Post by kowan on Jul 26, 2008 15:48:22 GMT 8
Making a incubator on a budget
I was at the recycled refuge (town dump) and I spotted a pie warmer and right beside that was a 9 inch fan in a wire framework around it. The wire frame around the fan would be ideal as it will be safe for the chickens in the Bator for the first 24 hours. While I was there I bought two round ceiling lights and one electric cord with a 3 pin plug and a piece of 3mm plywood all costing $15.
Warning - I would strongly advise anyone attempting to install any electric appliance to hold a licence to do so.
The pie warmer was fully working and I pulled all the parts from it including the rear two glass doors and replaced the doors with a sheet of plywood. On the plywood I fitted the two light fittings so I could plug them into a thermostat (you can buy these thermostats on eBay for around $60)
I cut a hole in the middle of the plywood and installed the fan which runs all the time, The fan has its own separate power lead. This fan is too large, would be better to install a smaller fan, a 3 inch fan would be better. The air does not need to move that much even tho I have the 9inch fan set at the slowest speed. It is doing the job fine so I will not replace as yet. I also replaced the bottom of the pie warmer with a piece of plywood to help seal the heat in. As there is enough gaps in the doors, there is just enough ventilation. I sealed all around the both pieces of plywood, around the fan and wires that were protruding through the plywood.
There is a water tray on the bottom of the pie warmer which holds 2 litres of water for humidity, needing to be filled about 3 times within the 21 days of incubation. I really should have another light over the water tray to create more humidity on the 18th day, but it is working ok for now.
www.freewebs.com/kowan/bator 001.jpg[/img]
www.freewebs.com/kowan/bator 002.jpg[/img]
The temp on the Bator runs between 95f up to 102.5f and the humidity stayed around 50%. It loses lots of heat from the front glass sliding doors because of the gaps.
I start with the first set of eggs which went into the Bator, 8 Isa brown eggs and I hatched 5 chickens from that batch. Two eggs were not fertile and I opened one egg without it pipping so I was too hesitant with that last egg, I should have left it alone to take its own course. I was rolling the eggs side to side and moving them in different positions 3 to 5 times a day.
On the 18th day I remove all the eggs and turn the tray upside down so it has a flat surface.
The second batch in the Bator was with 24 eggs to do another test. Having more eggs in the Bator I though might stabilise the temp. But I rolled the eggs end over end and did not change their positions within the Bator. I had noticed that there are cool and hot spots in this Bator so if I had moved all the eggs in a different position each time I would have had a better success rate in hatching the eggs. This batch I only hatched 6 chickens. Yes 6 eggs were not fertile and the others had died within the last week of hatching. May be it was because I did not rotate the eggs into different positions.
The third batch is almost finish I had 17 eggs in the Bator this time I have Araucana bantam and Pekin eggs. I have moved the eggs into different positions and rolled them side to side, not end over end like I did in the second batch. So far I have lost 5 eggs as not being fertile and I have hatched 7 Araucana`s and two Pekins, I still have a few to hatch.
Yes this pie warmer Bator is working ok and from others I have heard from are saying I have had a very good outcome with it. But I have had to manually turn each egg for the first 18 days (turning the eggs every 3 hours, not moving them between 11pm to 7am) then on the 18th day moving the eggs into different position but not rolling them. I have had lots of fun and learnt a lot doing it my way and experimenting.
I hope I have encouraged others to build their own incubator on a budget. It would be great to hear from others who have attempted to build their own.
If you need more information on my Bator I will be happy to do so.
Cheers,
Kowan
I was at the recycled refuge (town dump) and I spotted a pie warmer and right beside that was a 9 inch fan in a wire framework around it. The wire frame around the fan would be ideal as it will be safe for the chickens in the Bator for the first 24 hours. While I was there I bought two round ceiling lights and one electric cord with a 3 pin plug and a piece of 3mm plywood all costing $15.
Warning - I would strongly advise anyone attempting to install any electric appliance to hold a licence to do so.
The pie warmer was fully working and I pulled all the parts from it including the rear two glass doors and replaced the doors with a sheet of plywood. On the plywood I fitted the two light fittings so I could plug them into a thermostat (you can buy these thermostats on eBay for around $60)
I cut a hole in the middle of the plywood and installed the fan which runs all the time, The fan has its own separate power lead. This fan is too large, would be better to install a smaller fan, a 3 inch fan would be better. The air does not need to move that much even tho I have the 9inch fan set at the slowest speed. It is doing the job fine so I will not replace as yet. I also replaced the bottom of the pie warmer with a piece of plywood to help seal the heat in. As there is enough gaps in the doors, there is just enough ventilation. I sealed all around the both pieces of plywood, around the fan and wires that were protruding through the plywood.
There is a water tray on the bottom of the pie warmer which holds 2 litres of water for humidity, needing to be filled about 3 times within the 21 days of incubation. I really should have another light over the water tray to create more humidity on the 18th day, but it is working ok for now.
www.freewebs.com/kowan/bator 001.jpg[/img]
www.freewebs.com/kowan/bator 002.jpg[/img]
The temp on the Bator runs between 95f up to 102.5f and the humidity stayed around 50%. It loses lots of heat from the front glass sliding doors because of the gaps.
I start with the first set of eggs which went into the Bator, 8 Isa brown eggs and I hatched 5 chickens from that batch. Two eggs were not fertile and I opened one egg without it pipping so I was too hesitant with that last egg, I should have left it alone to take its own course. I was rolling the eggs side to side and moving them in different positions 3 to 5 times a day.
On the 18th day I remove all the eggs and turn the tray upside down so it has a flat surface.
The second batch in the Bator was with 24 eggs to do another test. Having more eggs in the Bator I though might stabilise the temp. But I rolled the eggs end over end and did not change their positions within the Bator. I had noticed that there are cool and hot spots in this Bator so if I had moved all the eggs in a different position each time I would have had a better success rate in hatching the eggs. This batch I only hatched 6 chickens. Yes 6 eggs were not fertile and the others had died within the last week of hatching. May be it was because I did not rotate the eggs into different positions.
The third batch is almost finish I had 17 eggs in the Bator this time I have Araucana bantam and Pekin eggs. I have moved the eggs into different positions and rolled them side to side, not end over end like I did in the second batch. So far I have lost 5 eggs as not being fertile and I have hatched 7 Araucana`s and two Pekins, I still have a few to hatch.
Yes this pie warmer Bator is working ok and from others I have heard from are saying I have had a very good outcome with it. But I have had to manually turn each egg for the first 18 days (turning the eggs every 3 hours, not moving them between 11pm to 7am) then on the 18th day moving the eggs into different position but not rolling them. I have had lots of fun and learnt a lot doing it my way and experimenting.
I hope I have encouraged others to build their own incubator on a budget. It would be great to hear from others who have attempted to build their own.
If you need more information on my Bator I will be happy to do so.
Cheers,
Kowan