[alotment shed]

want to find a cheap incubater as want to try and breed a few pure breeds and get a good big pure breeds ready for point of lay when the ones i have now aint laying . looking to only have a incubater that only does a few just a cheap one . any ideas where i could pick one up cheap ?

[raeburg]

Are you looking for an all singing automatic or one where you turn the eggs yourself?  Look on Ebay or local classifieds.

[Kate and her Ducks]

If you are looking to do it as cheap as possible there is a great book by Katie Thear called something like "Starting with Incubation and Hatching". It tells you how to build your own incubator and is full of vital information for both incubation and looking after the subsequent chicks.
Have you thought about what you want to do with the 50% boys you will get? It is what has made me most cautious about hatching. It is very hard to rehome boys and I certainly couldn't kill them as day olds even if I could tell them apart. The pot is a hard option when you have raised something from a chick.

[alotment shed]

yeah i have already thought about that i will stick them in acution or give them away as it is pure breed lavender buffs. and people near me will have them for free. just want a cheap one first to see if they ok and if my idea works

[raeburg]

I've seen one place where you can hire an incubator, might be worth looking at as a trial run.

[alotment shed]

where and how much ?

[Kate and her Ducks]

Please don't underestimate just how hard it is to find homes even for free. Many people are not allowed cockerels at home or on the allotment due to the noise or don't want them as they are unnecessary. I consider myself lucky that I have been able to rehome 2 drakes. One I took to north Wales and 1 to Doncaster so it actually cost me the petrol!

[raeburg]

Her are a couple of places:

http://www.pandtpoultry.co.uk/index.php/fuseaction/shop.category/categoryid/98
http://merrydalepoultry.co.uk/incubatorRental.htm

Keep a look out on ebay, you could probably buy a second hand model for less than the rental.

[alotment shed]

i have been given a heat lamp for a incubater  . the very very old man who has had his chickens since the start of the earth said that if i make a incubator  and use this heat lamp witch is set to the right tempruture for incubating eggs then in 21 days il have chicks .  i have no idea how he means.......meaning how to make this home made incubator.. any ideas ?/  card boared box or waht ? i dont have a fish tank as he told me i could use .. please any ideas ?

[Aunt Sally]

Perhaps the old man could explain it to you a bit.

[richyrich7]

I've seen them made out of old fridges, but they must be very clean inside, your going to need that heat lamp your on about, also you will need a fan of some sort to circulate the air a pc fan will do. But this will have to be 240v not 12, the heat lamp must be connected to a thermostat so it maintains the right temp, the fan can run constant but the heater must not.
Also apart from temperature you will have to consider humidity so your going to have to either get a hygrometer or sort out a wet bulb and a dry bulb thermometer and calculate the relative humidity from that. If the humidity is not right then I believe it can have serious consequence's  on your hatch success.
 You will also need to provide enough adequate ventilation so they can breath but at the same time no drafts or sudden temperature fluctuations.
Consider also that they need to be turned every few hours so that's going to be have to done manually, when they hatch they will also need light as well as heat. I don't think they need to feed for the 1st 24hrs but you will need to research this.
Thinking of hatching you must also give great thought and care to what substrate they hatch onto to help prevent foot and gait deformity.
You perhaps would consider cutting an observation  window into the door so you can keep an eye on them with out opening and closing the door this will obviously need some sort of window pane either glass or perspex.
I don't think I can help you with the actual wiring of the thing due to legal reasons. But you must take care at all times to make sure it's safe and properly earthed. 

But you really need to read up on and research this subject it's not as straight forward as it sounds 

[Kate and her Ducks]

I would still recommend the Katie Thear book. It has clear instructions for a number of models and is pretty cheap and should save you a lot in the long run.