Question about building a new incubator

[ChasSquirrel]

My husband is finally building me a incubator after two years of me begging. He is great with woodwork and is a retired electrician. I knew he could do it. Yippee!

He has a few questions though.

The first one is has to do with using an egg turner we already have. He has seen pictures of several incubators online and some show the egg turner is tilted forward and some don't. He is curious as what is the advantage of the egg turner tilting forward if any.

Also, he wants to know if the fan should run all the time.

Those are his question for now. I am sure he will have more. I

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

The first one is has to do with using an egg turner we already have. He has seen pictures of several incubators online and some show the egg turner is tilted forward and some don't. He is curious as what is the advantage of the egg turner tilting forward if any. Dont know what you mean? They tilt from one side to the other, that's all that is needed.

Also, he wants to know if the fan should run all the time. Yes

 

[cmom]

Quote:
I agree. I put a fan in my homemade incubator, but I had to put a small hole behind the fan to draw air in for more even heat.

Here is a thread with many other BYC members homemade incubators.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/chicken-coop-incubator.html

 

[ChasSquirrel]

Yes, I understand the purpose of the egg turner is to tilt the eggs from side to side when it is plugged in but some pictures show the shelf in the incubator is also tilted a few degrees forward. It is maybe just for easier access?

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

None I have seen are tilted forward. Front to back is usually level.

If you did tilt them forward you would have to make all the parts lose to keep them from jamming.

 

[ChasSquirrel]

Alright. I will just tell him to use level shelves for the egg turners.

 

[Orange Ribbon]

ChasSquirrel, I think I understand what you are saying about the tilting egg turners. I think he saw ones where the whole turner tilts back and forth like some of the big cabinet incubators do instead of just little sections, like a Little Giant egg turner for example that has separate rows built in that tilt individually. If it is similar to the latter, then yes, make the shelf flat. I hope that made sense.

I'm building a couple homemade incubators myself out of small dorm fridges. I'd love to see pictures of yours when you get it done.

 

[_Randall_]

Here's how I built mine, and it works like a champ!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=43975