Mini-fridge Incubator

[Hawgon]

Taking the plunge, building an incubator. Any advice or coments before I dig in? New at chickens and incubating but love projects....I have places for every chicken I hatch to go so let er rip I guess. Thank you in advance....

 

[gabrielle1976]

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

 

[Hawgon]

Thanks Gabrielle, read most of those, was hoping someone had one that wasnt on there or wanted to share their top secret ideas or designs. I will keep searching the internet and maybe someone will post something on here.

 

[gabrielle1976]

The one time I tried it , it didnt work very well but it was also my very first time hatching and I probly made every mistake in the book. Im shure there are people on here with lots more experance then me . I did hear one tip that you should have the fan blowing on the light to circulate the heat but Im not shure as I didnt do that. Hopefully someone will get on and have more information. Oh I also heard one person that had a tiny light hooked up seprately to keep it from haveing less fluctiations. There is also a thread running around here some where about thermostates on sale Id look at that , as a good thermostate is esential

 

[Jnicholson]

I built one last fall out of a Mini fridge that I got off Craigslist. So far we have hatched 7 emus, and at least 20 chicks so I says it works. The trick is low voltage stuff I installed a transformer then used a regular stat to control it with a fan and light. Just let me know if you need help. I do HVAC for a living so getting certain temps is my job. lol

 

[Hawgon]

I built one last fall out of a Mini fridge that I got off Craigslist. So far we have hatched 7 emus, and at least 20 chicks so I says it works. The trick is low voltage stuff I installed a transformer then used a regular stat to control it with a fan and light. Just let me know if you need help. I do HVAC for a living so getting certain temps is my job. lol

Thanks for the info. One question I have is what did you do for venting? I read holes on the bottom and top of unit but how many and how big? Thanks

 

[gabrielle1976]

The number of holes I guess would depend on the size of the bator I guess but I would do at least one in each corner of the bottom , one on each side and a few on top Im not shure exactly though. I used a pencil to gently make a hole in mine when I made it .

 

[Hawgon]

The number of holes I guess would depend on the size of the bator I guess but I would do at least one in each corner of the bottom , one on each side and a few on top Im not shure exactly though. I used a pencil to gently make a hole in mine when I made it .

what exactly are the holes for? To help with heat flow, oxygen or ventilation?

 

[gabrielle1976]

The chicks need to have air, during incubation the eggs need air and when they pip they need air .

 

[Hawgon]

The chicks need to have air, during incubation the eggs need air and when they pip they need air .

Thanks for info. I was just wondering how many to put in without excessive heat loss etc.