Ameraucana Forum
The Official Ameraucana Forum => Housing, Health & Hatching => Topic started by: John W Blehm on April 23, 2015, 08:52:33 PM
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Back during the winter of 2012-13 I built 2 setter incubators and 2 hatcher incubators. The setters have 6 egg trays that hold 132 LF eggs each for a capacity of 792 eggs per setter. I'm using 350 watt strip heaters along with proportional heating thermostats. The cabinets are made from 1/2" plastic board. Most of the fasteners are stainless steel and the racks are aluminum (fabricated at a local welding shop). I used the same fans, latches and other parts that GQF uses in their cabinet incubators, but these are totally my design. The window in the door design is my too. I know that GQF now puts acrylic windows in their doors, but I've been modifying their units for many years before they started doing it. I mounted a control box on top with the pilot light on top of it, the toggle switch on the RH side and the digital thermostat in the front so I don't have to look around the side to see the temp. I put 2 fans in each unit. Also, I put doors on the backs of the hatchers for easy cleaning. The Herpstat controllers work great. It is pretty neat that although the heat elements are 350 watts in each incubator they don't always run at full power/watts. The Herpstat is a "proportional" temperature controller and only sends enough power to the elements to maintain the required temperature. With most incubators (old ones anyway) the heating element is either on (100%) or off and the thermostat works as an On - Off switch. I'm sure these proportional temperature controllers save on my electric bill as they send just enough juice to the elements...like a dimmer switch for house lights. The plastic egg tray and hatch baskets were purchased used and are from large commercial incubators. I designed my setters around those egg trays and my hatchers around those hatch baskets.
More photos to follow...
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John, are you now building these for sale, or are you selling some of those you made in the past?
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John, are you now building these for sale, or are you selling some of those you made in the past?
Neither one...just sharing design ideas for those that may want to build their own.
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How do you know that these are the same fans that GQF uses? Even if you have a GQF you wouldn't know the rating or does their manual tell you that? So how many eggs does one of the incubators hold? Do they move or turn the eggs or is that manual? Thanks John for the ideas.
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How do you know that these are the same fans that GQF uses? Even if you have a GQF you wouldn't know the rating or does their manual tell you that? So how many eggs does one of the incubators hold? Do they move or turn the eggs or is that manual? Thanks John for the ideas.
I bought the fans, motors, brackets, etc. thru Cutler Supply (http://cutlersupply.com/zen_new51/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_32&products_id=295). They are the same ones GQF and other poultry supply companies sell as replacement parts for their incubators. The model numbers are the same, so they are the same.
The egg turning motors are also the same ones GQF uses/sells. When possible it is best to use existing purchasable parts. Then they are standardized, easy to replace and cheaper than reinventing.
The egg trays hold 132 eggs each, giving each setter a 792 egg capacity. I don't know how many eggs will fit into the hatch baskets before they are too crowded, but a lot is the best answer I have on that one. Both the egg trays and hatch baskets were purchased thru Hawkhead Hatchery Equipment (http://www.hatcheryeqiuipment.com/products.html).
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Here are a couple more photos of the hatchers and a couple of carts I use in the hatchery. I took many photos while building the incubators and can post some of specific areas if requested.
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Thank you John for the pictures and explanation. Have you tried them yet?
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Have you tried them yet?
Wow, I guess this is the third hatching season I've used them already. They work as well as any I've had in the past.
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I see the buckets, so assume you have humidity control. Is that a feature of the Herpstat controller?..how does that work??
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I see the buckets, so assume you have humidity control. Is that a feature of the Herpstat controller?..how does that work??
No. Nothing special there. I have float valves in the water pans, in the setters, with 5 gallon pails on top so I don't have to open the doors to manually add water.
Since the hatchers only operate for a few days at a time the water pans don't need to be refilled before the hatch is over, so the pails and valves aren't needed there.
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John were the foam boards you order custom cut to your specifications? Or did you cut them yourself? I assume they dont make your setters and hatchers heavy since they are made from foam
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John were the foam boards you order custom cut to your specifications? Or did you cut them yourself? I assume they dont make your setters and hatchers heavy since they are made from foam
I used 1/2" marine grade "board" that came in 5' by 8' sheets from Total Plastics (http://www.totalplastics.com/products/255). They use it to build cabinets on boats. There isn't any insulation value to speak of, but this was perfect for the application and I keep the hatchery close to 80 degrees anyway. They had a small cutting charge and were very precise. I'm sure that saved on shipping costs too, since the cut pieces could all fit onto a standard sized pallet.
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Hi John, What made you go with plastic board and not just marine grade lumber? Ican only think expense. Great that you have been using it for a while, so these are in addition to your other hatchers now?
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Hi John, What made you go with plastic board and not just marine grade lumber? Ican only think expense. Great that you have been using it for a while, so these are in addition to your other hatchers now?
When I found the plastic board I didn't look any further. I knew this would outlast any treated lumber.
These four units replaced the GQF and Leahy incubators I used before and are in one of my old YouTube videos (https://youtu.be/hWxvN_RO2ck).
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Hi John, I hope this isn't hijacking your thread but I have a question for you since you are skilled enough to build your own incubators. Btw, I envy you! I've watched "Alone In The Wilderness" more times than I can count and am always amazed at you folks who have that kind of resourcefulness.
I have a Sportsman 1502 and for the past 2yrs I've had to close up most of the holes in the back to keep the humidity at 50 or slightly above. Got to thinking and I think the problem started after I took the back off and cleaned it real good. So, do you know if there is a way to slow the fan down? I'm wondering what would happen if I'd put a piece of tape or something on the blades? Would that work and, if so, would I be running the risk of burning up the engine or something?
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I have a Sportsman 1502 and for the past 2yrs I've had to close up most of the holes in the back to keep the humidity at 50 or slightly above. Got to thinking and I think the problem started after I took the back off and cleaned it real good. So, do you know if there is a way to slow the fan down? I'm wondering what would happen if I'd put a piece of tape or something on the blades? Would that work and, if so, would I be running the risk of burning up the engine or something?
I don't think you would want to slow the fan down and I believe the newest 1502s have two fans for more circulation and I assume a more even temperature throughout the cabinet. The old 1202s had more and bigger vent holes in the back of the cabinets. I'm sure they've figured out they didn't require that much air exchange, plus it made it hard to keep the humidity up. If you feel you don't have enough oxygen in the incubator with the vents closed you can vent your room to have more fresh air come in. If you open the incubator vents more you can also add one or two wicks to the water tray to increase humidity.
If the seal/gasket (http://cutlersupply.com/zen_new51/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_32&products_id=326)around the back piece, that you removed to clean the incubator, was damaged you may have air leaking in and/or out there. Maybe buy a new seal and turn the back into a hinged (http://cutlersupply.com/zen_new51/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_32&products_id=314) door for easy cleanout.
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These four units replaced the GQF and Leahy incubators
Hi John, Wasn't buying parts more expensive than getting the actual unit? I haven't seen parts be cheaper than the whole since the 90's.
thanks.
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These four units replaced the GQF and Leahy incubators
Hi John, Wasn't buying parts more expensive than getting the actual unit? I haven't seen parts be cheaper than the whole since the 90's.
thanks.
Keep in mind I didn't buy all the pieces/parts to build a Dicky or GQF incubators. That would have cost more than buying one assembled. I did buy some of their same parts, since they were readily available and right for the job. In the end the cost of materials was a bit cheaper than buying a new Dicky or GQF cabinet incubator, but these have much more capacity for the money and I believe better quality.
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Thanks, John. I've got socks plugging up the holes in the back and just one of the slide vents barely open. That being said, I think they're still getting enough fresh air because I'm not experiencing any quitters to speak of. I've also added one wick to the tray and just replaced it yesterday because it was smelling moldy. Just hate to use the wicks because they're so expensive. I'll leave the fan alone though. Thanks again.
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Thanks, John. I've got socks plugging up the holes in the back and just one of the slide vents barely open. That being said, I think they're still getting enough fresh air because I'm not experiencing any quitters to speak of. I've also added one wick to the tray and just replaced it yesterday because it was smelling moldy. Just hate to use the wicks because they're so expensive. I'll leave the fan alone though. Thanks again.
Old socks make good wicks too. I've set a small wood dowel or whatever works across the top of the water pans and draped on old sock or other cotton cloth over it with the ends in the water. ;)
Also, I use City Water in my incubators. I contains some chlorine and doesn't leave the residue in the pans and on the float valves that my well water would.
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Thank you John!! I'm gonna try both those. I've got plenty of old socks and I put bleach in the waterers outside to keep the slime and algae outta then. I'm gonna add some bleach to the water pan and reservoir and see how that works! Thanks again.
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Keep in mind I didn't buy all the pieces/parts to build a Dicky or GQF incubators. That would have cost more than buying one assembled.
Ok, that's makes sense, you harvested what you had and bought what you needed. I don't have anything but a Hovabator so I'm looking for a Sears Woodie. Everytime I find one, someone has already beat me to it, so it's been a long search.
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Put a sock in, John. Working like a charm! Had to open all the vents now. I like that a lot better because no doubt there's better circulation now.
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I was looking at the Dickey incubator, it uses a regular Hovabator Wafer (on/off) thermostat. I would have thought it uses your proportional herpostat. Does any manufacturer? Thanks.
http://dickeyincubators.com/partslist.htm
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You can also get the electronic thermostat with the wafer as a back up in the dickey. Which is the one I would recommend, mine holds amazingly steady with only a couple tenths of degree fluctuations. Same with the humidity, it varies a percent or two at times but holds steady around 45%.
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Thanks Russ, I see that listed as the 76.95 kit opposed to the Complete Wafer Kit for 24.95. They have a lot of options, I guess I need to call to figure it all out.
Best Regards
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They are very nice and helpful from my experience dealing with them. I had it in 3 days from when I ordered it, and saved a couple hundred from what a GQF sportsman cost also.