My Homemade Incubator

[jnjmanning]

This is what we started with. Cabinet free on craigslist.

My husband took off doors, took out drawers, took off the top, and the back. Took out the shelf inside.

He then made rails that would hold turners or egg racks. The rack would hold eggs in cartons. I can get 3 turners on each rail, each turner holding 41 eggs for a total of 246 eggs. So with egg cartons and racks it could be as much as 275.

We cut the bottom out of the drawers, and the centers out of the doors. Plexiglass went in the doors and wire mesh in the drawers

Then we started insulating. This insulation came from Lowes. The foil will reflect light and make it easy to see inside also.

We made a frame for the top, with cut outs for viewing windows. Those will also have plexiglass in them. Each one sealed and then each pane trimmed.

This is where water is added for humidity. 1/2 inch pvc and a couple elbows, funnel on top to pour water into. Water will be held in a pan inside, with a sea sponge in it.
You can also see one of two air holes on the bottom right for cross ventilation. There is another on opposite side at the top. You pull off the cap for air flow.
You can also see the very insulated hatching drawer. Inside of drawer will be lined with rubber like shelf liner to keep debris off eggs below and to make a soft area for chicks. Easy clean up also. Liner has small holes for air circulation.

Chicks will be placed in drawer for hatching. With eggs cartons I can get 60 eggs in each drawer. Without cartons maybe 75. Large viewing windows above the hatching drawers will make for easy watching of the eggs. There is only a 1/2" gap between the top side of the drawer and top of cabinet, so no chick can get over the edge and fall out of drawer. Drawer is completely sealed and can be pulled out without losing heat inside the incubator.

This latch pulls both doors closed very tight. No loss of heat from here. We placed a 250 watt heat lamp with a 6" fan inside the unit. We then placed 3 digital thermostats, one at top, one in middle and one at bottom. The unit heated to 100 degrees from top to bottom in 15 minutes. We then closed the garage doors and turned off lights to look for light seepage around the whole unit. We had one spot on the back, it was then caulked to seal. No other heat loss seen anywhere. This weekend we will be placing the heating unit and thermostat and doing a dry run. I will post pictures and results then.

 

[JanO]

Wow! What a nice job. Thanks for sharing.

 

[jnjmanning]

Cost so far less than $50

 

[ceocka]

I am marking this so I can make one too!

 

[Chad Cool]

This is what we started with. Cabinet free on craigslist.

My husband took off doors, took out drawers, took off the top, and the back. Took out the shelf inside.

He then made rails that would hold turners or egg racks. The rack would hold eggs in cartons. I can get 3 turners on each rail, each turner holding 41 eggs for a total of 246 eggs. So with egg cartons and racks it could be as much as 275.

We cut the bottom out of the drawers, and the centers out of the doors. Plexiglass went in the doors and wire mesh in the drawers

Then we started insulating. This insulation came from Lowes. The foil will reflect light and make it easy to see inside also.

We made a frame for the top, with cut outs for viewing windows. Those will also have plexiglass in them. Each one sealed and then each pane trimmed.

This is where water is added for humidity. 1/2 inch pvc and a couple elbows, funnel on top to pour water into. Water will be held in a pan inside, with a sea sponge in it.
You can also see one of two air holes on the bottom right for cross ventilation. There is another on opposite side at the top. You pull off the cap for air flow.
You can also see the very insulated hatching drawer. Inside of drawer will be lined with rubber like shelf liner to keep debris off eggs below and to make a soft area for chicks. Easy clean up also. Liner has small holes for air circulation.

Chicks will be placed in drawer for hatching. With eggs cartons I can get 60 eggs in each drawer. Without cartons maybe 75. Large viewing windows above the hatching drawers will make for easy watching of the eggs. There is only a 1/2" gap between the top side of the drawer and top of cabinet, so no chick can get over the edge and fall out of drawer. Drawer is completely sealed and can be pulled out without losing heat inside the incubator.

This latch pulls both doors closed very tight. No loss of heat from here. We placed a 250 watt heat lamp with a 6" fan inside the unit. We then placed 3 digital thermostats, one at top, one in middle and one at bottom. The unit heated to 100 degrees from top to bottom in 15 minutes. We then closed the garage doors and turned off lights to look for light seepage around the whole unit. We had one spot on the back, it was then caulked to seal. No other heat loss seen anywhere. This weekend we will be placing the heating unit and thermostat and doing a dry run. I will post pictures and results then.

Where did you get the Turners? How much did they cost? What is the silver stuff and where did you get it? What is the purpose of the PVC pipe coming out the back and I think I see one coming out the side? This look awesome?

 

[jnjmanning]

Where did you get the Turners? How much did they cost? What is the silver stuff and where did you get it? What is the purpose of the PVC pipe coming out the back and I think I see one coming out the side? This look awesome?

Turners I bought online, $20-$25 all used but working good. Silver stuff is insulation, got it at Lowes. The PVC in the back is to add water, the ones on sides you pull out for air flow.

Still trying to tune in the temp and get good air flow. This is a big unit and lots of space to heat.

 

[jnjmanning]

With many hours of trial and error, I never could get the temp to stay at a point I was comfortable with. So I bit the bullet and bought a incu kit from incubator warehouse. It has a thermometer, heater and fan all in one. It is pre-set to 99.5. Very easy to install. The temp is steady now and incubating 36 silkie eggs! I will update on August 4th and let you know how the hatch goes!

 

[jnjmanning]

Havent updated in awhile. Silkie eggs, started with 36, culled down to 21 at day 10. All non fertile. Contacted breeder who said fluffy butts needed trimming! So 21 went to hatch, I got 15 beautiful chicks. Then I hatched 11/12 shipped gold laced brahmas then 6/9 chocolate silkies. I have 11/12 sizzle eggs due next week. Then a final hatch on Sept 7th of more chocolate silkies. This was best investment ever! By Spring I should have all my chicks to breeder age and can start hatching my own birds and not have to deal with shipped eggs.













You can see the eggs in the turner. I bought hatching trays for $2.50. Chicks in the drawer warming and fluffing. The control for the temp inside the incubator. My own temp gauges. Incubator held a temp of 99.5 to 100.3. Humidity ran 60-65% during hatching, all while still incubating the next bunch. When not hatching humidity ran 29-33%. I dry incubate as the humidity in my basement where the incubator is stays at a steady 46-47%. And you can see the heater/fan unit on the back wall of the incubator.