Wooden homemade incubator

[Bnuckles6696]

Hello to all of you. I have a question. I constructed a homemade incubator out of wood and sealed with all but a couple vent holes. I made it so that it would fit an automatic egg turner and used heating a element and thermostat out of a diffferent incubator. I’ve ran it through a test run for the last 3 days and the tenperature hasn’t moved off of 99 and humidity is staying right at 50%. First off would you guys see any reason a wooden incubator like this wouldn’t work? Also one other question is if it seems functional for me I’m considering making them to sell. Would this be something you were interested in? I’m not saying you would buy it I’m just wondering if it’s something you would consider buying? Thanks I’ll post a couple pics of it later

 

[Bnuckles6696]

 

[HatchCraft]

Hello to all of you. I have a question. I constructed a homemade incubator out of wood and sealed with all but a couple vent holes. I made it so that it would fit an automatic egg turner and used heating a element and thermostat out of a diffferent incubator. I’ve ran it through a test run for the last 3 days and the tenperature hasn’t moved off of 99 and humidity is staying right at 50%. First off would you guys see any reason a wooden incubator like this wouldn’t work? Also one other question is if it seems functional for me I’m considering making them to sell. Would this be something you were interested in? I’m not saying you would buy it I’m just wondering if it’s something you would consider buying? Thanks I’ll post a couple pics of it later

It should absolutely work. Wood is a very traditional material to construct incubators from. I know for a fact there is a market for handcrafted wood incubators, not sure how large that market is. Speaking as someone who has built custom incubators for 20+ year, I think the problem isn't selling them, its making a profit. The economy of scale will work against you unless you can market hundreds if not thousands of units. Wood incubators being heavy are expensive to ship. My typical 3 drawer model is 60lbs and runs around $75 dollars to ship halfway across the country. Dickeys has been a successful small manufacture for years, maybe you could too. I will be interested in seeing your designs.

 

[Pericles-of-ACooPolis]

Talking about wooden incubators.... Im going to incubate this week again this week with one I have had since last summer (Father son project). I want to ask this issue I have although at the moment..

I had a chick or a few leave poop stains in the bottom base of the incubator after they hatched last summer. Considering its wood and it'll get humid when I re-incubate-- HOW should I clean that mess? I don't want bacteria coming up and out the wood. I'm disinfecting it with some Lysol and a rag but the poop color just seeps in the wood. Should I replace the base? Or ...... My fault for letting siblings "clean up" the incubator last summer.

 

[HatchCraft]

I would recommend you seal the wood before using so the stains don't seep into the wood. If you wipe it down with disinfectant it should be ok.

 

[333113]

When I was a child, our neighbors had a wood incubator, and they washed it with detergent, rinsed it with bleach water, and let it sit in the sun for a few hours until it dried. They used that incubator for many years before we moved in, and used it for many years after that. I wish I had it now. I have been replacing the not-so-cheap parts on my Brinsea incubators ever since I got them.

 

[cmom]

It should work fine. I never made one out of wood but did make one out of a cooler. It works great. Good luck and have fun...

 

[MelissaRose]

Can you post pictures of the inside? It sounds like your incubator is working very well. Congrats on building your own that works!

 

[Pericles-of-ACooPolis]

I would recommend you seal the wood before using so the stains don't seep into the wood. If you wipe it down with disinfectant it should be ok.

Thanks for the suggestion. I did manage to just scrap some wood off and put a replacement on top that'll be easier to clean when they hatch! Thank you

 

[Pericles-of-ACooPolis]

I'll post up a picture soon too here, I'd love to see yalls either homemade or not .
Thanks guys above for your support and insight.

I hope you get to make one sometime ConnieA, it totally cooler having a homemade one than industrial made. But if it carries more I can see the industrial one more appealing hehehehe.