A new journey into homesteading "pic heavy"

[Chic Rustler]

Well I got one thing accomplished today. Got a real door built for the chicken coop. It turned out quite nicely. I found the wire bound up in a fence, the scrap plywood was here when I moved in and the 2x4s cost me a dollar each. Not bad for $3 and left over hardware

 

[sumi]

Great job!

 

[Chic Rustler]

Thanks!

 

[Chic Rustler]

well I got started on the incubator. I'm pretty much making it from scrap. No pics yet. If it turns into something worth showing I'll get them up.

 

[sumi]

Please do and don't worry about "worth showing". All that matters is that it does the job!

 

[Chic Rustler]

Here's what I got so far. Not really sure what I'm doing, I'm a terrible carpenter. All I know is how I'm going to heat heat and control it. That's easy stuff for an hvac tech

 

[frustratedearthmother]

There ya go! Looks good so far.

 

[Chic Rustler]

There ya go! Looks good so far.

No it's terrible! Nothing is straight, plumb, or square.

But it might heat an egg and the wood will help maintain a constant humidity. I figure I'll just fill the gaps and cracks with silicone.

 

[Chic Rustler]

so I hit a bit of a wall. I was having a hard time finding a way to mount my circulation fan from a microwave oven and then it broke. Then a couple hours later it occurred to me that I have a ceramic heater with a fan and a 120 volt heat element. It's rated 1500 watts and has 3 strips so i think i can just run 1 strip and get 500 watts. Gotta test and adjust that when i get it together.

Anyhow it has everything I need except a good thermostat and is easily mounted! Yeehaw

These things are about $20 from Wal-Mart. Then get a wafer stat and your set. Poor boy incukit

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Hey, if it works it doesn't matter what it looks like!

Could you use some Styrofoam to line the wood with to make it maintain the heat and humidity even better? Without humidity you'll have shrink wrapped chicks that can't hatch.

You'll need to have a little ventilation too.

I'm certainly no expert - but I know all of those things are important in their own way.

Good luck!