Making a styrofoam cooler incubator... what kind of light bulb should i use?

[Ally Rose]

I heard on one website that a brooder should have a 250 watt bulb, and on another site i found that an incubator should have a 25 watt bulb. I was going to use the same incubator as a brooder and to hatch the eggs, so did one site make a typo? Should it really be a 250 watt? 25 watt seems like its not strong enough but i don't know anything about lightbulbs...PLEASE HELP!

 

[toadbriar]

if you've got a brooder out in your barn in March, a 250 watt bulb might make sense. But that's not my situation and it's probably not yours either. I use 40 watt lamp bulbs in my homemade incubator, and it maintains the proper temperature. I use a 50 watt red reptile heat bulb from the pet store for my brooder, because my brooder is in my house where the ambient temp is already pretty warm.

 

[Ally Rose]

The incubator is going to be in my house (i have no barn, I'm just doing this as a project, kinda)
this is the way I'm constructing it :

Cutting hole in top of cooler and inserting light socket which will hold the bulb. I am cutting out a square hole on the side and covering it with picture frame glass (my window to see the eggs) Then i put wood shavings or something in the bottom and put a water dish in there too.

Is this a good design? i found it on the internet. And for this design, what type of bulb would do best? The site that i got this idea from said 25 watt, but that doesn't seem strong enough.

 

[toadbriar]

sounds workable, except I'd worry about air circulation, and will there be enough temp variation to move away from the heat if they feel too warm?

here's one of my brooder setups

and when I made my incubator I got a 25 watt, 40 watt, and 60 watt to try out. The 40 worked best. Just incandescent lamp bulbs.

 

[Ally Rose]

So can i use the incubator as a brooder too? And about the air circulation, should i put little holes in the top or something? i'll be opening the top about 5 times a day to hand turn them, so that might help.

 

[Ally Rose]

actually, your brooder looks very easy to make. i have that wire stuff that you put at the top and i have a plastic storage bin, and i could just move the light bulb to the brooder. thanks for all of your help!