Do-it-yourself automatic egg incubator: diagrams and drawings, step-by-step video instructions. Do-it-yourself homemade incubator: diagram, drawings. How to make a homemade incubator? How to make a simple incubator at home

A homemade incubator can be made at home. This is quite easy to do. There have been cases when chickens were hatched even just under the switched on table lamp. But it is preferable to make an incubator according to some rules presented below.

Features of creation

Quite a few poultry farmers use factory-made incubators, which, of course, can be purchased, but it will cost much more than if you make a similar design yourself. The frame of this installation is made using wooden blocks; the outside cladding can be made with plywood. For insulation, it is permissible to use polystyrene foam. Under the ceiling of the chamber in the center you need to place an axis on which the tray intended for eggs should be tightly fixed. On the axis, by means of a steel pin, which must be brought out through the top panel, it will be possible to rotate the tray with eggs. It is recommended to use the following dimensions as the dimensions of the tray: 25 x 40 cm, while the height should be 5 cm. This element can be made using a durable steel mesh, the cells of which have dimensions of 2 x 5 cm, the thickness of the wire should be equal to two millimeters.

The bottom of the tray must be covered with a fine mesh based on nylon. The eggs should be laid vertically, with the blunt end facing up. A control thermometer should be installed above the tray intended for eggs, which will prevent contact between objects and the heating element during rotation. The temperature scale should be brought out through the top panel.

Second stage of work

A homemade incubator at the bottom of the case should have four lamps, the power of which is 25 watts each. Each pair of lamps can be protected with a steel sheet, the thickness of which is 1 millimeter. Their installation must be done on two red bricks. In order to ensure the required level of humidity, a water bath must be installed, its size is 10 x 20 x 5 cm. It can be based on steel. U-shaped tapes made of copper wire, fabric should be hung on them, which will significantly increase the evaporation surface. At the next stage, you can start working on the ceiling of the chamber, in which about ten holes are drilled, each with a diameter of 30 mm. When making a homemade incubator, you need to make twelve similar holes in the lower part of it. This system will provide access to fresh air.

Features of manufacturing the incubator body

The base of the body may be old refrigerator. Such a chamber is already insulated, which eliminates the need to carry out work on its compaction. It will be necessary to supplement the structure with legs to provide it with more impressive rigidity; two boards need to be fastened to the body; in the lower part they must be connected with bars; screws can be used as a fastening element.

It is recommended to make a recess in the board for flanges. A bearing is installed in the central part. To prevent the axle from moving, you need to install a threaded bushing. Fastening is done using long screws to the axle. The frames must consist of two elements, each of which has projections necessary to hold the trays in the position in which they were installed.

When a homemade incubator is made, a cable must be threaded into the upper hole, which is fixed to the engine. The inside of the housing should be lined with insulation, which can be fiberglass. Sections of plastic tubes must be installed in all ventilation holes. Refrigerators have a gutter for water drainage; when making this design, it must be mounted in the opposite direction.

Features of compaction

Homemade incubators, created with your own hands, are quite often made using wooden blocks; the outside of them must be sheathed with sheet steel, while the inside of the structure must be insulated with polystyrene foam; other insulating material can also be used.

Heating system

It is important to position the heating elements in the structure correctly. If you make the installation yourself, then this work can be done in different ways: from the side, from above, under the egg, above it or around the perimeter. The distance from the heating element will depend on the type of heater. If light bulbs are used, the distance to the eggs should be 25 centimeters, but not less. If used nichrome wire, then ten centimeters will be enough. It is necessary to exclude the occurrence of drafts, otherwise the brood will die.

Thermostat

Do-it-yourself homemade incubators are made to ensure a certain temperature regime, which must be maintained within half a degree. You can use bimetallic plates, barometric sensors, and electrical contactors as a heat regulator.

Comparison of homemade thermostats

The electrical contactor is mercury thermometer, in the tube of which an electrode is installed. The second electrode is a column of mercury. During the heating stage, mercury begins to move through the glass tube, reaching the electrode, which closes the electrical circuit. This becomes a signal to turn off the heating. If we talk about a metal plate, it is considered the cheapest, but also the most unreliable method. Its fundamental effect is that when heated, the plate begins to bend and touches the second electrode, thereby closing the circuit.

A homemade thermostat for an incubator can be a barometric sensor, which is made in the form of a cylinder made of elastic steel, its height is less than its diameter, and it is also filled with ether. One of the electrodes is a cylinder, while the other cylinder is a screw fixed near the bottom. Ether vapors increase pressure during the heating process, and the bottom begins to bend. This completes the circuit and turns off the heating element. The thermostat can also be purchased at the store.

Humidity control

A homemade refrigerator incubator must be equipped with a humidity controller; for this it is recommended to use a psychrometer, which can be purchased at a veterinary pharmacy or hardware store. As alternative solution You can make a humidity controller using two thermometers, which should be mounted on one board. The nose part of one thermometer should be wrapped in a sterile medical bandage, which is secured in three layers, the other end should be lowered into a container filled with distilled water. The second thermometer should remain dry. By the difference in the readings of these thermometers, you can determine the level of humidity inside, thus, a homemade automatic incubator can even be compared with one purchased in a store.

Incubation mode

Immediately before incubation begins, the system must be analyzed for reliability for three days, during which it is necessary to try to set the required temperature. It is especially important to ensure that there is no overheating, this is due to the fact that the embryo dies if it is exposed to a temperature of 41 degrees for ten minutes. It is necessary to take into account that an industrial incubator works on the principle of turning eggs every two hours, but it will be enough to perform this procedure about three times a day.

In order to increase the hatchability percentage, it is necessary to ensure proper storage eggs This must be done in a horizontal position, and they will need to be turned over periodically; the external conditions must be special, so the temperature should not be higher than twelve degrees, while the humidity should not be more than 80 percent. An egg should not be used if it is damaged, its surface is uneven or rough, or its shape is irregular. When using an ovoscope, it is necessary to exclude the use of eggs that have two yolks, in addition, eggs that have a large air chamber should not be used.

Homemade incubators, the drawings of which must be studied before starting work, must be used correctly. Before placing an egg in the incubator, it must not be washed, as this will damage the outer shell, which has certain properties. Eggs that are too large should also not be used for incubation. You need to start monitoring the process after the eggs have been inside the cubicle for five days; you need to use the same ovoscope for this.

Different temperature conditions for different bird species

A homemade foam incubator must operate in different temperature conditions to different types birds. For example, a chicken egg must be kept at a temperature of 39 degrees for two days, from the 3rd to the 18th day the temperature must be maintained at 38.5 degrees, from the 19th to the 21st day the temperature must be maintained at 37.5 degrees. As for the duck egg, from the 1st to the 12th day the temperature should be maintained within 37.7 degrees, from the 13th to 24th day - 37.4 degrees, but from the 25th to 28th day, this indicator should be at around 37.2 degrees.

Before you make a homemade incubator, you need to prepare the materials and choose the best ones. To carry out work, you can use not only a camera, but also a box and a suitable box. The product can be based not only on wood, but also on plastic and cardboard. Sheathing can be done not only with plywood, but also with fairly thick paper.

In order to prevent heat loss, all cracks must be sealed with sealant. Trays can be made of planed boards, the height of the sides should be equal to seventy millimeters. The entire structure should resemble a whatnot. In order to heat the installation, you can use five light bulbs, one of which can be installed from below, which will ensure even heat distribution.

The thermometer should never be removed from the unit; this will allow you to monitor the conditions in the incubator. An observation window must be provided in the upper part; it is necessary in order to additionally control the egg. During the work process, an incubator diagram will be needed. A homemade incubator will be made using the drawing correctly. Good luck!

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 large number 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 chick hatching machine 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 a number of 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, which have also already been used. 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;
• cardboard 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. Also big role The materials that will be used to make the incubator also play a 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 are here temperature regime 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. The eggs of most of the most popular poultry species are incubated at temperatures from +37.1 to +39°C.

After placing the material in the unit, it is heated to a maximum, which varies from species to species, and by the time the chicks are born, it is reduced 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

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 the thermal insulation property of the 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 mounted automatic incubator, then do not forget about the thermostat, it is made of bimetallic plates, barometric sensors;
• use a hygrometer to monitor the humidity level;
• working tools (pliers, knife, insulating 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 the farm has an old refrigerator, then you can give it 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 the inner chamber 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 number of planned incubation products. Interior 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 comfortable material for installation of the incubator - polystyrene foam. Its cost is very small, and 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. Best 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.

On farms or individual farms, there is often a need to raise chickens at home. Of course, you can use laying hens for these purposes, but raising chickens naturally at home will take a lot of time, and the offspring will be small.

Therefore, many people use an incubator to breed chickens at home. Of course there are industrial devices, used for large industrial production, but for small farms simple incubators are also perfect, which you can easily make with your own hands.

Today we will tell you how to make an incubator with your own hands, from the simplest to the more complex.

How to make your own incubator from a cardboard box?

The simplest incubator for raising chickens at home, which you can make with your own hands, is a design made from cardboard box. It is done this way:

• cut a small window in the side of the cardboard box;
• Pass three sockets intended for incandescent lamps inside the box. For this purpose, it is necessary at an equal and short distance make three holes at the top of the box;
• lamps for the incubator should have a power of 25 W and be located at a distance of about 15 centimeters from the eggs;
• in the front part of the structure you should make a door with your own hands, and they must correspond to the parameters of 40 by 40 centimeters. Door should fit as tightly as possible to the body incubator so that the structure does not release heat to the outside;
• take small boards and make a special tray out of them in the form of a wooden frame;
• place a thermometer on the side of such a tray, and under the tray itself place a container of water measuring 12 by 22 centimeters;
• up to 60 pieces should be placed in such a tray chicken eggs and from the first day of using the incubator for its intended purpose, do not forget to turn them.

So, we looked at the simplest version of a do-it-yourself incubator. If it is necessary to raise chickens in minimum quantity at home, such a design will be quite sufficient.

High complexity incubator

Now let's look at how to make a more complex incubator with your own hands. But for this you need to comply with the following formalities:

• if the chamber openings for ventilation are closed, then the chamber must be completely sealed;
• when opening ventilation holes the air should be mixed evenly, otherwise the temperature inside the chamber will not be uniform and this is very bad for the chickens;
• It is advisable to equip the incubator with forced ventilation.

You can also equip your home incubator with a special device that can automatically turn the tray along with the eggs and save you from this work. So, Eggs should be turned once an hour with your own hands. In the absence of a special device, the eggs are turned over at least every three hours. Such devices should not come into contact with eggs.

For the first half of the day, the temperature in the incubator should be up to 41 degrees, then it is gradually reduced to 37.5, respectively. The required level of relative humidity is about 53 percent. Before hatching the chicks, the temperature will need to be lowered further, and the importance should be increased to 80 percent.

How to make an electronically controlled incubator with your own hands?

A more advanced model is an incubator equipped electronically controlled. It can be done like this:

• the frame for the incubator is made on the basis wooden beams, then it is sheathed with plywood on all sides;
• the axle is attached to the top of the chamber, then a tray is attached to it for a maximum of 50 eggs;
• The dimensions of the tray are 250 by 400 mm, its height is 50 mm;
• the tray is made on the basis of a 2 mm metal mesh;
• The inside of the tray is covered with nylon mesh. The eggs are laid out so that their sharp end is at the bottom;
• for heating, take incandescent lamps (4 pieces) with a power of 25 W;
• to create the required level of humidity in the chamber you will need a white tin bath measuring 100 by 200 and 50 mm, filled with water. Three copper arcs made of wire in the shape of the letter P, 80 mm high, are soldered to the bath;
• you need to attach a fabric to the wire, which can increase the surface area for water evaporation;
• To get air into the chamber in the ceiling, you need to make 8 holes with a diameter of about 20 mm each. 10 holes of the same size should be made in the bottom panel. Thus, air will enter the chamber from below, be heated by incandescent lamps, and when exiting through the upper holes it will heat the eggs;
• install in the incubation chamber special temperature sensor, which will regulate the temperature level.

During the first six days of operation, the temperature inside the incubator should be kept at 38 degrees. A then it can be gradually reduced by half a degree per day. In addition, you will need to turn the tray of eggs over.

Once every three days you will need to pour water into a special bath and wash the fabric in soapy water to remove salt deposits.

Self-assembly of a multi-tier incubator

An incubator of this type is heated automatically by electricity; it must operate from a regular 220 V network. To heat the air you will need six spirals, which taken from the tile insulation of the iron and are connected in series to each other.

To support comfortable temperature In this type of chamber you need to take a relay equipped with an automatic contact measuring device.

This incubator has the following parameters:

• height 80 centimeters;
• depth 52 centimeters;
• width 83 centimeters respectively.

The construction looks like this:

• the frame is made on the basis of pine bars 40 mm long;
• the bars are covered on all sides with plywood with a thickness of 3 mm;
• free space between the block and the plywood filled with dry shavings or sawdust, you can also take foam plastic to insulate the structure;
• the door in the form of a separate panel is attached to the rear wall of the incubator frame;
• hinged type canopies are used as fasteners.

Inside, the incubator is divided into three compartments by installing three partitions. The side compartments should be wider than the middle compartment. Their width should be 2700 mm, and the width of the middle compartment should be 190 mm, respectively. The partitions are made from 4 mm thick plywood. There should be a gap of approximately 60 mm between them and the ceiling of the structure. Then corners measuring 35 by 35 mm made of duralumin should be attached to the ceiling parallel to the partitions.

Slots are made in the lower and upper parts of the chamber, which will serve as ventilation, thanks to which the temperature will be the same in all parts of the incubator.

Three trays are placed in the side parts for the incubation period, and one will be needed for hatching. Towards the back wall of the central part of the incubator a contact type thermometer is installed, which is attached with a psychrometer to the front part.

In the middle compartment, a heating device is installed approximately 30 centimeters up from the bottom. Each compartment must have a separately installed door.

For better sealing of the structure, a three-layer flannelette seal is placed under the lid.

Each compartment should have a separate handle so that each tray can be rotated from side to side. To maintain the required temperature in the incubator, you need a relay operating from a 220 V network or a TPK thermometer.

Now you are convinced that you can make an incubator for raising chickens at home with your own hands. Of course different designs have different difficulty levels. The difficulty depends on the number of eggs and the degree of automation of the incubator. If high requirements If you don’t present it, then a simple cardboard box will be enough for you as an incubator for raising chickens.

If you are serious about raising poultry, you understand how important it is today to have modern apparatus, which will help to 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 a useful device on your farm - a 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. The 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 shape of a frame, to which it is nailed from below. metal mesh. 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. The adhesive tape available on the farm will help you here. 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 taken already finished design. It is best to place it in the middle - this way the distance to the containers 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. The following are called upon to exercise vigilant control over the process of raising young animals: small size windows that should be cut 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 mount the fan in the rear wall of the 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 home device and from the cardboard box is the following. 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. viewing window is done 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 happen natural circulation air.

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 the device at home, there are certain rules for 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 foam plastic, 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 overall size area of ​​the device, 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. The lower part should be covered using a metal mesh with cells measuring 10 by 10. Inside, guides should also be made 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. Most often, light bulbs are used - in this case, the distance should not be less than 25 cm. If nichrome wire is chosen, 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 a mercury thermometer, into the tube of which an electrode should be soldered. The second electrode is a mercury column. The electrical circuit closes when the mercury heats up and moves through the 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.

To hatch chickens at home, you will need to either buy an industrial apparatus or make an incubator yourself. The second option is convenient in that it is possible to assemble a device of the required size, and required quantity eggs In addition, to create it they use cheap materials, such as polystyrene foam or plywood. All the work of turning the eggs and adjusting the temperature can be fully automated.

What you need to create a homemade incubator

The basis of any type of apparatus for hatching chicks is the body. It must retain heat well inside itself so that the temperature of the eggs does not change sharply. Since due to significant jumps, the likelihood of a healthy brood is noticeably reduced. You can make the body of a home incubator from a frame and plywood, polystyrene foam, a TV or refrigerator case. The eggs are laid in wooden or plastic trays with a bottom made of slats or mesh. There are automatic trays with motors that turn the eggs themselves. Or rather, they are deflected to the side after the time indicated on the timer.

To heat the air in a self-assembled incubator, incandescent lamps with a power of 25 to 100 W are most often used, depending on the size of the apparatus. Temperature control is carried out using an ordinary thermometer or electronic thermostat with sensor. To prevent air stagnation in the incubator, natural or forced ventilation. If the device is small, then you just need to make holes near the bottom and on the lid. For an incubator made with your own hands from a refrigerator, you will need to install fans, both above and below. This is the only way to ensure the necessary air movement, as well as uniform heat distribution.

To ensure that the incubation process is not disrupted, you need to correctly calculate the number of trays. The distance between incandescent lamps and the tray must be at least 15 cm.

The same distance must be left between the other trays in the incubator, assembled with your own hands, so that the air movement is free. Also, there should be at least 4-5 cm between them and the walls.

Ventilation holes are made from 12 to 20 mm in size in the upper and lower parts of the incubator.

Before laying eggs, be sure to check whether the fans are positioned correctly and whether the lamp power is sufficient to heat the incubator evenly. This indicator should not exceed ±0.5°C in each corner of the device after complete warm-up.

How to make an incubator from polystyrene foam with your own hands

Expanded polystyrene is one of the most popular materials for creating an incubator. It is not only affordable, but has excellent thermal insulation properties and is lightweight. For manufacturing you will need the following materials:

• foam sheets 2 pcs. with a thickness of 50 mm;
• tape, glue;
• incandescent lamps 4 pcs. 25 W each and cartridges for them;
• fan (the one used to cool the computer is also suitable);
• thermostat;
• trays for eggs and 1 for water.

Before you start assembling an incubator with your own hands, you should draw up detailed drawings with dimensions.

Step by step instructions:

1 – water container; 2 – viewing window; 3 – tray; 4 – thermostat; 5 – thermostat sensor.

1. If desired or necessary, a fan is installed, but in such a way that the air flow hits the light bulbs and not the eggs. Otherwise they may dry out.

The heat inside the incubator, assembled with your own hands from polystyrene foam, will be retained even better if all the walls, bottom and ceiling are covered with foil thermal insulation.

Incubators with automatic or manual egg turning

For the process to be successful, the eggs must be constantly turned 180°. But doing this manually takes a lot of time. Turning mechanisms are used for this purpose.

There are several types of these devices:

• mobile mesh;
• roller rotation;
• tray tilt 45°.

The first option is most often used in small incubators, for example, foam ones. The operating principle is as follows: the mesh slowly moves from one side to the other, as a result, the eggs lying in its cells turn over. This process can be automated or done manually. To do this, it is enough to attach a piece of wire to the mesh and bring it out. The disadvantage of this mechanism is that the egg can simply drag through and not turn over. Roller rotation is less commonly used in homemade incubators with automatic egg turning, since its creation requires a lot of round parts and bushings. The device operates using rollers covered with a mosquito net.

To prevent the eggs from rolling, they are in cells wooden lattice. When the belt starts moving, all the eggs turn over.

A rotating mechanism that tilts trays is used in incubators. large sizes, for example, made from a refrigerator. In addition, this method performs its task better than others, since in any case, each egg tilts. There are automatic egg turning trays. They come with a motor and power supply. There are several smaller ones in one tray. Each rotates separately after a user-set time.

How to make a device for hatching chicks from a refrigerator or plywood

Before you start making an incubator with your own hands, you need to draw up a drawing and diagram for connecting all the elements. All shelves are removed from the refrigerator, including the freezer.

Step by step instructions:

1. Holes for incandescent lamps and one through hole for ventilation are drilled in the ceiling from the inside.
2. It is recommended to line the walls of a homemade refrigerator incubator with sheets of polystyrene foam, then it will retain heat longer.
3. Old shelf grates can be converted into trays or new ones can be placed on them.
4. A thermostat is attached to the top outside of the refrigerator, and the sensor is installed inside.
5. Closer to the bottom, at least 3 holes are drilled for air ventilation, measuring 1.5x1.5 cm.
6. For better circulation, you can install 1 or 2 fans on top near the lamps and the same number below on the floor.

To make it more convenient to monitor the temperature and eggs, you need to cut a hole in the door for an observation window. Covered with glass or transparent plastic, the cracks are carefully coated, for example, with sealant.

The video shows an incubator made with your own hands from a refrigerator.

If there is no refrigerator, then the frame is made of wooden beams and the walls are made of plywood. Moreover, they must be two-layer, and insulation is placed between them. Light bulb sockets are attached to the ceiling, and bars for installing the tray are mounted in the middle of two walls. Another additional light bulb is placed at the bottom for better evaporation of water. The distance between it and the tray should be at least 15-17 cm. A viewing window with sliding glass for ventilation is made in the lid. Closer to the floor along long walls holes are drilled for air circulation.

Using the same principle, incubators are often made from TV cases for a small number of eggs. The process of turning eggs in them is most often carried out manually, as it takes a little time. Trays can be made from rounded slats. This incubator does not need fans, since ventilation occurs every time the lid is opened to turn the eggs.

A container of water is placed at the bottom of any incubator to create optimal level humidity required for eggs.

To hatch a very small batch of chicks (10 pcs.), you can use 2 inverted basins. To do this, one of them is turned over to the second and secured at one end with a furniture canopy. The main thing is that they cannot move away from each other. A light bulb socket is attached to the ceiling from the inside. Sand is poured onto the bottom, which is covered with foil and hay. The foil should have many holes with a diameter of 3 mm so that moisture can pass through it. To regulate the temperature, use a bar with steps, which is inserted between the basins.

In order for chicks to hatch in any incubator at the same time, the eggs must be the same size, and uniform heating of the entire space of the apparatus is also necessary.

Two-chamber homemade incubator - video