The Incubator Thread

[PD-Riverman]

I was testing without the fan, sort of a worst case "can this catch the house on fire" test. That was when I decided the heat sink was not making good enough contact with the cartridge heater and I need more flexible wire to tie it tightly. I have an unused aluminum heatsink from a flourescent ballast, maybe I will try that, those ballast can get extremely hot also.


Front view, door open, before fan and heater were added

You have put alot of work into this I can see. Looks Good!! Are you going to hatch in this? I personally do not use the metal "boxes" in each rack for several reasons.

 

[slordaz]

Well PD thanks to another user we got the malpositioned fixed, she had me stop the egg turner at day 13-14 and this last time had only 1 malpositioned, so getting ready to try again. You guys are all great help, I would have given up way before now if it hadn't been for you guys here at BYC

 

[dheltzel]

You have put alot of work into this I can see. Looks Good!! Are you going to hatch in this? I personally do not use the metal "boxes" in each rack for several reasons.

I never hatch (intentionally any way) in the same incubator I'm setting eggs in. I am planning to build a new hatcher too, but this is what I'm using
now. It's enough for a single Sportsman's weekly capacity of about 100 eggs, but too small for my new incubator's larger capacity.

Normal operation (metal piece hanging out front is just a spacer to let a little air in.

STC-100 to control the temps

View when top is first lifted

Inner cover removed. You can see the dual computer fans and cartridge heater in a cage at the end.

Success !! picture quality is due to being taken through the plastic inner covers

This thing really holds humidity well and is super easy to clean and reset for the next batch.

 

[Sweet Coastal]

I'm just getting into serious hatching and have read tons of reviews. I'm in the south so I usually hatch dry until day 17. What's the best incubator for setting around 50 eggs a week? I want it to be as automatic as possible!

 

[dheltzel]

I'm just getting into serious hatching and have read tons of reviews. I'm in the south so I usually hatch dry until day 17. What's the best incubator for setting around 50 eggs a week? I want it to be as automatic as possible!

A cabinet incubator, either from GQF or Dickeys. I have a GQF Sportsman 1202 (older model that was retrofitted with a digital controller). It is pretty much add eggs and forget about it until lockdown. Depending on the size eggs and the model tray you use, it will set 60 - 96 chicken eggs per week (3 racks and each rack hols that many).

Definitely get a separate hatcher, it does not need to be cabinet style, you can even make your own, but don't try to hatch in the same incubator you are setting eggs in weekly.

 

[Sweet Coastal]

A cabinet incubator, either from GQF or Dickeys. I have a GQF Sportsman 1202 (older model that was retrofitted with a digital controller). It is pretty much add eggs and forget about it until lockdown. Depending on the size eggs and the model tray you use, it will set 60 - 96 chicken eggs per week (3 racks and each rack hols that many).
Thanks for the info! Yeah I'm leaning toward the GFQ 1502.

Definitely get a separate hatcher, it does not need to be cabinet style, you can even make your own, but don't try to hatch in the same incubator you are setting eggs in weekly.

 

[dheltzel]

Thanks for the info! Yeah I'm leaning toward the GFQ 1502.

Definitely look at http://dickeyincubators.com
I don't own one, but I buy parts there and if I were to buy (instead of build) an incubator, I would get it from there, not just because they are cheaper, but they look better built. The big advantage of a GQF is the resale value, since that is a more well known brand.

I'm having so much fun building my own, that I can't see myself buying another one already built - unless I find a broken one for cheap, then I'd fix it and resell it.

 

[esimmons14]

Hi everyone! I am planning to attempt my second hatch ever in March in a round metal bator, similar to the Brower model. This is a still-air model and for my first hatch I manually turned the eggs I'd love to be able to further stabilize the temps by using an auto egg-turner in it. Has anyone every tried using one, like this, in a round Brower-style incubator? I still need to measure to be sure it would fit, but it's 15" by 15" so I think it would. Are there some reasons why this may be a bad idea?
I have posted this question in two other forums with no response, but I haven't given up!

 

[PD-Riverman]

Hi everyone! I am planning to attempt my second hatch ever in March in a round metal bator, similar to the Brower model. This is a still-air model and for my first hatch I manually turned the eggs I'd love to be able to further stabilize the temps by using an auto egg-turner in it. Has anyone every tried using one, like this, in a round Brower-style incubator? I still need to measure to be sure it would fit, but it's 15" by 15" so I think it would. Are there some reasons why this may be a bad idea?
I have posted this question in two other forums with no response, but I haven't given up!

I do not think a regular turner will fit in a 15" round bator.

 

[lizzy14]

Sorry I wasn't clear, the egg turner is 15x15"; I can't get to the incubator at the moment to measure it unfortunately, bug I would estimate it's about 25" diameter, but the height change for the eggs might be an issue? Is anyone here familiar with this model incubator? It's quite old, but I have seen some threads about it on BYC.