Making incubators

[Magic Birdie]

How well do home-made incubators work?

How well would this one work? (It looks simple enough)

Do any of you have other incubator making ideas? It seems like the only way I'm going to ever get chickens.

Thanks everyone

 

[bigoledude]

It was/is so enjoyable to build mine, I don't think I could ever use a factory-made incubator. My incubators work flawlessly. You can build one very similar to the one in the video but much more efficient.

I actually watched the 9 minutes of that video.

That type of incubator has hatched probably millions of eggs across the world. Having said that, I would add some very inexpensive additions that will increase your hatch rate and make things much easier on you.

Many folks here use a $9.00 water-heater-thermostat from Home Depot or Lowes to control the temperature. Much better than poking holes in the wall of the incubator. Especially if the temperature of the outside air changes sometimes. Do a YouTube search for "water heater thermostats for incubator". Easy Peazy and the benefits are huge.

The other change I would make is adding a fan. The fan out of an old refrigerator or a computer fan (needs a transformer like a cell phone charger) works fine. I've seen people use the small personal fans like people use on a desk or something. Fans help eliminate hot or cold spots in the incubator.

The last suggestion is to cut up an egg carton to eliminate as much of the surfaces that touch the egg and still keep its strength/integrity. Put something under one end of the carton so that it tilts on about a 45-degree angle. Keep switching sides with your block rather than turning the eggs by hand individually every few hours. Go here for even more great ideas.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/homemade-chicken-egg-incubator-designs-pictures

Three cheap but very effective additions.

 

[Magic Birdie]

It was/is so enjoyable to build mine, I don't think I could ever use a factory-made incubator.    My incubators work flawlessly.  You can build one very similar to the one in the video but much more efficient. 

I actually watched the 9 minutes of that video. 

That type of incubator has hatched probably millions of eggs across the world.  Having said that, I would add some very inexpensive additions that will increase your hatch rate and make things much easier on you.

Many folks here use a $9.00 water-heater-thermostat from Home Depot or Lowes to control the temperature.  Much better than poking holes in the wall of the incubator.  Especially if the temperature of the outside air changes sometimes.  Do a YouTube search for "water heater thermostats for incubator".  Easy Peazy and the benefits are huge.

The other change I would make is adding a fan.  The fan out of an old refrigerator or a computer fan (needs a transformer like a cell phone charger) works fine.  I've seen people use the small personal fans like people use on a desk or something.  Fans help eliminate hot or cold spots in the incubator.

The last suggestion is to cut up an egg carton to eliminate as much of the surfaces that touch the egg and still keep its strength/integrity.  Put something under one end of the carton so that it tilts on about a 45-degree angle.  Keep switching sides with your block rather than turning the eggs by hand individually every few hours.  Go here for even more great ideas.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/homemade-chicken-egg-incubator-designs-pictures

Three cheap but very effective additions.

Thank you! That's really interesting. The fan seems complicated... How would I get a computer fan to work in there? Or can I just get a normal small fan?

You have good ideas

 

[bigoledude]

A "normal small fan" would work fine.

 

[yo burrill]

Yep look a some other vids of ones made with thermostats. The fan is actually really easy. And you can buy them at any computer store. My local one that repairs computers I can get them for a few bucks then either a cell phone wall charger or I had an adjustable adapter that I cut and spliced to the fan wires. With this one I can change the voltage to adjust the speed of the fan. Big thing on the vid is do not run your bator at 50-60% humidity the whole time you will drown your eggs. 45% for the first 18 days then 60-70% for hatch. Shoot for 99 degrees.

This vid shows how to get the thermostat to keep a stable temp. Cant find the other vid I wanted right now.
This is my bator that I built.

 

[Magic Birdie]

A "normal small fan" would work fine.

Thanks!

 

[Magic Birdie]

Yep look a some other vids of ones made with thermostats. The fan is actually really easy. And you can buy them at any computer store. My local one that repairs computers I can get them for a few bucks then either a cell phone wall charger or I had an adjustable adapter that I cut and spliced to the fan wires.  With this one I can change the voltage to adjust the speed of the fan. Big thing on the vid is do not run your bator at 50-60% humidity the whole time you will drown your eggs. 45% for the first 18 days then  60-70% for hatch. Shoot for 99 degrees.

This vid shows how to get the thermostat to keep a stable temp. Cant find the other vid I wanted right now.
This is my bator that I built.

Thanks! I'll watch the vid soon... The fan thing still sounds hardish. And thanks for the advice on humidity. That'll be helpful

 

[kakhan]

It was/is so enjoyable to build mine, I don't think I could ever use a factory-made incubator. My incubators work flawlessly. You can build one very similar to the one in the video but much more efficient.

I actually watched the 9 minutes of that video.

That type of incubator has hatched probably millions of eggs across the world. Having said that, I would add some very inexpensive additions that will increase your hatch rate and make things much easier on you.

Many folks here use a $9.00 water-heater-thermostat from Home Depot or Lowes to control the temperature. Much better than poking holes in the wall of the incubator. Especially if the temperature of the outside air changes sometimes. Do a YouTube search for "water heater thermostats for incubator". Easy Peazy and the benefits are huge.

The other change I would make is adding a fan. The fan out of an old refrigerator or a computer fan (needs a transformer like a cell phone charger) works fine. I've seen people use the small personal fans like people use on a desk or something. Fans help eliminate hot or cold spots in the incubator.

The last suggestion is to cut up an egg carton to eliminate as much of the surfaces that touch the egg and still keep its strength/integrity. Put something under one end of the carton so that it tilts on about a 45-degree angle. Keep switching sides with your block rather than turning the eggs by hand individually every few hours. Go here for even more great ideas.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/homemade-chicken-egg-incubator-designs-pictures

Three cheap but very effective additions.

Very helpful tips.Just one question.Could we palce eggs upside down rather then sideways in the trays?

 

[sumi]

If you want to incubate them upright position them with the fat end up. The fat end is where the air sac is and if you put the egg upside down the air sac may become detach and move. When the chick gets ready to hatch it will position itself to pip into the air sac so it can breathe. If the air sac is not where it should be, the chick could suffocate. Here's an excellent hatching article with great hatching tips and info:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101

 

[Sally Sunshine]

LOVE LOVE ours https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/incubator-incubator