Chook Me!

how do you make an incubator?

how do you make a home made, simple, cheap 70% working incubater householde items or easy to find items please:-]

Public Comments

1. A ten-gallon fish aquarium ($10 at Walmart or PetSmart) and a heating lamp (about $10 for the correct shade that can handle heat, and $3-8 for a good quality bulb). Good luck!
2. Get a box and put it in the airing cupboard! as long as the temp is constant at the required it will suffice! Or get a laying hen! Thirdly you could get a wooden box, install a high watage of bulb and a thermometer! it should be around 35-37 for most types of eggs. All you need to do is spray the insides of the box or keep a pot of water in the box to keep the humidity right!
3. 70% working? for bird eggs? hmm ive never seen a home made incubator actually work - this is because if it is out more than 1.5 - two degrees (maximum) at any time of day or night, the eggs will die. consistent humidity is hard to maintain too. an incubator isnt like keeping an already hatched reptile or fish tank warm..... it has to be very accurate. either keep the eggs with the parents or buy an incubator if you actually expect it to work. .
4. the simplest and easiest way is to get a box and line it with polystyrene, and get a heating strip from hear: http://www.livefoods.co.uk/ check in the heating and lighting section. then you will need a thermometer/thermostat. any packaging material you have can be used as well, like the bubble wrap off packages and stuff like that to insulate it.
5. Get a plastic cooler, like an igloo. NOT styrofome. PLASTIC. Place a wire cooling rack in the bottom of the cooler. Your going to put a towel over the cooling rack, but the towel Can't touch the bottom of the cooler, and should leave space so that you can pour water in without wetting the towel. Your heat is going to be a light bulb. If you have a simple bulb with a wire, that's good, but you can use a gooseneck lamp too. Cut a hole in the top of the cooler which is large enough for the light (a fostner drill bit works wonders). Allow space around the edge of a goose neck shade (so that it doesn't actually touch the cooler), and if you use a plain bulb on a chord, then make sure to secure it so that it doesn't fall to the bottom of the cooler into the water. That would be bad. You'll also drill two small holes (about a quarter inch diameter) in the side of the cooler. These are for circulation of air. Place a thermometer on the towel on the cooling rack. NO EGGS. Seal it all up. Put a sixty five watt bulb in the light and turn it on. In an hour, check the temp. If you've got between 98 and 102, great. If not, move to a seventy watt bulb. Check in an hour. Do this till you get the temp between 98 and 102. It'll vary depending on the size of the cooler. Once you've got the right temp, fill the bottom of the cooler with an inch of water. DON'T WET THE TOWEL. You can now put in your eggs. Seal it all up. Make sure to turn your eggs several times a day, and make sure the water doesn't dry up. Home made incubators do work if properly maintained.