MaineChick87
In the Brooder
I didn't want to spend a lot of money when I decided to incubate 6 eggs. So I decided to research how to make my own. BYC was my primary source. I learned that all incubators have a container that should be well insulated( cooler, fridge, box etc), a heat source(light), thermostat ( wafer, digital, or hot water heater), thermometer and hydrometer, window, and most have a fan which makes them a forced air incubator. Having a fan makes it so all areas are the same temperature. I tried to find everything instead of paying money for it. I was able to make mine for under $25.
I had to go to a few different store to get the best deal on everything I needed. I bought a hot water heater thermostat from Home Depot for $8.89, a light fixture for $2.50 at hardware store and a digital thermometer/ hydrometer from walmart for $7.99. Everything else that was used I found around the house: mini fridge, picture frame, spray paint, black plastic rings to make the holes for the wires look neat, crystal knob, chaulking, gorilla glue, wire and a fan from an old computer tower, left over ac adapter, push switch, plastic wire end connector caps, electrical tape, light bulb, ice packs and white extension cord. After everything was rounded up I started to put it all together.
I decided to use an old mini fridge because it was just lying around my basement. I completely gutted it out which made it much lighter. Then I cut a square hole in the door and gorilla glued a picture frame. I did screw it in just to be safe and then used chaulking to seal it and make it look a little neater. After it was all cleaned up I started with the wiring .
I had never done anything electrical before so this was something that I needed to look up. All I did was look up on You Tube how to wire a thermostat for my homemade incubator and plenty of info came up. I had to separate the part where you plug everything in on the extension cord strip the ends and reattach it back on and then wired the thermostat to the light and then back to the extension cord and put the safety caps after. The next step was installing the pc fan so it was not flush with the inside wall of the fridge. Then in order for it to power up it needed to be wired to an ac adapter . For fun I wired it to a push switch, which is completely unnecessary because the fan needs to be on all the time. The. The ac adapter then was plugged into the white extension cord (that is why I didn't cut it off completely) I used electrical tape to secure the wires. I plugged it in first time and everything worked !!!!!
The last thing I did was spray the scratches, frame and inside foam white with spraypaint. Then drill a hole for the crystal knob and I was ready to start putting things in.
I put the wire racks back in and on the bottom I placed ice/hot packs to absorb the heat just in case the power went out the incubator wouldn't drop its temperature to drastically. I then placed a rectangular dish of water with a sponge in it, another dish with a washcloth in it, the thermometer/hydrometer and I was ready to get it heated up for my eggs. I waited a couple days while my eggs were getting shipped and made sure that the temp and the humidity was 99.5•/40-50%. After I the eggs arrived and I knew there was no fluctuation I set the eggs inside. The only thing that was important was to remember to turn the eggs 3-5 times a day. So I created a log sheet so I could write down the time, temp and humidity.
My first batch of 5 eggs didn't make it because they weren't shipped with care. It wasn't the sellers fault but the carrier. I will never suggest anyone get their eggs shipped. I went I Craigslist for my State and found a few farmers that had fertilized eggs of the breeds that I wanted. I did have to spend an hour and half to drive up to get them but the price was much lower. I was able to get 22 eggs for $11. When earlier I spent $33 plus shipping on 6!!! They will be ready to hatch June 13, 2015!!! I have already weeded out three none fertile eggs so that leaves me with 19! Way too many but this way I will get to pick my favorite six females!!
I hope this was very helpful to anyone looking to make their own incubator!
