DIY incubator. Detailed diagram, drawings with photos and videos. Do-it-yourself incubator made of foam plastic How to make an incubator from foam plastic with your hands

If you want to buy an egg incubator for yourself, but you don’t have the money for this device, since this equipment is professional. There are many homemade incubators on the Internet, but they are difficult to make and require a lot of materials. I'll show you one good idea, how to make an incubator with your own hands and not spend a lot of money on its materials. In such an incubator, your chicks will hatch within 21 days.

Required materials and tools:
- foam boxes
- socket with light bulb
- 4 wooden blocks
- fabric is highly breathable
- heat and humidity sensor
- hacksaw for metal
- screws
- knife
- a regular photo frame with glass
- electrical tape or tape
- construction stapler
- water container

Step 1: First, we need to measure the dimensions of our box. The sizes may be different for everyone, it depends on what kind of box you have.

Step 2: From wooden blocks, you need to make a frame like this. The height of the frame should be slightly larger than the height of the container you chose for water.

Step 3: Now we take a fabric that allows air to pass through well. Lay the fabric on the work surface and cut it a little with the remainder to stretch it.

Step 4: Next, stretch the fabric and secure it to paper clips using a stapler, or for those who don’t have one, use small nails.

Step 5: Drill a small hole in one wall of the box for the chuck. It should be higher than the screen so that the light bulb does not come into contact with it. The power of the light bulb depends on the size of the box. For example, the box size is 30*25 cm, a 10-40 W light bulb is enough.

Step 6: Next, you need to insert the socket into the hole and screw in the light bulb. The light bulb should not come into contact with the foam box.

Step 7: Now you need to cut 2 holes in the wall of the box and 4 more in the lids.

Step 8: To observe what is happening in the incubator you need to make glass. We cut out a window on the lid for glass.

Step 9: Disassemble the photo frame and secure the glass with electrical tape.

Step 10: Now let's start assembling. Place a container of water at the bottom of the box. Put up a screen. Install the air humidity sensor and place the eggs on a cloth. Close the lid.

You can breed poultry either using a hen, if available, or using an incubator. Most breeders prefer to use these machines. Incubators are like industrial type, and homemade. Later in the article we will tell you in more detail what and how to do to achieve the desired result.

Creating an incubator using your own hands is quite simple and even an inexperienced poultry farmer can do it. U homemade cars there is enough a large number of advantages:

• low cost;
• reliability;
• easy to do;
• It is possible to create a design for the required number of eggs.

Don’t think that there are just a few homemade devices; in fact, there are a lot of them. People even use materials that seem to have outlived their useful life, for example: old refrigerators, boxes, buckets, basins.

A very large number of poultry farmers are engaged in breeding young animals at home, and as mentioned above, not every farm has hens capable of hatching chickens. Situations often arise that young animals must be obtained by a certain date.

Good to know. In some companies that deal with similar machines, you can buy a kit and make a home incubator. However, many people have problems with lever flipping trays, which are not so easy for poultry farmers to assemble without special skills.

In this case, making an incubator is much easier if you have the appropriate diagrams or drawings.

Creating a machine for hatching chickens is considered the most effective option, compared to purchasing an industrial type device. In the first option, it is easy to take into account the features of the place where the incubator will be located, the individuality of the design, as well as the conditions for breeding domestic birds. In addition to the benefits already listed homemade devices have the following advantages:

• it is easy to maintain specified microclimate parameters to ensure a high percentage of chick survival;
• versatility, can be adapted for breeding any poultry, including for a number exotic species(ostriches, parrots);
• Energy resources are used economically.

An important feature of home incubators, which are installed according to individual drawings, is that they are manufactured using various auxiliary materials, also already in operation. It is important to remember that they must satisfy sanitary requirements so that the young birds can develop successfully.

Poultry farmers themselves most often choose one of the most popular models of hand-made incubators:

• reworking a refrigerator that has fallen out of working order;
• carton boxes;
• foam sheets;
• plywood or wooden boards.

It is absolutely not necessary to make an incubator from the materials presented above. Any poultry farmer can decide for himself how and from what to create a useful machine. True, it is worth considering the point that it is necessary to choose the correct dimensions of the device and take into account some factors, namely, how many eggs will be laid, and where to mount the lamps to heat the incubation chamber.

To make a high-quality machine, you need to clearly calculate its dimensions. These parameters will depend on the planned production volumes on the farm, and, again, on the amount of incubation material that will be provided at a time. The second indicator is a priority.

The average dimensions of the device are 45-47 x 30-40 cm (in length and width) and can accommodate eggs in the following quantities, of course, approximately:

• goose - 40 pieces;
• turkey, duck - 55 pieces;
• chicken - 70 pieces;
• quail - 200 pieces.

The size of the machine will be influenced by the type of heating system and the location of the incandescent lamps. The materials that will be used to make the incubator also play a big role.

1. When choosing workpieces, it is important to take into account the fact that all materials must be dry, free of dirt, paint and grease; the presence of mold on them is unacceptable.
2. No matter what material is chosen, the assembly and cladding of the frame is carried out in such a way as to prevent any heat loss from the inside. Any cracks must be sealed with a sealant.
3. The incubator should have a specially allocated space for water containers (they help maintain humidity at the required level).
4. To maintain the temperature regime, take lamps with a power of 25 W (1 piece), their quantity is 4 - 5 pieces. To ensure that the heat is evenly distributed inside the chamber, one lamp should be installed at the bottom of the device.
5. There must be several exhaust holes.
6. To organize control over the incubation process, it is necessary to provide an inspection window, which will be made in the upper wall of the unit. You will also need a good thermometer.

When starting work on creating an incubator, it is important to remember that the result should be a machine that provides the conditions necessary for the development of embryos in eggs and the hatching of healthy young animals from them in due time.

If we talk about the design and equipment of the unit, then conditions must be created in it similar to those created by a hen for future offspring. The most important indicators here are temperature and humidity.

When designing the device, it must be remembered that the breeder must be able to control temperature and humidity without any obstacles.

Good to know. Incubation of most eggs is the most popular types poultry is carried out at temperatures from +37.1 to +39°C.

After placing the material in the unit, it is heated to the maximum, which is different types theirs, and by the time the chicks are born, they reduce it to the required minimum. You can get acquainted with the temperature for different types of birds in the following table.

Temperature and humidity indicator for egg incubation

Name of birds	Duration in days, temperature in °C, humidity %
	I period	II period	III period	IV period
Chickens	1 – 6 days	7 – 11 days	12 – 20 days	20 – 21 days
Ducks	1 – 7 days	7 – 14 days	15 – 25 days	26 – 28 days
Geese	1 – 2 day	3 – 4 day	5 – 10 day	10 – 27 day
				28 - 30 days
Turkeys	1 – 7 days	8 – 14 days	15 – 25 days	16 – 25 days
Guinea fowl		3 – 14 days	15 – 24 days	Day 25
				26 – 28 days
Quail	1 – 2 day	3 – 15 days	16 – 17 days	Absent

Before starting work on creating a machine, you need to decide on the basic materials for manufacturing. You can take large pieces of foam or a simple cardboard box. An unnecessary refrigerator will also do. The main factor when choosing is thermal insulation property material.

Good to know. Foam plastic structures will have the lowest heat loss, but a cardboard box cannot boast of such a characteristic.

Heating the incubator chamber also plays an important role. To maintain the required temperature, lamps or heating devices are used, but you can track the indicators using a thermometer.

Turning the incubation material over is a very painstaking and burdensome job, so it is recommended to automate the process, which will significantly save time. Most often, turning mechanisms are installed on large machines, into which 200 or more eggs are laid.

Depending on which model needs to be made, the following tools are used:

• an old disused refrigerator, a cardboard box, plywood (boards);
• foam sheets;
• incandescent lamps with a power of 25 - 40 W. The required quantity is determined by the size of the machine;
• egg trays, they are made from metal mesh, wood or plastic;
• thermometer and fan;
• if you are installing an automatic incubator, then do not forget about the thermostat; it is made of bimetallic plates and barometric sensors;
• use a hygrometer to monitor the humidity level;
• working tools (pliers, knife, insulation tape, saw, etc.)

How to determine the optimal incubator size? — mini, for 100, 500, 1000 eggs

Most often, household farmers use incubators that can hold about a hundred eggs with cells having a diameter of 45 mm and a depth of 60 - 80 mm (for laying egg products).

Such structures have a size of about 60x60 cm and a weight of 3 kg. If desired, the machine is made universal, due to replaceable grid trays with cells different sizes. As a result, in the same incubator you can hatch not only chickens, but also geese, guinea fowl, turkeys, ducks or quails.

Get to know the sizes various types machines and their capacity can be found in the following table.

Capacity and dimensions of incubators

If you don’t want to buy an incubator, but your farm has one old refrigerator, then you can give him new life. In the former food storage, the set temperature is ideally maintained, which is facilitated by the walls of the refrigerator, which have thermal insulating properties.

It’s very easy to place trays of eggs in place of the shelves, and thanks to the fastening grooves along the inner walls of the chamber, all the product loads are evenly distributed along the height of the machine. The volume of the refrigerator is enough to install water tanks underneath, with the help of which the maintenance of humidity is regulated.

Any incubator should be equipped with at least the simplest ventilation system. It will exchange air inside the car, help maintain temperature conditions and regulate humidity to create ideal conditions suitable for hatching chicks.

The optimal ventilation speed is 5 m/sec, and a fan must move the air mass. Air holes are made (drilled) on the top and bottom of the refrigerator.

To prevent air from entering under the casing, the holes are equipped with plastic or metal tubes having the required diameter. When partially or completely blocked, ventilation is regulated.

The easiest way to heat inner chamber This is to use incandescent lamps (4 pieces 25W, 2 pieces 40W). The lamps are distributed evenly at the bottom and top of the machine. When installing lighting fixtures from below, it is important to remember that they should not interfere with water trays.

An important part of the incubator is the thermostat; there are three types:

• bimetallic plates;
• thermometer having a mercury base and an electrode;
• barometric sensor.

With the help of the first one closes electrical circuit, as soon as the desired temperature is reached, the second switches off the heating, the third closes the circuit as soon as excessive pressure arises.

During the incubation process, eggs must be turned several times a day. IN natural conditions This function is performed by the chicken; a special mechanism is required here.

The work is performed by an electric motor, which activates a rod that transmits a motor impulse to the egg tray. To create such a mechanism you need:

• make a gearbox from the bottom of the chamber;
• make a wooden frame that will hold the trays. Fastening is carried out in such a way that the trays are tilted 60° to the door and the same in the opposite direction;
• the gearbox must be firmly fixed;
• connect the rod connected to the egg tray to the electric motor.

It remains to talk in more detail about how to convert a refrigerator into an incubator:

1. The ceiling of the unit is equipped with holes where heating lamps will be inserted and through holes for ventilation.
2. At least 3 holes with a diameter of 1.5 cm are drilled from below.
3. To better retain heat, it is recommended to line the refrigerator walls with foam plastic.
4. A thermostat is attached to the outer part, and the inner part is equipped with a sensor;
5. To organize the circulation of air masses, 1-2 fans are attached next to the light bulbs (on top) (computer fans are also suitable);
6. At the door former refrigerator cut out a small viewing window and cover it with glass; you can use transparent plastic.

DIY incubator from the refrigerator: video

Using a cardboard box is a very cheap way to make an incubator, but don't expect the resulting structure to be durable and last for centuries. The work is performed in the following order:

1. It is necessary to take a box, the dimensions of which are calculated based on the amount of planned incubation products. The inside of the box is covered with several layers of paper or felt.
2. Holes are made where the electrical wiring will come out. WITH inside attach 25W light bulbs in the amount of 3 pieces. They should be 15 cm higher than the laying of incubation materials. There are existing gaps, even where the wiring is sealed with cotton wool, but it is important not to forget about the presence of holes for ventilation.
3. Production of wooden trays for eggs and mounting rails (for installing trays), doors.
4. Place a thermometer inside the incubator, place a container of water at the bottom, and cut a viewing window on the side of the box.

DIY incubator from a cardboard box: video

The most popular and convenient material for installing an incubator is polystyrene foam. Its cost is very low, moreover, the sheets have excellent thermal insulation characteristics, and the resulting structure will not be very bulky and heavy.

Making an incubator from polystyrene foam

1. You need to take a foam sheet of a suitable size and divide it into 4 identical pieces, from which the sides of the incubator will be made.
2. The second sheet is divided in half, and one is divided into two, so that one sheet has a width of 60 cm, and the second 40 cm. The bottom is made from a 50x40 cm blank, and the lid is made from a 50x60 sheet.
3. A 12x12 cm hole is cut in the lid for a window and covered with glass or plastic.
4. The four parts are glued together to form a box, and after the glue has hardened, the bottom is attached. The sheet is carefully smeared with glue along the edge and then inserted into the main workpiece.
5. After making the box, it must be covered with tape to make the structure rigid.
6. Now the bars are cut out from the same polystyrene foam and have dimensions of 6x4 cm (height and width), they are glued inside the box on the bottom along the long sides.
7. Ventilation holes are made in the short walls, spaced 1 cm from the bottom, with the same distance from each other, in the amount of three pieces. The best thing this work make with a soldering iron.
8. Styrofoam blocks are glued to the edges of the lid to secure the lid more tightly.
9. The outer part of the lid is equipped with a thermostat, and its sensor is fixed inside at a distance of 1 cm from the eggs.
10. When installing trays with incubation material, it is important to remember that the distance between them and the walls should be from 4 to 5 cm, and that ventilation is carried out in normal mode.

Homemade incubator with your own hands with a revolution: video

As you can see from the article, making an incubator with your own hands is quite simple. Such devices have different dimensions and equipment, it all depends on how many chicks are planned to be hatched. Before installing the machine, you need to carefully think through the project so that you get a working unit.

If you are seriously involved in raising poultry, then you understand how important it is today to have a modern apparatus that will help you obtain a large number of high-quality young animals. Such devices have long and successfully played the role of a mother hen. But not all farmers want or can purchase this device in the store. Many people are interested in how to create an incubator with their own hands. Each of the available materials is capable of making such a design.

With maximum precision, lay the required number of eggs and “hatch” them in artificial conditions, close to natural, is quite possible if you have on the farm useful device- home incubator.

A homemade incubator has a number of undeniable advantages. It is not only economical, very reliable and simple, but also allows you to make a design designed for a large number of eggs. Everyone is able to choose the desired dimensions of the structure and provide for the presence of additional functions in it.

There are a large number of variants of such devices created folk craftsmen according to our own drawings. When assembling, you should be careful, since the slightest violation of the temperature or humidity level can subsequently cause damage to the eggs.

Let's look at the most common and popular devices among farmers in our country.

From plywood

One of the most unpretentious and at the same time functional devices can be called an incubator, the design of which belongs to Professor N.P. Tretyakov.

To make it you will need sheets of plywood. The walls in this apparatus are double. Free space between them should be filled with dry sawdust, which will provide excellent thermal insulation. The top and bottom of the walls must be covered with wooden blocks.

The top cover is made removable. It also, according to the drawings, provides for a window with double glass. You need to glue a flannelette gasket on the upper edge of the device body - this will make the lid cover the incubator more tightly. Strips are nailed along the edges of the lid. For ventilation, 5 holes are made on each side. In order to be able to sometimes cover them, a plywood strip is nailed to the lid with the ability to move it in the grooves of the bars.

Inside the device, electrical wiring is mounted on the walls - with sockets for screwing in light bulbs. The slats for positioning the tray are also nailed. There are also 9 holes in the floor for ventilation. You need to place plates of water on it. The egg tray is created in the form of a frame, to which a metal mesh is nailed from below. They can be moved along the tray using a special slider. The temperature in the plywood incubator is initially set at 38.5 - 39 degrees.

From foam plastic

Polystyrene foam is highly valued for its pronounced thermal insulation properties. You need to make a box from its sheets. Here the available one on the farm will help you adhesive tape. The edges should be cut to the required size and securely fastened in the shape of a box. This type of device will allow you to achieve increased thermal insulation.

Inside it, it is permissible to use light bulbs with a power of 20 W, which will provide an excellent heating system. Experts consider the option of placing light bulbs to be more budget-friendly than using heaters for the same purposes. The light bulbs should be inserted into the top cover - the distance from the eggs should be at least 15 cm.

The tray can be made from wooden planks of a suitable size or you can take a ready-made structure. It is best to place it in the middle - so the distance to the vessels with water and heating elements will be the same. When making a device from foam plastic, take care to leave space between the walls and the tray. Because this is important to ensure normal air circulation. The axis on which the tray is mounted should be inserted through the upper wall of the device. The handle of the axis must be brought out - it will allow regular rotation of the incubation material. It is recommended to make the trays from a dense mesh with cells measuring 2 by 5 cm.

The thermometer is placed so that the scale is on the outside. Tin baths for water are placed between the light bulbs. To increase the area of ​​its evaporation, it is advised to take a couple of pieces of copper wire and secure it to the baths. You will need to put pieces of material on top of them.

The ventilation and humidification system in such a device is created using 10 holes - in the upper and lower walls.

From an old refrigerator

An excellent choice to make a homemade incubator according to the drawings would be to use an old refrigerator. It is an almost ready-to-use device that will only need to be slightly modified.

To make the process of incubating eggs more convenient, you first need to remove the freezer from the device. Instead, 4 lamps with a power of 100 W each are placed inside. To exercise vigilant control over the process of raising young animals, small windows are designed to be cut out in the refrigerator door. At the bottom you need to install a lamp whose power is 25 W. Directly above it, tin or glass partition. In the future, a vessel with water and a piece of wet material will be installed on it in order to increase evaporation inside the device. The egg tray should be placed slightly higher. A thermometer should be placed at the same level, which will help control the temperature in the home incubator.

There are several types of schemes for creating such a device based on an old refrigerator. The one described above is the simplest of them.

If desired, you can create a device that includes the function of rotating the incubation material. To do this, you need to start by creating a more rigid body. Boards should be attached to the side walls and connected at the bottom using bars. Bearings must be placed in the recesses made in the boards. Then trays or frames for eggs are installed. To make regular revolutions possible, a cable should be attached to the frames, the end of which is brought out and connected to the engine. It is recommended to install the fan in back wall device. Each refrigerator has a special gutter through which water is drained. It is recommended to install it in the opposite direction and supply water to the fan at the moment the young animals begin to hatch.

From a box or box

How to make an incubator with your own hands from an ordinary box? Creating such simplest design will not be a problem even for a novice farmer.

One of the options for creating a home device and cardboard box is next. You need to take an unnecessary box, ideally its dimensions are 56 by 47 by 58 cm. Inside, you need to glue paper or felt in several layers to the cardboard. The viewing window is made in the upper wall - its dimensions will be about 12 by 10 cm.

For wiring, you need to make small holes, since you will need to install 3 light bulbs, each of which has a power of 25 W. At a height of at least 15 cm from the surface of the eggs, heat transfer lamps are installed. To prevent the resulting heat from evaporating, the holes where the wires are placed should be sealed with cotton wool. Next, trays are made of wood, slats for them and a reliable door.

To maintain a normal temperature inside the device and be able to monitor it, do not forget about a thermometer. A bowl of water will help ensure sufficient humidity. For the first 12 hours from the moment the incubation material is placed inside, the temperature should be maintained at 41 degrees, gradually it should be lowered to 39. It is not recommended to place such a device on the floor; it is better to install it on bars up to 20 cm in size. This will allow natural air circulation.

Video “Incubator made of polystyrene foam”

Video instructions that will allow you to easily make a polystyrene foam incubator at home.

Manufacturing instructions

Whatever available material or item you use to create a device at home, there is certain rules creating a household incubator.

The tools and materials that you cannot do without during the work are cardboard or wooden box, sheets of plywood, plastic or polystyrene foam, unnecessary refrigerator, sealant, screws, corners and metal mesh, light bulbs, a well-sharpened knife, foil or paper, glass for creating a viewing window, trays for placing eggs.

After choosing a suitable box, refrigerator or other materials, you can get to work.

To prevent heat leakage from the structure, existing cracks are securely sealed with sealant. For the reliability and durability of the device, when choosing the option with a cardboard box, it is recommended to seal it by covering it with thick paper or plywood. An important component of the incubator are baths filled with water. They are made based on the overall size of the device area and placed on the bottom.

Trays, as practice shows, can be created from planed boards. The height of the sides should ideally be about 70 mm. Bottom part should be covered using a metal mesh with cells measuring 10 by 10. Inside you should also make guides from metal corners - trays will be placed on them.

As a heating system, 4–5 light bulbs are installed in any of the structures. The power of each is 25 watts. So that heat can spread evenly throughout the structure, it is permissible to attach one of the lamps at the bottom.

In a homemade device it is necessary increased attention pay attention to installation automatic system heating Heating elements should be placed without a fan - under the incubation material, above it, on top, on the side, or even along the perimeter of the structure. The distance of future young birds to the heating element depends on the type of heater you create. Light bulbs are most often used - in this case the distance should not be less than 25 cm. If you choose nichrome wire, then 10 cm is enough.

Drafts should not be allowed - this can lead to the death of the entire brood. In order for the embryos to fully develop, there must always be a certain temperature inside each testicle, and the error is not allowed by more than half a degree.

It is permissible to use bimetallic plates, electric contactors, and barometric sensors as a regulator.

The electric contactor is mercury thermometer, into the tube of which an electrode should be soldered. The second electrode is a mercury column. An electrical circuit closes when the mercury heats up and moves along glass tube. This is how the owner of a homemade device receives a signal to turn off the heating system.

Bimetallic platinum is a budget and not particularly reliable option. Because when it heats up, it bends and touches the second electrode, completing the circuit.

The barometric sensor is a sealed cylinder of elastic metal filled with ether. One of the electrodes in this design is the cylinder itself, the second is the screw. It should be fixed a millimeter from the bottom. At the moment of heating, ether vapor presses on the bottom, it bends and closes the circuit. This signals that the heating elements are turned off.

When installing a heating system in any hatchery incubator, take safety precautions. After all, all homemade devices are quite fire hazardous.

Video “Incubator from the refrigerator”

Video about how the idea of ​​​​creating a simple incubator from an old refrigerator was realized. This design is interesting because the master used good automation. Look what he did.

DIY incubator at home with drawings.

You can make a homemade incubator with your own hands, even from an ordinary cardboard box, and there is nothing complicated about it.

In this article we will look at some of the most simple options homemade incubators with drawings, photos and videos, which tell in detail how to make an incubator.

When the temperature rises above the set value, the relay is activated and turns off the heating elements. When the temperature drops below the set value, the relay turns them on again. It is quite difficult to make a thermostat yourself; it is easier to buy it at a hardware store.

Egg trays.

To place the eggs in the incubator, trays are used, since the incubation process requires periodically (2 - 3 times a day) turning the eggs, this must be done manually or using an automatic turning mechanism.

Air circulation.

The air temperature near the heating elements will be slightly higher than in the far corners of the incubator chamber; to ensure uniform heating of the eggs, you need to install a small, low-power fan that will provide circulation warm air inside the incubator.

Humidity in the incubator.

The incubation process requires maintaining humidity in the incubator chamber; to do this, it is enough to place containers of water on the bottom of the incubator.

This is the simplest version of a homemade incubator; any thick cardboard box will do, for example from household appliances. The walls of the box must be insulated with any available thermal insulation material.

For convenient control, during the incubation process, a small plexiglass window can be made in the wall of the housing.

For heating, you can use 2 - 3 electric lamps of 25 W each; the lamps must be connected to a 220 V network through a thermostat.

Egg trays can be made from metal welded mesh, plastic, wooden slats, to install trays on the walls of the housing, you need to install side rails. To evenly distribute warm air in the incubator, it is advisable to install a small, low-power fan; you can adapt a 12 V cooler from the computer power supply.

To maintain humidity in the incubator, you must place a small, wide container of water at the bottom of the box.

How to make an incubator from an old refrigerator.

An old refrigerator can also be used as an incubator; the refrigerator body is ideal for this; it already has thermal insulation and a convenient sealed door. All that remains is to remove the freezer and install heating lamps with a thermostat, a fan, a container of water, a control thermometer and egg trays on the bottom and top.

To avoid turning eggs by hand, you can make an egg turning device.

The operation of the incubator needs to be tested; it must accurately maintain the set temperature on the thermostat, after which eggs can be laid and incubation carried out.

For successful egg incubation it is very important to constantly maintain desired temperature, if suddenly the lights turn off at home, you need to put a pan with hot water, and cover the incubator body with a blanket. This will allow you to maintain permissible temperature for a while until the lights are turned on at home.

Drawings and manufacturing description in the article.

How to make an incubator with your own hands from a refrigerator video.

How to make a quail incubator.

To incubate quail eggs, you can use the same incubator as for chicken eggs, it has the same design and works on the same principle.

Quail eggs are much smaller than chicken eggs, and they require less space in the incubator, so you can make an incubator for quails small sizes, the diagram and principle of its operation are the same.

How to make a quail incubator video.

In homestead farms, the use of large incubators industrial production may not be practical due to their large capacity. To raise a small number of poultry, you need compact devices, which you can make with your own hands, using available tools and materials.

We will present several methods for making incubators. However, even a homemade device must meet certain requirements, which you will learn about in this article.

How to make your own chicken egg incubator

Breeding poultry is a fairly profitable activity, but in order to uninterruptedly produce productive young animals, you need to buy or make your own device in which the young animals will be raised.

You will learn how to make an incubator for chicken eggs or quails with your own hands, using available materials, from the sections below.

What to pay attention to

To fully breed young poultry, you should adhere to certain recommendations and requirements regarding the use of the apparatus and its manufacture:

• The temperature at a distance of two centimeters from the eggs should not exceed 38.6 degrees, and minimum temperature is 37.3 degrees;
• Suitable for incubation only fresh eggs, which should not be stored for more than ten days;
• The chamber must be maintained optimal level humidity. Before biting it is 40-60%, and after the start of biting it is 80%. Humidity levels must be reduced before chicks are collected.

The hatching of young poultry also depends on the location of the eggs. They must be placed vertically (sharp end down) or horizontally. If they are located vertically, they should be tilted to the right or left by 45 degrees (when laying goose or duck eggs, the tilt degree is up to 90 degrees).

If the eggs are placed horizontally, they must be turned at least three times a day by 180 degrees. However, it is best to carry out the revolution every hour. A few days before biting, turns are stopped.

Rules

If you are interested in how to make a homemade incubator, you should know that this device is made according to certain rules.

To make it you will need:

1. Body material, which retains heat well (wood or foam). This is necessary so that the temperature inside the device does not change during the hatching process. You can use an old refrigerator, microwave, or even a TV as a housing.
2. For heating they use ordinary lamps (from 25 to 100 W depending on the size of the chamber), and to control the temperature, a regular thermometer is placed inside the device.
3. So that it constantly comes in Fresh air , you need to arrange ventilation. For small devices, it is enough to drill holes in the side walls and bottom, and for large incubators (for example, made from a refrigerator), install several fans (under and above the grille).

Figure 1. Common types of incubators: 1 - with automatic rotation, 2 - mini-incubator, 3 - industrial model

Trays or grates can be purchased or made from metal mesh. It is important that there is space between the trays for free air circulation.

Peculiarities

It is necessary to establish high-quality ventilation in the incubator. Preference should be given forced ventilation, since constant air movement will ensure maintenance of the required temperature and humidity inside.

Figure 1 shows the main types of incubators that can be used for breeding young poultry on a backyard farm.

How to auto-rotate eggs in an incubator

Models without manual turning are not very convenient, since a person needs to constantly monitor the process of hatching chicks and manually turn all the eggs. It is much easier to immediately make a homemade incubator with auto-rotation (Figure 2).

Instructions

There are several options for arranging auto-rotation. For small devices, you can simply equip a movable grid, which is driven by a small roller. As a result, the eggs move slowly and gradually turn over.

Note: Flaw this method The point is that you will still have to control the revolution, since the eggs can simply move from their place, but not turn over.

Roller rotation is considered more modern, for the arrangement of which special rotating rollers are installed under the grille. To prevent shell damage, all rollers are covered mosquito net. However, this method also has significant drawback: to make an auto-rotation system, you will have to take up free space in the camera by installing rollers.

Figure 2. Diagram of automatic egg turning

The best way is considered to be the inversion method, in which the entire tray is tilted 45 degrees at once. The rotation is driven by a special mechanism located outside, and all eggs are guaranteed to warm up.

How to properly lay eggs in an incubator

Incubation of poultry should be carried out taking into account certain features and maintain an optimal breeding regime for young animals. The table in Figure 3 shows the basic requirements for breeding chickens, ducks and geese.

First of all, the correct temperature should be maintained (minimum 37.5 - maximum 37.8 degrees). It is also necessary to regularly check the humidity, determining it by the difference in temperature on the “wet” and “dry” bulbs. If the “wet” bulb shows a temperature of up to 29 degrees, then the humidity is about 60 percent.

Figure 3. Optimal incubation conditions

The breeding regime for young animals must also meet the following requirements:

• Rotation must be done at least 8 times a day;
• When hatching young geese and ducks, the eggs must be periodically cooled using a combined method: the first half of incubation is air-cooled for half an hour, and then irrigated with a weak solution of potassium permanganate;
• During breeding of young animals, the air temperature on the “dry” thermometer should not exceed 34 degrees, and humidity - within 78-90 degrees.

It is important that insufficient warming, regardless of the stage, can slow down the growth and development of embryos, since the chicks absorb and use protein less well. As a result of insufficient warming, most chicks die before hatching, and the surviving chicks hatch later, their umbilical cord does not heal and their abdomen enlarges.

Depending on the stage, underheating can cause some disturbances. In the first stage they include:

• The intestines fill with fluid and blood;
• The kidneys become enlarged and the liver becomes unevenly colored;
• Swelling appears on the neck.

During the second stage, underheating can provoke:

• Swelling of the umbilical ring;
• The intestines fill with bile;
• Enlargement of the heart due to underheating in the last few days of incubation.

Overheating can cause external deformities (eyes, jaws and head), and chicks begin hatching prematurely. If the temperature has been elevated in the last few days, the chicks may be deformed internal organs(heart, liver and stomach) and the walls of the abdominal cavity do not grow together.

Severe and short-term overheating can lead to the fact that the embryo dries to the inside of the shell, the chick will develop swelling and hemorrhages on the skin, and the embryo itself is located with its head in the yolk, which is not normal.

Figure 4. Normal development embryo (left) and possible defects if the humidity regime is violated (right)

Long term exposure high temperatures in the second half of incubation leads to early movement of the embryo in air chamber, and under the shell you can see unused protein. In addition, in the brood there are many chicks that pecked the shell, but died without retracting the yolk.

Violations of the humidity regime can also cause serious problems(Figure 4):

• High humidity causes slow development of embryos, embryos do not use protein well and often die in the middle and end of incubation;
• If the humidity was increased during pecking, the chicks' beaks may begin to stick to the shell, a goiter may develop, and excess fluid may be observed in the intestines and stomach. Swelling and hemorrhages may develop in the neck;
• Increased humidity often causes late hatching and the hatching of lethargic young with a swollen belly and too light down;
• If the humidity was low, the peck begins in the middle part, and the shell membranes are dry and too strong;
• At low humidity small and dry young hatch.

It is especially important to support optimal humidity(80-82%) during the hatching period. It is worth noting that during all hatching periods one should strive to maintain the temperature and humidity conditions that exist during natural incubation.

Figure 5. Possible defects when examined with an ovoscope

The duration of incubation depends on the type of poultry. For example, for meat breed chickens it is 21 days and 8 hours. If the normal regime was maintained, the beginning of pipping begins on the 19th day and 12 hours after laying, the chicks begin to hatch already on the 20th day, and after another 12 hours most of the young appear. During incubation, it is necessary to periodically check with an ovoscope in order to detect damage in time (Figure 5).

What is needed for this

To properly lay eggs, you need to warm up the device in advance and prepare the eggs.

For breeding young animals of any poultry, only eggs that have been stored for no longer than a week in dark room with good ventilation room temperature. Before laying, they must be examined with an ovoscope and specimens without damage, cracks or growths on the shell are selected.

Peculiarities

Only eggs can be placed in the incubator correct form and with a characteristic shell color for a certain type of bird.

In addition, you need to choose the right grill to match the size of the eggs. For example, quail requires a smaller grille, and turkey requires a larger one. It is also necessary to familiarize yourself in advance with the temperature and humidity conditions of incubation for each type of bird.

How to make a homemade incubator from a refrigerator

Very often, home incubators are made from old refrigerators, since the housing of these household appliances is quite spacious and allows large batches of young birds to be hatched at the same time.

See how to make an incubator from a refrigerator with your own hands with detailed instructions, you can in the video.

Instructions

Before starting production, you need to draw up a drawing and plan for connecting all necessary elements. You also need to wash the body and remove all the shelves and freezer from it.

The procedure for making an incubator from an old refrigerator includes the following steps(Figure 6):

• Several holes are drilled in the ceiling for mounting lamps and arranging ventilation;
• The inside of the walls is lined with thin sheets of polystyrene foam to retain heat inside the device longer;
• Trays or grates are installed on the shelves;
• A temperature sensor is placed inside, and the thermostat is brought outside;
• Several ventilation holes are drilled in the lower part of the side walls, and in order to provide more high level air flow, fans are installed at the top and bottom.

Figure 6. Scheme for making a household incubator from an old refrigerator

It is also advisable to cut a small viewing window in the door to make it more convenient to observe the incubation process without opening the door.

How to make an incubator from foam plastic step by step

The body of a homemade device can be made from old box from under a TV or a polystyrene box, strengthening it with a frame of wooden slats. Four porcelain light bulb sockets need to be fixed into the frame. Heating bulbs are screwed into three sockets, and the fourth bulb is used to heat the water in the bath. The power of all light bulbs should not exceed 25 W. Examples and drawings for manufacturing simple models are shown in Figure 7.

Note: The middle lamp is often turned on only at a certain time: from 17 to 23-00. A bath of water to maintain humidity can also be made from scrap materials. For example, using a herring jar and cutting off part of its lid. Water will evaporate better from such a container, and the lid will prevent local overheating.

A grille is installed inside the homemade incubator. The surface of eggs on the grill should be at least 17 centimeters from the light bulb, and for eggs under the grill - at least 15 centimeters.

To measure the temperature inside the chamber, use a regular thermometer. To make it convenient to use the device, its front wall must be made removable and covered with cardboard or other dense material. Twists are used for fastening. Such a removable wall allows you to place trays inside the incubator, place a bath and change the water in it, as well as carry out all other manipulations.

Figure 7. Manufacturing diagrams simple incubators from the refrigerator and box

You need to make a window in the lid that will serve for ventilation and control. temperature conditions. The length of the window is 12 centimeters and the width is 8 centimeters. It is better to cover it with glass, leaving a small gap along the width.

For additional ventilation, three small square holes (1.5 centimeters on each side) should also be made along the long wall near the floor. They must be open at all times for a constant flow of fresh air.

How to make an incubator from a microwave oven

A microwave incubator is made according to the same principle as an appliance from a refrigerator. But it is worth considering that such a device will not fit many eggs, so at home it is used mainly for breeding quails.

When making an incubator from microwave oven some features need to be taken into account(Figure 8):

• The outside of the housing must be lined with thin sheets of foam to stabilize the temperature inside;
• Ventilation holes are left in the upper part, and the door is not insulated or sealed for additional fresh air;
• A tray is installed inside, but since there is not enough space in the chamber for cans of water, a container with liquid for moisturizing is placed directly under the tray.

Figure 8. The procedure for making an incubator from a microwave oven with your own hands

It is also necessary to provide protection against overheating by installing barriers on incandescent lamps.

How to make ventilation in an incubator with your own hands

IN homemade incubator also not provided special system cooling the eggs, as they cool for several minutes during the turning process. During the entire incubation, the temperature should be maintained at 39 degrees.

For ease of use, legs can be attached to the device. And since this equipment is very compact, and the incubation process is not accompanied by secretion unpleasant odors, young poultry can be raised even in a city apartment (Figure 9). The procedure for making a simple homemade incubator is shown in the video.

How to make a humidifier in an incubator

For normal operation of a homemade incubator, you should pour half a glass of water into the bath per day. If you need to increase the humidity level, you can put a rag in the bath, which is washed every two days.

To lay eggs, special slats with gaps between them are placed. The slats should be made rounded on the sides. To make it easier to carry out the coup, you need to leave free space in the tray corresponding to one egg.

Note: Eggs in a homemade incubator are manually turned 180 degrees. It is better if the revolution is carried out up to 6 times a day with an equal time interval (every 2-4 hours).

Figure 9. Drawings for making simple do-it-yourself incubators

To maintain humidity, no devices are provided in the homemade incubator, and this mode is maintained approximately. To evaporate the liquid, it is recommended to install 25 or 15 Watt bulbs. Before hatching begins, the evaporator is not turned on, and if you turn it off too early, the eggs will develop a shell that is too hard, which the chicks will not be able to break.