All right, first day and already laying! Gotta seize the moment with that incubator. I suppose $30 should get you ample material to build a deluxe one, or probably even less. Depends on what's around you. If you're lucky you may even score recycled material. In any case, now with your previous stories of birds and eggs we're all primed to read about your incubator. Looking forward to it!
I am not very lucky, nor patient. Hahaha I probably wont find recycled material in an Adrienne-timely fashion. Hahaha
You're right, time is a major factor. But location... you know, one of the things I really like about the States is that it's so easy to score decent quality stuff for free. That's the upside of the throw-away culture. But of course you can't get what you want right when you need it, so it's more like a long-term thing. Still, even if you get everything new, I'm sure you can still make a sweet incubator for less than a bought one.
I did actually decide to go ahead and purchase an incubator that was recommended to me by the breeder. Only put me out $120 including shipping. Could have gone with half the price, but it did not have the automatic turner. You see... I realize my fallbacks. One of those is my memory. I know that I would not be remembering to turn those poor eggs 5 times a day. And, I am all about efficiency! So, if I can get something that does the work for me, then great! It will pay for itself in no time flat!