MY 'BATOR! Updated PICS Pg 1 & 4 ~ PIC HEAVY!!

[snowydiamonds]

How's about explaining it a bit? What's that black thingy screwed in on the top left? What's the light bulb for? Is it for heat? Is it an incubator and brooder? What is the "box" is that a cooler? How do you remove the bowls? Do you lift up the hardware cloth? What type of top? Is the top cat/kid proof? How do you hold the eggs in it, is this a still air and or fan type and how are the eggs turned?

I personally know nothing and understand nothing at all about incubators so would really like to know the answers and probably answers to questions I don't even know to ask at this point...

I'm experimenting by using an electric skillet/baking thing that is big enough to fit a turkey in or nearly, using ice cube trays, manually turning the eggs 3x a day and trying the dry method except I put a small bowl of water in and no thermometer at all, just going by how hot or warm the eggs were that the banty hens kept them at...

I did use a still air, old styrofoam incubator and switched to a manual turner type once last Spring with fertile banty eggs from a friend. Hatched one, nearly drowned it and it didn't make it past three days old as I tried to give it to a hen that had a chick the same age but her chick was yellow and mine was black...she kicked it and tried to stomp on it so I was a miserable failure! I don't think I even had the automatic turner thing set up right, couldn't figure it out...it was all so emotional and draining! Poor chick, too!

 

[cjeanean]

Well, if you give me a second I'll be right back with some more pics and an explaination!!!

 

[cjeanean]

What's that black thingy screwed in on the top left?

The black thingy is a PC fan, just one of those little fans that are inside computers to keep them cool. I have a link for the fan I got, it's $3 online and there's no shipping, at least there wasn't when I ordered it.

What's the light bulb for? Is it for heat?

Yes, the bulb is for heat. I wanted more room on the bottom of the bator, so I put the bulb up higher. Since it's a forced air bator, meaning it has a fan, I'm hoping the whole 'warm air rises' thing won't be that big of a deal and that the fan will distribute the heat evenly.

Is it an incubator and brooder?

It's an incubator and hatcher, meaning that the eggs will be incubated and hatched in the same box. I have a shelf liner that I will be putting in the bottom when it comes time to hatch. Either that or someone on here will *hopefully* tell me that 1/4 inch hardware cloth is small enough for chicks to hatch onto...LOL!!!

What is the "box" is that a cooler?

The box is one of the 'senior ice chests' that Price Chopper has. They carry them over by their ice freezer. Wal Mart didn't have any, Price Chopper was the only place I could find them. In the summertime everyone has them, but not at this time of the year, at least out here! They're made of styrafoam, and cost me $5.

How do you remove the bowls? Do you lift up the hardware cloth?

That's a good question, I'm glad I haven't gotten that far....that hardware cloth will have to come up for me to get to the bowls, but I have a small dropper that I can use to siphon water in and out of the bowls!!!

What type of top? Is the top cat/kid proof?

The ice chest came with a lid, and I cut the inside of the lid out and left nothing but the edge. Then I went to Ace Hardware and got a piece of glass cut to fit the lid. All the pics are taken through the glass. Also, if you look on either side of the cooler you'll see red handles. Those clamp the edges of the lid down so that the lid doesn't come off. I doubt it would be kid proof, but most likely cat proof. Unless the cat takes her claws to the styrafoam!!!

How do you hold the eggs in it, is this a still air and or fan type and how are the eggs turned?

Another good question!!! I don't know how I'm gonna rig up an egg turner yet. I've been thinking about using egg cartons and cutting the bottoms out of the cartons, that way it holds the egg without restricting circulation to the bottom and top of the egg. The problem is that I would imagine a lot of moisture would build up on the egg in the areas where the carton touches the shell. I don't know yet. We'll see! And it's a forced air bator, BTW.

I like the ice cube tray idea, I might see if I can rig that up as an egg turner. This is my first try, so I don't know if I'll succeed or not! I am missing two things from my setup, actually three:
A probe thermometer to go inside a water wiggler
the water wiggler
EGGS!!!
Here's the bator I built from MissPrissy's thread...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=8510

Hope this helps!!!

PICS:

Whole setup

PC Fan

Thermostat

Left Side

Right Side

 

[snowydiamonds]

That was awful nice and wonderful of you to respond so quickly and explain in detail! You put a lot of effort and time in an easy to do set up along with explanation I can understand I wouldn't have known there was glass on the top, it is so clear! Great idea, I was wondering how you'd look in there as I know the two 'bators I used as my failure attempt had a bubble shaped top of plastic and the view was distorted and not much of a view.

Awesome! And, Thank you

 

[cjeanean]

Well, I've had it running for about 4 hours and couldn't get the heat up past 95, so I changed the bulb to a 40 watt instead of a 25....hope that'll fix it, and I hope it's not too hot...I don't know what it would take to melt styrafoam...

So, what happens if the water wiggler is at 99.5 but the air temp is above 101??? I don't have that problem as of yet cause I don't have a wiggler in there, but just in case....

 

[redhen]

that is really awesome!..i will be following this thread to see how a hatch turns out with it...good job!..

 

[cjeanean]

Awww, I feel so special!!! I'm finally gonna be part of the "I'm following your thread" group!!! I have achieved a new status on BYC....I officially possess a 'bator!!!!! Chilling In Muscadine will start collecting eggs to send to me once she gets my dinero and my temps level out....You can tell I'm excited...I should be sleeping....

 

[cjeanean]

Quick question....Do I need a gap between the wall and the back of the thermostat??? Cause that thermostat ain't kickin back on when it needs to...20 degrees later it kicked back on....

 

[island.girlie]

Very nice! Can't wait to see your eggs hatching in it

 

[ChickenTender63]

Well done, I'm proud of you!

But, I do have one concern for you. Is that a rehostat or a thermostat that you have the light wired into?

Either way, it appears that it is feeding high voltage (110) into the light to power it for your heat source. I have a concern with the terminals for the wiring being exposed and once the chickies hatch and are fluttering around in there, it will be a shock hazard because it seems in the pictures that it is close to the hardware cloth they will be on.

I may be wrong on how you have it wired (hopefully), but just wanted to throw that thought out there. If it is, maybe you could raise it higher, but then if it's acting as your thermostat, it may throw off your temperature overall by a few degrees unless the fan does a good job of circulating the air.

Just some quick thoughts for you, but I love your design and your ability to put it together. Well done, and good luck with the eggs!

ETA: Just looked at miss prissy's page and have one other concern that you had already mentioned here. If you are using a hot water heater thermostat, those are designed to have a greater temperature variation before it kicks the unit on. I am not sure if they are adjustable or not, but that may be something to consider as well. She may have said something about it somewher, but I'm not going through all 40 pages right now at 4:00am. A hot water heater is designed so that when the cold, fresh water refills the tank and the temperature in the tank hits the lower limit, it will kick on the heating element. Then it has a temperature rise that it must meet to turn off, and this difference is usually around 20-30 degrees instead of a 2 degree difference for a furnace. Like I said, it may be adjustable, but I have never done that. Just more food for thought.

I do believe this will work fantastic for you though once the few kinks are worked out. Would it also be possible to drill a hole in the side just abve the level of the water dish, install a clear poly hose leading to the outside of the bator to be used as a filling tube or a siphon tube for humidity control. You would then need to seal between the tubing and the cooler with a sealant and add a removeable plug to the outside end of the hose as well. That way you can make it as serviceable as possible from outside so you don't risk changing the climate control and having temp and humidity swings.

Now, if I can just figure out how to add a automatic turner for you. Let me ponder a while, and I will come up with something for you.