Silk Creek Alpacas' Homemade Incubator!!!

Well, Lilian and I have started building the incubator. We have it mostly done at this point, just don't have it all together. Here are some of the steps we have taken to build the incubator. irst off, an incubator is essentially a warm area that can keep a constant temperatur and steady humidity over time !"# days to be more precise$. We could buy an incubator, but that would put us out anywhere from %#&& ' %"&&&(, and we don't want to do that so we decided to see what we could do a little bit more cheaply. irst off we needed to get some supplies. )he first thing !and fairly important item$ is the ice chest. *ny kind would do, so I put a posting out on the EugeneFreeCycle list that I was looking for one. I got two responses, one for a stryrofoam one and someone that had an old dorm fridge that doesn't work. I took both. We are going to use the stryrofoam one first as it is easier to work with, and then if we like incubating, we will transform the fridge in to one later. )he ice chest is perfect, it is a large one that is used by +maha ,eats. It is )HI-. and heavy, and is perfect. )hank you to )oni who met me yesterday to let me have this. Item Cost: $0.00 Total cost so far: $0.00 /e0t we needed the parts to get the incubator warm, and to keep it regulated. or this we went to Home 1epot and purchased a No. 8125 Water Heater Thermostat

Item Cost: $7.57 Total Cost so far: $7.57 /e0t we needed a lamp kit, so we purchased the Make a Lamp !t at Home 1epot since this not only had the lamp, but also the wire we would need. It was also cheaper than buying the parts separately.

Item Cost: $9.97 Total Cost so far: $17.54 We will also need a fan to keep the air moving in the incubator. We have been keeping the old 2- we purchased about ## years ago for the girls. It hasn't worked for about 3, but we've kept it around. We took it apart and took out the power supply fan.

We also took out the cpu fan but I think this will be too small.

Item Cost: $0.00

Total Cost so far: $17.54 Here is everything4

We'll also need a transformer to run the small fan, but I think we have one around that we are not using anymore so, our total cost will be !before we get eggs$ $17.54!! /ot bad. We'll be adding some hardware cloth for protection and a tray, but we have a large roll out in the shop that we can use. I am currently using our remote +regon 5cientific thermometer to keep track of the temperature and humidity in the incubator. HOOKING IT UP!! We now needed to wire the light 6 thermostat. I had found some diagrams online at the "ack#ar$Ch!cken Forums !trust me, do not go to 78- unless you want to start having chickens, they are a bunch of enablers over there99 I started off only wanting :'; chickens, now I have #" on the way and I'm building an incubator999 /uff said99 4$ $. 78- has been incredibly helpful in building this incubator. I have taken the design from many of the posters over there. )he thermostat will control when the light turns on and off, so I have wired it so the power goes through the thermostat.

)he wires come in the bottom from outside of the incubator. )he wires out the side go to<from the thermostat. I wasn't e0actly sure of how to wire it, but got lucky and got it right the first time99

Well, I) W+=.59999 Here is Lilian 6 *islyn in front of the >reat >lowing Incubator99

?ven using the flash you can still see it glowing9

=ight now only the light is attached to the wall. I still need to get the thermostat 6 fan attached, but that should only take a few minutes. I had it plugged in all night and the high temperature recorded was only #&#.;@, so not that bad with no fan attached. I need to reset the thermometer to see what the lows were !it says the recorded low was ;@ but that was back in late 1ecember when it was outside, I don't think the incubator got that cold last night A$ $. *ll in all I think Lilian and I did a pretty good job99

UP AT! AN CO"P#!TION O$ INCU%ATO&

Well, we have finished the incubator. We are very happy with how it turned out. It is now sitting in the dining room all plugged in trying to get it to stabiliBe. irst thing I had to do was to connect the fan we had from the old computer to the converter I bought at Wal,art today. It was really easy to just splice the wires together. Item Cost: $12.00 Total Cost so far: $29.54

*s you can see, I left the fan in the housing it was already in. I thought this would be easier than trying to hook the fan up to the side of the ice chest. It works really well. )he fan now sits about : inches off the floor of the incubator, and will circulate the air from the warm side to the cooler side very Cuickly. It also helps cover the fan so chicks or little fingers cant get down in to the fan that easy. 8ou can also see that I placed the thermostat in an electrical bo0 that I had out in the shop. Item Cost: $0.00 Total Cost so far: $29.54 I did this for " reasons. irst was to cover up the e0posed connection of the wires. It worried me a little bit. )hey are still slightly e0posed !and I've been thinking of covering the bo0 with some hardware cloth to protect it more$ but not as bad as they were. *lso, some reading I've done !and I'm sorry to the person who mentioned this before, but I don't remember where I read it$, people have said that the hot water heater thermostat isn't really designed to

test the ambient temperature, but the temperature of the water tank so attaching it to a metal bo0, will help regulate the thermostat some more !maybe, but that's the story I'm sticking with, I don't know anything about this stuff99$ 4$ Here are some more pictures4

8ou can see that under the fan it is just open.

?0posed wires, but somewhat covered. /e0t I took some hardware cloth we had in the shop. Item Cost: $00.00 Total Cost so far: $29.54 I cut out a tray for the eggs to sit on so they are raised off the floor a little bit. I also added a wall between the tray and the light<fan side of the bo0 to protect the chickens when they hatch so they won't go near the fan, water or light.

I then added some tin foil between the light and where the eggs will be to protect the eggs from direct heat from the lamp.

We then had to search all over the house for something to put in the lid so we could see down in to the incubator to check the temperature. Lilian finally remembered she had an old picture frame with a 2le0iglas cover that was a perfect siBe. We cut out the hole in the top, made a ledge for it to sit on, and the brought out the good stuff, 1uct )ape99 4$ !wish we had orange tape, but we only had old siver. 4! $ Item Cost: $00.00 Total Cost so far: $29.54

)his last picture was taken about " hours after we plugged it in. /ot bad. We are getting some spikes to #&3D so it still isn't perfect, but getting closer. 8ou

can also see that above the humidity was a little bit low so I added a small bowl with just a little bit of water and it brought the humidity up closer to where I would like to see it. We have a fire going in the house tonight so the home humidity is fairly low. Without the fire, we might not need much water during the winter. We'll have to watch this.

*ll in all Lilian and I have had a great time putting this together. 5he has been a great help9 We are getting e0cited for our eggs to get here, and to see how well we'll do. We're not holding our breath for a #&&E hatch rate. If we get a :&E, I think we'll be thrilled99 .eep watching, more to come99 4$

Comments (4)

sousap 2%2&%12 at 2'5(am H!) *+,e -u!l$ a ,ery s!m!lar !ncu-ator.

*+,e place$ 2 lamps !n paralel -ecause !. one -lo/s out the other keeps heat!ng. 0you shol$ !mpro,e yours1 Ho/ a-out your results so .ar2 Ho/ !mportant !s to use that alum!n!um .o!l to co,er the l!ght2 -est regar$s) 3aulo

ash.a4e!e 5%8%12 at ('55am H!) Coul$ you please help me kno/ the !mportance o. Hum!$!ty control 2 * +,e almost prepare$ a small one an$ not ha,!ng a Hum!$!ty rea$er. * ha,e kept a small -o/l o. /ater. *s that enough .or me to lay eggs !n the -ator2 6r shoul$ * ha,e to control the hum!$!ty accurately.2

sousap 5%7%12 at 8'&8am !t+s as !mportant as temperature !s. go .or a large 0/!$e -ut not tall1 -o/l near the lamp to get /ell heate$ an$ sprea$8out hum!$!ty !nto the !ncu-ator. take care to a,o!$ young .olks to $ro/n !n !t. 0care.ull rea$ the tutur!al Ho/ To *ncu-ate 9 Hatch Eggs1

:arr5tt 7%11%12 at 7'&(pm That a great $es!gn; :oo$ <o-.