oldclucks cabinet incubator build.

[oldcluck]

Having a separate hatcher would be pretty nice But I hatched chicks every week for the last 7 weeks in my cabinet incubator. My schedule was to set a tray full of eggs every Saturday. Every Wednesday fill the next tray and after the 3rd week move the oldest tray to the hatching tray and bump the humidity for the next 3 days. The separate hatcher would have been handy though.

 

[dblred0728]

Having a separate hatcher would be pretty nice But I hatched chicks every week for the last 7 weeks in my cabinet incubator. My schedule was to set a tray full of eggs every Saturday. Every Wednesday fill the next tray and after the 3rd week move the oldest tray to the hatching tray and bump the humidity for the next 3 days. The separate hatcher would have been handy though.

Ohhh so the humidity is up for those 3 days then you what take the water pan out and let go back to normal the rest of the time?

 

[oldcluck]

sort of. I leave the water pan in all the time and that keeps it at about 40%. Then when i load the hatching tray I fill the pan to the brim and put 1 or 2 humidity pads into the water pan in a vertical orientation so it acts like a wick. That brings the humidity up to 60 to 70% humidity for the hatch. Once the hatch is finished I take out the humidity pads and it quickly drops back to 40%.

 

[Sharky559]

Nice build ,but where do you put the water tray

 

[oldcluck]

Not sure if its visible from the pictures but about 4" above the top egg turner is a plywood tray that the water pan sets on. It sits right in front of the fans so air blows across the water tray drawing moisture into the rest of the incubator.

 

[Sharky559]

How did you wire in the other fan. Did you tap into the incukit fan wires.

 

[oldcluck]

I thought about doing it that way but decided to just wire it to it's own AC cord. Then I bought a power strip that has individual switches for each outlet plus a master switch. I have the heater, the xtra fan and the 3 turners plus a candler all plugged in to that and I can easily switch off whatever I don't use. I screwed that power strip to the incubator to keep it secure.

 

[John-1948]

There are over 3,000 threads on incubators .... but, I can not find my answer ... ( and no, I did not look through all 3000)

I want to build a really nice wood cabinet incubator out of cedar .... then I read that cedar is toxic to chicks !!!

I am wanting to use the Western Red Cedar - 1x4 tongue and groove construction lumber .... not the aromatic type that you line closets and drawers with .....
would a coat of Spar Varnish on the inside help solve any potential outgasing problems ??

Being that I have cabinet building experience, This incubator will be like a nice piece of furniture with all the top of the line gadgets....

Knotty Pine ?
Western Red Cedar ?
Redwood ?
(not too fond of oak)
and definitely not the aromatic red cedar

any experience in this ???

 

[HatchCraft]

You will be fine with red cedar. Redwood was once a popular wood for incubator cabinets. Being from Florida cypress may be an option. Definitely seal the wood.

 

[cooper13]

will this work for a heat source