The effectiveness of homemade bators

[One Acre Wonder Farm]

I really want to hatch some of our own eggs. I even ordered bantam chicks this year hoping we'll someday have broodies.

But I also want to have an incubator, you know... just in case

(just in case I want to order some eggs and no one in the coop is broody

)

So, what's a chick to do? Spend $$ on a bator I know will do the job well (Brinsea Eco) or make my own when I have most of the parts and can get the rest for cheap?

DH is home in the winter, I'm home in the summer so being around to check in/turn eggs is not an issue.

Those of you that have made your own bators: tell me about them! Will they get the job done? Will the headache of construction be worth the money I'll save by making my own? Perhaps making one is no headache at all? I need help!!

 

[panner123]

If you build a bator properly, it should be as good as most of those you can buy.

 

[Ruditchka]

Building your own makes hatching that much more fulfilling. At least I think so! Its a fun project to do and is not really that difficult if you're creative and use a little ingenuity... Then again, for $73 bucks(that includes shipping!), I've found on this site you can buy the hovabator 2362n w/turbofan(no turner) http://lllreptile.com
So its a toss-up I guess!?

 

[One Acre Wonder Farm]

so if I were well prepared, with the materials and directions in front of me and had a helper, is it safe to assume one could be constructed in less than an afternoon?

DH is not terribly thrilled about my chicken obsession (although I think he hides his fondness for them), so I don't want the construction of a homemade bator to become an ordeal that makes me wish I'd just purchased one. And I'd also like it to work well (of course).

What sort of hatch rates should I expect from a homemade bator?

 

[krishenschel]

Hi I just built my on "bator" a little over a week ago and it really only took a day not counting the time gathering the materials. I used the plans on this site, taking ideas from Gopher boy and Miss Prissy. It took a couple days to get the temp and humidity right but. It is working well now and I have 23 eggs that I put in on 4/15. So far so good.

 

[starryeyes]

We bought a hovabator it is our first attempt at hatching eggs i have rouen duck eggs in there with mixed sexlinks we did have a few that did not make it past day 12 but out of the 14 duck eggs i have 14 still in there growing and moving on day 18. I alos have chicks growing in there eggs. All total i think we tossed 7 eggs 4 non fertile 3 blood rings. After about day 12 and we saw them moving and the kids saw them moving we are 100% hooked . So now hubby is in the middle of making a HUGE bator it will house 200 chicken/duck eggs. In one afternoon he designed it bought material and has it half built only reason not finished is i want to paint the outside. I have seen lots of great plans on here that seem easy to follow and many have had great sucess with theres. we just made up our own and got the basic inside info as far as fan lite humidity ideas from all over this site. When it is up and running I will post pics and let you know how the temp holds ect. But incubating eggs is so much fun wish we had done this years ago.

Starry in bator heaven

 

[krishenschel]

Starry Eyes, did you incubate chicken and ducks at the same time? Also what did you use to candle them? I am planning to make a candler with a coffee can and light bulb.

 

[starryeyes]

Yes my ducks are in with my chickens and seem to be very active and all are growing and right were they should be. Yes we candle and being neewbies more this first time to learn what to look for. Next time sticking to just a few times. I got lucky hubby is a Commercial/home inspector and has all sorts of neat gadgets like a thermo camera that takes a thermo image you can see the heat comming from the babies inside the eggs too cool will post pics later tonight. He also has this thing that has a laser light on it you point it at any object IE in this case egg tells you the EXact temp of the eggs no guessing if your thermostate is right. We use a super bright hand held led light to candle. I love looking at duck eggs because they are white and easy to see found at first looking at brwn chicken eggs a bit difficult to tell what was going on. I have read so many threads about incubating over the past weeks hrs of reading and this is JUst MY opinion you have to decide what works best for you as in humidity everyone has there ideas of what is best some dry incubate some use more humidity. This round we stuck with what we started at 50 TO 60 % HUMIDITY . And for us thus for they seem to be growing and doing well only time will tell when they hatch and if they make it if it was the right choice. The new huge bator will be run on less humidity , I cant be running to it all the time it wears you out. It is a learning process and it is work but so much fun and my whole family has gotten into it. So for us it has been worth it.



Cheers Starry

 

[Leah-yes I know I'm crazy]

I am a novice. But I think I have figured out that any bator success or failure is really going to come down to the quality of the instraments you are using to measure temperature and humidity and the ability to maintain and adjust. An excellent bator with a bad thermometer and hygrometer will still get you really bad results.
I built a cabinate style bator out of a metal dr. office type wall mounting cabinate that is wrapped with styrofoam insulation and has the internal workings of MissPrissy's bator. Cost to put it together was next to nothing because I had everything but the water heater thermastat. The first attempt I used bad hygrometer. All developed to day 18 then quit. Second attempt I found lab quality hygrometer and hatched 100%. That was the only change I made. Never even unplugged it from one set to the next.
So if you want the thrill of making your own my experience says don't skimp on the measuring devices. Also, test hatches of free/cheap/local are a good idea over expensive or shipped eggs.

 

[starryeyes]

I agree Leah 100% buy the best Hygrometer you can afford. Also like she said use cheap eggs . We are using our mixed sexlinks and our rouen eggs for the next several hatchs till we work out kinks.




Starry