so many incubaters...

Hope you get lots of responses because I have the same question as you :O)
Denna

Me three.... I really want to hatch out Bantys when my current group gets to the laying age (shhhhh, don't tell my hubby... )

I was on line last night looking at the choices for small size incubators and it's all so confusing.

Anyone ever used the r-com electronic ones?  They look pretty cool, but do they really work as advertised as far as 'set it and forget it?'

Su

LOL!! thats the one we were looking at BUT can it be as easy as they say, and what happens if the chick pops out of the egg and you are not there, does the egg turner chop off his leggs?? NEWBY questions??
DEnna

I will give you my opinion on what I like.  First thing you have to know is that everyone has their favorites.  What works for one doesnt for others.  Unfortunately the only real way to know is to buy one and try it.  It will take time to work out all of the bugs and figure out what works for your area.  What works in the North may not work so well in the South.  With that said the best bator is the good old broody hen!!!  No power failures, no turning, just a little food,water and TLC to keep them happy..  When you are looking for a bator you have to take a few thing into consideration.  How many eggs do you want to hatch at a time.  If it is only a dozen then the smaller ones are great.  If you want to do a couple hundred then you are looking for a sportsman of some type.  I have a little giant.  I dont have  a fan and I dont use a turner.  I have a turner but I really dont like it, it takes up to much room and I have a hard time with the thermometer that I use.  My little giant cost about 40. at our local feed store.  Check there before you start bidding on Ebay.  More people pay too much on ebay for foam bators.  It has taken me a year of trials and error to get to having 70 to 90 % hatch rates and I am still learning.  I also have a home made bator that I use all the time.  I took the heating element out of a Little giant that the foam was broke on and put it in a  foam cooler.  I adjusted the floor so that it ran just like the real thing.  You will have to decide how much time you have to spend with your eggs.  I suggest hand turning them if you can get the time 2 to 3 times a day.  If you dont have that kind of time then a turner is needed.  When you put water in your bator you have to remember that as the water evaproates and runs dry that the dry temp will go up.  I let my bator go dry once and my temps spiked to 104 over night.  Needless to say I lost about $60.oo worth of eggs.  I have found that by using a bowl of water with sponges I have a better humidity level then just putting the water in the bottom.  My sister has also just given me a lyon T6 to use. I have hatched 2 sets of egg with it and do like it for a hatcher.  That is another thing you will have to decide is if you want to run several sets of eggs.  If you set eggs on different days in the same bator then you will also need a hatching bator.  This way depending on what you are hatching you can transfer the eggs into the hatching bator and be able to continue turning the others.  DIfferent birds take different amounts of time to incubate.  Just remember that it doesnt matter if it cost 50 or 500 they will still take time to adjust to your areas.  You are always learning.  The best thing to do is find someone that has mutt eggs to hatch first and then sell them if you dont want to keep them.  Dont go running to ebay and spend 75 on 2 peacock eggs and then be disapointed when they dont hatch.  Some types of birds are easier to hatch then others.  I have a heck of a time with turkey eggs my self.  I am learning though and have gotten better.  If you can get nonshipped eggs to start with you will have better fertility rates too.  Eggs might have been fertile when shipped to you but if they were shook up  or to hot or to cold they may not develope, they you think that they were not fertile .  The only time that I figured that eggs were not fertile when I incubated them was when I got guinea and pheasant eggs from the same person on an auction site.  The guinea eggs hatched fine but non of the pheasant eggs developed.  They were shipped in the same box so something was wrong with the pheasant eggs.  Things happen and I just dont buy from that person any more.  You really just need to decide how much do you want to spend, how many eggs do you want to hatch, and how interactive do you want to be in the process and that will help you decide what type of bator you need.  Just remember that once you start you will want to hatch more and more!!!  Good luck and if you have any specific questions send me an email, warning, I am by far an expert on hatching but will tell you what has worked for me.  Jenn

Practical Poultry has a article in this months magazine on the r-com 20. They were given a couple to test and so far they've had great results. It's a little high in price but it very easy to clean and once set it says you only have to make sure the water chamber is filled every few days. The turner stops on day 19 and then I believe it said you had to fill the water chamber every day for the last three days. You could go and try to make your own. A few people on the board have made their own and had great hatches out of them. Good Luck

I made my incubator like other people here on the site.  It's a worm box from Walmart with a light kit & CPU fan.  It worked great.  I had a 69% hatch rate, which I think was great for my first try.  It is very time consuming and you need to keep an eye on it frequently to check temps and humidity, but I'm a stay at home mom and I had the time to give.  My total cost for the incubator was $15.  Perfect for my budget!  It fit 42 eggs in it with no problem at all.  Hope this helps...

I would love to have the time, my job takes me out of town every 2 days (then i am home 2 days) and I have to rely on the hubby to take care of things, I need something a little more high tech.. that does not require alot of time.. the r 20 is pretty spendy but I guess my question is: is it worth it???

Sportsman 1502.  It is simply hard to top for enthusiasts without going into commercial models.

If that's too pricey, though, the Octagons are very reliable.  I used one for quite awhile without problem.  It's even octagon shaped to remind you to turn the thing when you walk past it.

60% is pretty low, not that you did anything wrong.  The cheaper ones are very poorly insulated, and that allows the temperature to fluctuate too much as the room temperature goes up and down.  Ideally try putting it in a closet where there is still air and not too much fluctuation, and I bet your rate will increase.