Build a Homemade Egg Incubator

A poultry farmer offers up the lessons she learned after constructing her own DIY egg incubator cabinet to hatch rare heritage chicks.

By Julie Gauthier
Updated on June 16, 2022
article image
normankrauss - stock.adobe.com

A poultry farmer offers up the lessons she learned after building a homemade egg incubator cabinet to hatch rare heritage chicks.

My current homemade incubator must be the fifth or sixth version I’ve built, though I’ve lost track of my total number of DIY adventures in incubation. Further, this homemade incubator has undergone three major redesigns. I’m now satisfied with its performance, but I’ll never quit tinkering with it. I use it to hatch approximately 600 chicks of rare heritage turkeys, geese, chickens, and ducks during the January-to-June breeding season each year.

When I set out to build my own egg incubator about five years ago, I had several goals in mind:

  • Multi-stage incubation (incubate 150 chicken or duck eggs and hatch 30 eggs at one time).
  • Steady temperature in an unheated garage in January.
Comments (0) Join others in the discussion!
    Online Store Logo
    Need Help? Call 1-800-234-3368