Hova-Bator 1588 with Auto Turner

[rick54]

My turner is set-up to receive quail eggs, and I'm ready to load my eggs in. I notice my egg trays are tipped fully in one direction, making loading a bit difficult. So I've plugged in the turner and will wait until the trays are horizontal before loading.

While the trays were in the tipped position, I noticed when loading some eggs, that the next tray hits the egg which prevents the egg from being inserted into the tray. With the understanding that not all eggs are equal in size, once I do get the eggs loaded while the trays are back in the horizontal position and as the trays start their tilting, they will be stopped at some point by the larger eggs interfering with the tilting process, I believe.

The quail egg trays for the 1588 have 120 total cups to receive eggs, which is exactly the amount of eggs I have. So I intend on loading 120 minus the one egg next to the motor, totaling 119.

My question then, is with all trays loaded, the motor running and trays starting their tilting action, at some point the larger eggs are going to encounter the interference of the next tray, which will stop the tilt. Is this going to harm the motor at all? There is a slot the plastic that the pin of the motor rides in which allows the pin to slide up and down. Yet I don't know if this egg interference is going to cause the motor to bind up.

I know that quail breeders look for the best and largest eggs to hatch. So I can't believe that the 1588 would be designed in such a way as to NOT accept the larger eggs.

I would greatly appreciate hearing from a 1588 owner who has encountered this dilemma.

Regards, and happy 4th to you!

 

[rick54]

Update

I've set my 120 quail eggs into the quail racks supplied with the #1610 auto turner that I ordered with my Hova-Bator Genesis #1588.

I've placed each egg pointed end down in the egg cup. The ascending side of the rack, as it swipes against the larger eggs in its upward movement, tends to dislodge the egg from the cup. When the descending side of the rack is moving in its downward movement, it tends to hang-up on the egg.

I've gone back in and re-positioned the larger eggs that are having the problems to the two outer rows of the turner to see if this resolves the problems. I've also placed a smaller egg across from a larger egg within the two rows, rather than a larger across from a larger.

Now I am of the understanding that the larger eggs produce larger birds? So if I'm looking for the large meat birds for my table, then it seems I'd want to hatch the larger eggs?

As for the Genesis #1588 itself, I'm satisfied with its consistency to hold temperature and humidity. Although the humidity digital readout shows 9-10 points LESS than my two CaliberIV calibrated hygrometers inside the unit. But at least it is consistent, and I can adjust for the difference.

As for the #1610 auto turner I ordered with the Genesis, I am not impressed at all! There just doesn't seem to be enough clearance between the racks to accommodate a larger egg.

As I've always said; "No education is free"! I've got roughly $200 invested in this lesson, and hopefully sharing my experience can save someone else some $ and frustration. Knowing that you get what you pay for, I'm now already thinking about a cabinet incubator. Something built with a little more precision in mind to alleviate this kind of frustration due to egg size variation , but not breaking the bank either. I'm not looking to hatch thousands at a time, but 120 a few times a year might be to my liking.

A quick look currently shows my re-positioning of the eggs seems to have worked for the moment, I'll hold judgement til after a few more cycles!

 

[rick54]

Final Update

From 5 pm last evening until 9 pm, the cup racks were stuck in the 2 o'clock up position. I was able to dislodge the offending eggs to allow the racks to once again move freely. I did have some trouble with the motor not wanting to go back into the normal cycle, and had to unplug it for a while. It finally did start the normal cycle after a few attempts of unplugging and plugging back in.

In dislodging the stuck eggs, I did damage 5 which had to be tossed out. There seems to be no way to back the tension off the racks.

This morning, I'm looking at 11 eggs less the 5 I lost, sitting on the screen outside the turner along the incubator wall. These I've been turning by hand. I have 15 unfilled cups in the racks that cannot be filled due to too large an egg causing rack interference.

The eggs that have been removed from the racks all weigh between 13 and 16 grams. I have some that occupy the outer most row of the outside racks that go 17 grams.

Those eggs that weigh 12 grams and less fit the egg cups perfectly! Now I know some egg providers are going to fill your orders with nice large eggs. Robby from JMF will give you some nice large eggs. I suppose, one could always place an order with the statement that they use a #1610 turner and would like SMALL eggs only! LOL Although I doubt it!

In conclusion, I cannot and will not, in good conscience recommend the #1610 auto turner with the Genesis #1588 Hova-Bator. Unless, you specify small eggs only in your order. You only order small quantities of say 25 where you can put plenty of space between eggs by staggering them and then maybe tilting the larger eggs towards the center of the rack. And by placing your largest eggs in the outside rows of the outer most racks.

As for myself, I'm going to contact Dickey's incubators asap to discuss my problem, and see if his units are of a better design and can handle quail eggs from small to large. And as for my #1588, I'll relinquish the auto turner to the closet, and utilize the #1588 as a hatching unit only for what comes out of the new cabinet incubator!