't mind hand rotating and monitoring the humidity all that much but there are certainly some times where I wish I could just ignore it and know a computer (microchip) is doing all the work for me...

I'm trying to figure out if it might be less expensive to build my own incubator, rather than buying one.
I want something that holds about a dozen eggs (or 20+)

I need auto turn.
I need temperature control (thermostat).
I think a fan would be necessary, but not an absolute necessity.

 

[MeepBeep]

You can build one cheaper, especially if you have stuff laying around but as far as small incubators go if you have to purchase all the stuff and consider the build time, it's really easier/cheaper to just get the lower end foam ones... Around me the bigger farm supply stores have incredible sales come every spring, you can get small foam incubators for very reasonable with turners that just drop in... The only really stupid expense with them is the fan, you can DIY a fan for much less...

But with that said, my hatcher/incubator that I just made only cost me $9 out of pocket as I had everything else laying around...

It's made out of a beat to heck Omaha Steak foam box that has been used to store stuff in my garage for the last 10+ years... I took a small acrylic picture frame and made a viewing area one top... I had a computer fan, wall wart (transformer), and porcelain light socket, some sheet metal and screws as well as bulbs laying around the house... The only part I purchased was the water heater thermostat that although cheap and not the best thermostat option does work quite well and works beyond my expectations...

When you get bigger though you can really start to save money if you have the skills and shop around for parts...

I'm looking to build one that will hold about 300+ chicken eggs, not that I plan to incubate that many right now but I'm planning for the future and when you get that big the difference between building your own and the commercial offerings gets much larger...

 

[Alaskan]

Yep, incubator buying is stressful.


@MeepBeep

What brand of incubator do you have? Or, is it homemade?

 

[Puddin Fluff]

The ones I used are borrowed, styrofam, with turners, no fans. I really like the turners. With work and kids I am afraid I would forget. I think that the more you use whichever you get, and get to know it, your hatches are better. If you qre as unscientific as I am, it doesn't much matter.

 

[MeepBeep]

What brand of incubator do you have? Or, is it homemade?

I used the bottom of the line Farm Innovators 2100 still air this year, I installed a fan and also extended the height about 2.5" to better accommodate peafowl height/size... I also put in a small USB (5 volt) humidifier in there to better control humidity... No autoturner as I did that manual this year... it worked phenomenal overall, I had about a 95% hatch rate on locally obtained or my own eggs this season... But, it was far from perfect, I had to tweak the temperature adjustment about every 10 days as it drifted up or down for no apparent reason and was annoying...

My current hatcher and late season incubator is home made, and thus far is rock solid on holding temp even though it's only a water heater thermostat...

As I said next year will be all homemade, I'm a freelance electronics engineer by day so I will build the entire control system from the ground up, and I have tons of carpentry experience as well as access to a fully furnished custom cabinet shop after hours... Figure it's a good winter project, and there are some things I want to design into mine that really isn't available on any over the counter options like random and constant egg turning to better simulate what a brooder bird does...

 

[TeaChick]

You can build one cheaper, especially if you have stuff laying around but as far as small incubators go if you have to purchase all the stuff and consider the build time, it's really easier/cheaper to just get the lower end foam ones... Around me the bigger farm supply stores have incredible sales come every spring, you can get small foam incubators for very reasonable with turners that just drop in... The only really stupid expense with them is the fan, you can DIY a fan for much less...

But with that said, my hatcher/incubator that I just made only cost me $9 out of pocket as I had everything else laying around...

It's made out of a beat to heck Omaha Steak foam box that has been used to store stuff in my garage for the last 10+ years... I took a small acrylic picture frame and made a viewing area one top... I had a computer fan, wall wart (transformer), and porcelain light socket, some sheet metal and screws as well as bulbs laying around the house... The only part I purchased was the water heater thermostat that although cheap and not the best thermostat option does work quite well and works beyond my expectations...

When you get bigger though you can really start to save money if you have the skills and shop around for parts...

I'm looking to build one that will hold about 300+ chicken eggs, not that I plan to incubate that many right now but I'm planning for the future and when you get that big the difference between building your own and the commercial offerings gets much larger...

I have a Styrofoam cooler-bator that a neighbor gave me this winter. I've been trying to hatch eggs in it and I finally got a three-egg test hatch to hatch in April. IDK if that was a result of my modifications (like separating the eggs from the heat source for more even heating) or of the more stable ambient air temp in my house.
If I posted pics, would you mind trying to make some suggestions for further modifications I could make in order to hatch more than three eggs at a time and/or to make it more efficient?

The ones I used are borrowed, styrofam, with turners, no fans. I really like the turners. With work and kids I am afraid I would forget. I think that the more you use whichever you get, and get to know it, your hatches are better. If you qre as unscientific as I am, it doesn't much matter.

I need the turners for that very reason.

It's not just forgetting though; if I'm incubating eggs, I'm handcuffed to my incubator or I worry that my hatch will suffer. KWIM?

I used the bottom of the line Farm Innovators 2100 still air this year, I installed a fan and also extended the height about 2.5" to better accommodate peafowl height/size... I also put in a small USB (5 volt) humidifier in there to better control humidity... No autoturner as I did that manual this year... it worked phenomenal overall, I had about a 95% hatch rate on locally obtained or my own eggs this season... But, it was far from perfect, I had to tweak the temperature adjustment about every 10 days as it drifted up or down for no apparent reason and was annoying...

My current hatcher and late season incubator is home made, and thus far is rock solid on holding temp even though it's only a water heater thermostat...

As I said next year will be all homemade, I'm a freelance electronics engineer by day so I will build the entire control system from the ground up, and I have tons of carpentry experience as well as access to a fully furnished custom cabinet shop after hours... Figure it's a good winter project, and there are some things I want to design into mine that really isn't available on any over the counter options like random and constant egg turning to better simulate what a brooder bird does...

Wish I had access to a "fully furnished custom cabinet shop"

Sounds like you really know what you're doing!!!

 

[Puddin Fluff]

I used the bottom of the line Farm Innovators 2100 still air this year, I installed a fan and also extended the height about 2.5" to better accommodate peafowl height/size... I also put in a small USB (5 volt) humidifier in there to better control humidity... No autoturner as I did that manual this year... it worked phenomenal overall, I had about a 95% hatch rate on locally obtained or my own eggs this season... But, it was far from perfect, I had to tweak the temperature adjustment about every 10 days as it drifted up or down for no apparent reason and was annoying...

My current hatcher and late season incubator is home made, and thus far is rock solid on holding temp even though it's only a water heater thermostat...

As I said next year will be all homemade, I'm a freelance electronics engineer by day so I will build the entire control system from the ground up, and I have tons of carpentry experience as well as access to a fully furnished custom cabinet shop after hours... Figure it's a good winter project, and there are some things I want to design into mine that really isn't available on any over the counter options like random and constant egg turning to better simulate what a brooder bird does...

Ahhhh! The truth is revealed! I knew there was something fishy when you were talking about how "easy" it is to build your own. Easy for an EE! Maybe you just need to start building and selling your design for those of us with no tech skills.

 

[TeaChick]

Ahhhh! The truth is revealed! I knew there was something fishy when you were talking about how "easy" it is to build your own. Easy for an EE! Maybe you just need to start building and selling your design for those of us with no tech skills.

x2