Starting an Arduino DIY incubator project

[gpop1]

On day 3 of my first incubation. System is working well.

that's good news.

 

[abqchicken]

Update- My first hatch did not go well.

The incubator maintained the temperature quite well, but I did not realize that the bulb I used was putting out a lot of infra-red heat and the eggs actually got much hotter than the air temperature so I managed to over heat them and they did not hatch. I placed a thermometer where I had the eggs and I measured 106F, way too hot. The solution will be to move the light bulb and place a baffle between the bulb and the eggs so that the eggs do not "see" the bulb and will not get the radiative heating and will only be heated by the warm air. That should do the trick. I will also calibrate the sensors to make sure my temperature readings are accurate. A simple glass thermometer should be all I need to calibrate,

 

[jeremyd1981]

The metal heating elements that the farmers innovators type incubators use are quite cheap. $10 or so on ebay. This may be a better option. I completed a similar project a year or so ago and hatched several chicks. Good luck, if I can be any help please let me know.

 

[abqchicken]

Thank you for the tip. I also found a fan and heater element together that I think will work well.

 

[hackertom]

hi my friend, can you tell me if you have problems with dht22 and dry, wet - bulb temperature/humidity?

 

[abqchicken]

I had one dht22 that did not work well. I bought several of them so I just replaced it and the new one has worked well. Did you hook up a resistor between the power and the data line in the dht22? 5kohm to 10 kohm should work.

 

[ericatdallas]

Great thread! Thanks for sharing. I have an Arduino MEGA collecting dust and I have been debating whether or not to add it to my incubator. Right now, I use a simple eBay controller (STS-1000 I think) but I wanted some more 'brains' to it. I also like the countdown timer...

Anyway, any chance you've designed the turner? The electronics don't bother me but I'm not familiar with all the mechanical components.

I've worked out a few designs in my head but the parts will cost almost $30 (almost as much as a pre-made one). So I know I must be doing it wrong or looking at the wrong places for parts.

 

[abqchicken]

I tried to do one with a servo motor I had laying around from an RC project but the servo did not have enough torque. I looked to buy a motor used for an egg turner, but they are about $19 plus other parts I would have to buy put me up around $35 . Easier to buy one already built for $40. I thought about simply using a set of arms and slowly rotating them to "push" the eggs to roll them. Again, by the time I purchase all the parts and consider my time, the cost was too close to just buying one for me to bother with it.

 

[ericatdallas]

I tried to do one with a servo motor I had laying around from an RC project but the servo did not have enough torque. I looked to buy a motor used for an egg turner, but they are about $19 plus other parts I would have to buy put me up around $35 . Easier to buy one already built for $40. I thought about simply using a set of arms and slowly rotating them to "push" the eggs to roll them. Again, by the time I purchase all the parts and consider my time, the cost was too close to just buying one for me to bother with it.

Okay, that's good information and about what I ran into too... but it's good to have that sanity check though

Which may also explain why there aren't cheapo Chinese knock-offs on eBay.

Thanks!

 

[yellowherb]

gpop1 used some cheap auto turners in his last incubator build. They did not last even one round of eggs before stripping gears (I think). I lost a LOT of shipped eggs. He replaced the motors and straight away 1 burnt out again. The trays were sort of junk to begin with I thought, brittle plastic. One even came damaged. He bought the turners that have quail rails and chicken rails which you can change out.

These are what he bought http://incubatorwarehouse.com/hova-bator-egg-turner-quail.html The motors are terrible on them.

I'm being forced to use the new incubator due to my hens laying far too many eggs and buying a buncha polish eggs. I'm not a fan of this new one but really do like his old incubator with the home made turner which uses egg trays. I can change those out to quail, pheasant or chicken sized as I need just by pulling a old tray and dropping in a new one.

(gpop1's wife and the incubator user )