incubator home made

[dragon]

best ideas you've all found/used?
I'd like to do about 12 eggs........?

 

[SkeeredChicken]

Here's one of the best site's for info;

http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/BRKIncubation.html

One of the things that I found is, that sometimes you have to adapt your plans to the materials that are available. At 1st, I was gonna use A-C exterior plywood to make a plywood incubator. That idea flew out the window, as most of the lumber yards or Home Improvement stores in my area don't carry that type of plywood. I was worried about chemical leach, etc., from plywood that wasn't particulary friendly towards environments where most eggs grow, a moist humid environment.

Another thing not readily available to a DIY incubator maker (at least locally) was a decent, low watt heating element. At least I didn't know where to find one.

What I did end up using was a 70 quart Coleman cooler that was modified. I used 2 porcelain lightbulb sockets. I also recycled 2 fans from an old computer that no longer works. I bought a thermostat online. There's the guts. I also had some copper wire already sitting around that I was gonna use to make stop motion animation armatures with. Think it was 16 gauge.

Keep in mind that things should be wired up by people experienced with electricity. Or else it's at your own risk. Things like electric shock, and wire apt to burn under certain circumstances. It's always a good idea to unplug it before modifications are made. Just standard cautionary practices

For the wiring, I wired the 2 lightbulb sockets in parallel. It's more of a backup, in case 1 fails. It's also a secondary heat source. The thermostat goes inline with the light sockets. I also used a 12 volt transformer for the fans. Just a few thoughts. Good luck on whatever you decide to do.

 

[Picco]

I made my first incubator from a plastic cooler, I put black felt as a lining and placed six duck eggs (mallards) in it. I placed a window pane over the top with about an inch or two of ventilation on one side. I used a desk lamp with a 100 watt bulb in it and set it at a distance from the glass so as to get a 100 degree temp on the inside. I misted the eggs with a plant sprayer everytime I turned them. With the ducks eggs I had a 100% hatch rate (9/9) which is unheard of even in the most expensive incubators. My next two batches of chicken eggs were less successful (2/12 and 4/10). My version was a lot more work because the light needed to be constantly adjusted as to keep the temperature stable - but for an incubator which cost nothing it was worth it.

This method did work and it was cheap but I now use a "little giant" brand still air incubator. It was worth the 50 bucks not having to constantly bother with the temperature adjustment.

 

[zimmy]

I made an incubator a couple of weeks ago, the demensions based off the plexiglass on hand. Definately /big/ for only the 11 eggs I have, but maybe next time I can try to hatch 24

It's made out of spare plywood we found in the garage, plexiglass from Home Depot, porcilain light base, a couple of bars of what looks like 2x1 bars of wood, hardware cloth, L brackets, and a whoooole bunch of different screws XP It helps to have a dad with lots of the supplies on hand!

 

[dragon]

thank you all ! it would be nice to save some $$
the coolers seem a popular start huh.

 

[Southern Chickens]

Here's a good link from this forum. Lots of pictures. I wrote this guy off forum and he coached me along. I did somethings different, as I'm sure you will. Have fun. The inside of mine is 15"X12" I have is slammed with eggs. I have 35 in it. Check out this link. Mine only cost me $12.50. Includes the digital thermometer/hygrometer.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1166&p=1