Easy Homemade Incubator

Proper incubation results in hatched eggs within three weeks.

Backyard chicken farmers or poultry farms can hatch chicks in homemade incubators under appropriate conditions and with careful tending. Nothing works as well for hatching as a mother hen, but an alternative is a good incubator. Your homemade incubator must be protected from cold or excessive heat for the three weeks it takes the eggs to hatch.

Things You'll Need

• Packing crate
• scrap lumber
• radial saw
• aluminum foil
• aluminum pie pan
• electric thermostat
• 1/2-inch wire mesh screen
• 1-inch by 2-inch lumber
• two hinges with screws
• screwdriver
• four small 15-watt light bulbs
• hammer and a half pound of 3/4-inch nails
• electric drill
• staple gun

Instructions

Packing Crate Incubator

1. Purchase or find a deep wooden packing crate. You can also construct one out of plywood. The crate can be of any dimensions that will allow you to reach into it from the top to adjust equipment and the eggs inside. Cut a lid to fit from scrap plywood or lumber.

2. Line the crate and lid with heavy-duty aluminum foil. This will reflect the warmth inside the incubator. Smooth and pack the foil so that it does not droop or gap. Get an aluminum pie plate to place in the bottom of the crate. This will serve as an evaporator tray because there must be some humidity in the incubator.

3. Cut the 1" x 2" lumber lengthwise to make a ledge around the inside of the box. Place the one-inch ends up. Nail the boards to the crate to form a ledge near the bottom of the box. Cut two screens of 1/2-inch wire mesh to set on top of the ledge of 1 x 2s. Staple the screen to the ledge. The eggs will rest on this screen floor

4. Screw the hinges onto the cover. Drill with a 1/2-inch bit a ventilation hole in each of corner of the cover. Drill two 1/4-inch holes on each side of the box. These should be at a level that will be about an inch above the eggs when they are resting on the screen shelf.

5. Wire four sockets to the thermometer. Hang the thermometer in the center of the lid. Place a 15-watt light bulb in each socket and run one wired bulb to each corner of the lid. Use round staples and staple the wires to the lid so there is a bulb affixed in each corner. Hinge the lid to the box. Fill the pie plate with water and place it in the center of the incubator. Turn on the lights. Add the eggs. Close the lid.

References

• Mother Earth News: How to Hatch Chicks in a Homemade Incubator, Vickki and Ted Purve-Smith, 1995
• Fantastic Farms: Hatching Chickens, Incubating Eggs for Hatching Baby Chickens