Wine cooler hatcher....with pics

[Three Cedars Silkies]

Like most of you, I have yearned for an incubator AND a hatcher. After going through about 5 different brands of incubators, I realized that my best hatches were with my old Miss Prissy homemade incubator...so I decided to build an incubator and a hatcher.

For the incubator, I used a mini-fridge. It holds 2 turner (I did have to remove one row on each one) and has kept temp and humidity rock solid for 2 weeks.

For the hatcher, I wanted to be able to see in it so I started looking for a wine cooler on craigslist. I found one for $15 and it was absolutely perfect! I gutted it of the compressor, etc so it would be much lighter. Initially I had problems with the middle and bottom hatching tray being cooler than the top one so I installed a second bulb (40 watt) at the bottom
and now the temp in all trays is within 0.2 - 0.4 of each other. I'm esctatic!!

Here are pics...if you have any questions about it...fire away!

 

[Darling Farms]

So Cool! Love all the pics... BRAVO!

 

[smfildes]

They both look fantastic. What kind of thermostat did you use and what did you do for ventilation? I've made several incubators and hatchers. I'm still making adjustments. Your help is greatly appreciated.

 

[angusb]

I realize your post is just over a year old now, but I wanted to say thanks for the pics, because you have done just what I was hoping to do: use an automatic turner in a mini-fridge incubator. I see that you said you had to remove one egg rail. Do you mean you had to saw the egg turner down a bit, or just pull off one of the rails? Also, your hatching bins, were you just lucky enough to find some that fit that perfectly? And if so, where did you get them? Your setup looks great!

Angus