incubator ideas! post your ideas for home made incubators, whether they work or not~

[quintinp]

I got my eggs in place but its only day 3. I had about 5 hrs that the temp maxed at 102. I adjusted it that morning and got it steady at 100. If it cooked them then oh well. I can get more. Humidity is around 55%. We'll see.

That set-up looks perfect to me. I see that you never mentioned whether the fan was blowing on the lightbulb, or not, but it needs to be blowing across the light bulb. That's the only thing I figured I would mention, although that seems like a ridiculous thing to say, I know that there is some confusion in certain threads. I do like your set up though. I hope you get a great hatch!

 

[num1hogfan]

That set-up looks perfect to me. I see that you never mentioned whether the fan was blowing on the lightbulb, or not, but it needs to be blowing across the light bulb. That's the only thing I figured I would mention, although that seems like a ridiculous thing to say, I know that there is some confusion in certain threads. I do like your set up though. I hope you get a great hatch!

Yes it is blowing across the light bulb. Temperature is holding steady. Thanks.

 

[mischke]

Great ideas, I would love to hatch out some chickies, but can't justify spending the money on a commercial bator

 

[loveourbirds]

I have been trying for 3 days to post a picture of a turner timer. I cant get it to post so here is a link:
http://cdn.backyardchickens.com/b/b9/b9eff70b_turnertimerdiagram.jpeg

the unlabeled component is a linear actuator available at www.surpluscenter.com everything else should be available at radio shack. change the input voltage and order the timer motor to your actuator voltage. I chose the actuator for a large incubator turning 1000-1500 eggs. it should have smooth motion.

here is the link for the timer motor: http://incubatorwarehouse.com/egg-turner-motor-110v.html

good luck on the building guys!

 

[Chris2]

Hi this is Bob Christian again. I forgot to mention that I took regular aluminum foil and glued it to the inside of the box shiny side out. This acts like a reflector to create even temperature throughout the box. I also glued the aluminum foil to the inside of the lid and bottom so that when the lid was closed the entire insides of the box reflected the heat. The wafer thermostat regulated the light bulbs by turning them off and on. It would turn them on until the desired temp. was reached then the wafer thermostat would turn them off. I recently found that you can order these wafer thermostats new over the internet for about twenty four dollars. The one I used when I was young lasted for forty years until the old shed it was in was burned down by a local hoodlum for fun.

 

[num1hogfan]

Here is my incubator. $1.50 for cooler. I don't have any vent holes. Where should I place those and how big? my manual egg turner. The handle is outside that I pull back and forth to rotate the eggs. Here is my heat source. I have the HW thermostat drilled out for sensitivity, 75watt bulb and a heat sink fan. It doesn't cycle very fast like I thought it would. Temps seem to hold around 100 by the thermometer at the bottom. The hydrometer seems to fluctuate by a few degrees. The fan doesn't blow very hard either. total cost HW thermo-$8, Hydro-$8, light socket $2. Fan free. I will have a couple of tubes at the bottom to fill two small trays for humidity. Any other ideas on how to keep the humidity up or lower it if it gets to high? I'm getting my chicks eggs this weekend. I hope all goes well.

I got 10 out of 11 to hatch. The last one started forming but never hatched. Now here's to hoping for pullets.

 

[quintinp]

I got 10 out of 11 to hatch. The last one started forming but never hatched. Now here's to hoping for pullets.

That's great, I guess you got your incubator design from the guy on YouTube. I really like his homemade incubator!

 

[num1hogfan]

I used the egg turner idea from one guy on ebay but the overall layout was a mix and match. Good source of info.

 

[swataracreek]

Help I have a 1588 hovabator 3 years old loaned it someone and it returned with the thermostat fried I replaced it with a hot water heater thermostat and with it turned on low it holds at 110 any ideas.

 

[loveourbirds]

replace it with a wafer. some water heater thermostats can be bent and adjusted. I have never tried it so I cant give you good instructions.