This page will have plans for how to Build Egg Incubator
First, your homemade incubator needs to have a way to control temperature and humidity.
Second, your egg incubator needs to be in a location that is protected from direct sunlight and drafts.
Third your egg incubator needs to easily accessible for cleaning and egg turning.
Some of the best designs I've seen out on the web utilize some free materials to cut down on costs. Here are how you can obtain the materials to build your own egg incubator.
The Body
The best material for the body of your homemade incubator is a discarded appliance. Microwaves and refrigerators tend to best for this, because they were designed to be airtight, so they aren't so susceptible to drafts or sharp temperature gradients.
If you don't have an old appliance handy, it's a simple matter of heading on down to the junkyard or dump to find one. Make sure you scrub it out with bleach and disinfectant, and then let it air out so there are no residual fumes. You can also check Craigslist for people near you dumping broken appliances.
Heat Source
The heat source can be anything that puts out a continuous, steady heat. A 40W light bulb may suffice for your homemade incubator, as long as you can find a way to focus the heat inside the enclosure and maintain a uniform temperature. A regular light bulb, however, can only control the temperature of the homemade incubator to a certain degree. To this end, I suggest you purchase a special kind of lamp called a heat lamp, preferably one with a dimmer switch, so you can control the temperature. A heat lamp can also be used after your eggs hatch, for brooding chicks or other baby animals. You can buy a heat lamp from Amazon, shown on the sidebar.
Temperature and Humidity
You need at least two thermometers, in different locations in your homemade incubator to keep a constant level heat. A standard wet-bulb barometer can be used as a humidity gauge.
Turning
You need to build in a method to turn the eggs three times daily. This should be done with a minimum of open-air interaction, and you should never touch the eggs yourself.
Flooring
The most convenient type of flooring to use is a wire grill, that can be placed in the incubator a little off the floor of the homemade incubator. An egg won't roll excessively and it provides an easy way to access and clean the incubator.
These are all the components you will need for successful egg incubation. You now know what it takes how to make a egg incubator. See ya next time!
Find more information on Quail Incubators and Chicken Egg Incubators try these websites.
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Friday, April 10, 2009
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thanks for posting this great article about how to make a homemade incubator. My son loves the book "where do chicks come from?" and asks me to read it again and again. I think it would be great if we can incubate our own eggs so he can observe the whole process. I am going to try your method at home first. If sucessfully, I will do it in my classroom too. Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteHi David,
ReplyDeleteBefore I go ahead to experiment the plans you gave, I have a couple questions for you:
1. should I keep the incubator body shut all the time?
2. how high should the temperature be kept in the body? how about the humidity?
3.when you said,"you should never touch the eggs yourself.",what does it mean? Can I wear gloves to turn the eggs, or use a spoon or something to roll them over?
looking forward for your reply. We are getting very excited about this experiment. Thanks again for your help.
Hong
in relation to the above post.... there are several questions to be had, and this forum chickenchatter.org is invaluable to those trying to start their own flock
ReplyDeletehttp://www.chickenchatter.org/view_topic.php?id=317&forum_id=5
this link in particular has a wealth of knowledge at your disposal for the first stage of chicken rearing.
good luck!