Geneticswhiz
Hatching
So, we decided to move up from having adult chickens to raising them from chicks...mail order. After researching how to set up for the new chicks we kept coming across hatching chicks from eggs. What can I say? We got sucked in! We purchased the eggs from a local source. All we needed now was an incubator. We could build one, or hey, lets do something with that old range/oven that's been sitting outside since we started renovating the kitchen. Here is how it went...
This stove was not in bad shape, just a short in one of the knobs...of course, that was about to change. First I started by taking out the racks and removing the heating elements.
Upper and lower elements out...and the wholes for the elements were handy.
Then I went and took off the back panel, the cook surface and the control section of the stove.
I removed all of the heating elements under the stove top to reduce the weight. I also removed all of the wires from the back. I figured I could used the wires for some of the incubator components.
The first thing was to add the heat source. I used an outdoor light fixture kit and used sheet metal screws to attach it to the back. I fed wires through holes from the upper element.
Fed the thermostat through the old oven thermostat hole.
Then I mounted the fan for air circulation. First I drilled a hole for the mounting screws and mounted the protective screen so I could drill the other holes.
Then the entire fan assembly was mounted. At first I wasn't sure if I should have added spacers, but the ridges for the racks ended up providing just enough for circulation. I fed the power cord through one of the upper element holes...after cutting off the plug.
Then I had to make a control panel...Okay, I could have just made everything plug in, but I had to make it fancy. So, I made a wooden box for all the switches and fed all the power lines into it. Then I mounted it to the top of the stove where the original control panel was.
The thermostat controlled power supply for the heating lamps just sits on the stove top.
I set up a pan with water and raise up the thermostat line to run an overnight test to see how it worked before putting in the eggs. The motor for the egg turner was scheduled to arrive the next day.
I made an egg turning box from plywood and rods. Made two different size racks for extra large eggs. It holds between 24-36 eggs. Then it was time to make the 'turning' mechanism. I was originally thinking of mounting the motor outside the oven, but then thought it would be best to have it inside so I didn't have to try and make a complicated gear mechanism.
I made a mechanism for the motor to push and pull the sliding tray. Since the motor is attached to the inside rack it will be easy to simply remove the entire assembly when it's time to hatch. The motor is attached with a plastic electric conduit clamp...a little small, but it holds well. Since it's a DC motor I installed an outlet inside the oven attached to the external timer.
I ran a small hose through the lower element holes to load the water pan externally. Then it was time to load the oven...I mean incubator, and get the fun started.
With everything loaded and ready to go it was time to close the incubator and throw the switches. After the all important humidity monitor was added...as modeled by Celeste...
The final incubator is fully operational and working well after a paint job by the girls and Mom. The day before I worked out the timing of the thermostat and the egg turning timer is set to gently roll the eggs for about 30 minutes, 4 times a day.
I'll post updates on the progress of the incubation and on the hatch rate. So far the humidity is holding at about 35% and the temperature is being held between 99.1 and 100. I'll make sure to post a set of wiring diagrams for everything soon.
This stove was not in bad shape, just a short in one of the knobs...of course, that was about to change. First I started by taking out the racks and removing the heating elements.
Upper and lower elements out...and the wholes for the elements were handy.
Then I went and took off the back panel, the cook surface and the control section of the stove.
I removed all of the heating elements under the stove top to reduce the weight. I also removed all of the wires from the back. I figured I could used the wires for some of the incubator components.
The first thing was to add the heat source. I used an outdoor light fixture kit and used sheet metal screws to attach it to the back. I fed wires through holes from the upper element.
Fed the thermostat through the old oven thermostat hole.
Then I mounted the fan for air circulation. First I drilled a hole for the mounting screws and mounted the protective screen so I could drill the other holes.
Then the entire fan assembly was mounted. At first I wasn't sure if I should have added spacers, but the ridges for the racks ended up providing just enough for circulation. I fed the power cord through one of the upper element holes...after cutting off the plug.
Then I had to make a control panel...Okay, I could have just made everything plug in, but I had to make it fancy. So, I made a wooden box for all the switches and fed all the power lines into it. Then I mounted it to the top of the stove where the original control panel was.
The thermostat controlled power supply for the heating lamps just sits on the stove top.
I set up a pan with water and raise up the thermostat line to run an overnight test to see how it worked before putting in the eggs. The motor for the egg turner was scheduled to arrive the next day.
I made an egg turning box from plywood and rods. Made two different size racks for extra large eggs. It holds between 24-36 eggs. Then it was time to make the 'turning' mechanism. I was originally thinking of mounting the motor outside the oven, but then thought it would be best to have it inside so I didn't have to try and make a complicated gear mechanism.
I made a mechanism for the motor to push and pull the sliding tray. Since the motor is attached to the inside rack it will be easy to simply remove the entire assembly when it's time to hatch. The motor is attached with a plastic electric conduit clamp...a little small, but it holds well. Since it's a DC motor I installed an outlet inside the oven attached to the external timer.
I ran a small hose through the lower element holes to load the water pan externally. Then it was time to load the oven...I mean incubator, and get the fun started.
With everything loaded and ready to go it was time to close the incubator and throw the switches. After the all important humidity monitor was added...as modeled by Celeste...
The final incubator is fully operational and working well after a paint job by the girls and Mom. The day before I worked out the timing of the thermostat and the egg turning timer is set to gently roll the eggs for about 30 minutes, 4 times a day.
I'll post updates on the progress of the incubation and on the hatch rate. So far the humidity is holding at about 35% and the temperature is being held between 99.1 and 100. I'll make sure to post a set of wiring diagrams for everything soon.
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