Best incubator for the money?

[BigHead]

Looking for a incubator that is very easy to use and me not have to do much but not wanting to spend 1000 on one. 150-500 is my range. Like to get one to hold 75 plus eggs

 

[MeepBeep]

Are you mechanically inclined,and can you do basic wiring? If so you can build a lot of incubator for 150-500...

A small wood crate/cabinet/or what not, a few over the counter 3 or 4 dozen egg turners, a few light bulbs, fans and a thermostat will easily get you a 75+ egg incubator for about $200 if you are thrifty and willing to do the work...

 

[BigHead]

@MeepBeep how does it keep a constant temperature and humidity? What's the hatch rate?

 

[MeepBeep]

@MeepBeep how does it keep a constant temperature and humidity? What's the hatch rate?

Although many will claim otherwise, the $8 water heater thermostat in mine does a rock solid job of maintaining heat, and even though I purchased some digital thermostats to replace it I have not bothered replacing it since it's works so well... I have literally only tweaked the temp once in two years worth of use, and only because I bumped the adjustment knob when changing out the bulb this year...

I also don't measure real time air temp, as that is not important, it's the internal temp of the eggs I'm concerned about, a lot of people get stuck on the air temp and thus knock the water heater thermostats since they swing from about 98° to 102° when properly adjusted, but the internal egg temp as simulated in my incubator with a digital thermostat probe in a 2oz bottle of water holds a steady 99.5-100° like a rock... You can see the 2oz bottle of water int he lower left with the probe in it that simulates egg core temp... The other digital probe top left was the digital thermostat that I was testing...

I don't fiddle with humidity all that much nor do I monitor it anymore, I pay much more attention to egg weight and air cell development... There is a small tray in my incubator (bottom right of picture) that I put about 1/2" of water in every 2 or three days, it's usually gone in one day so I know humidity is up and down, but the air cell development is dead on so I just keep doing the same...

It's a forced air incubator, the metal housing off the the right looks like this internally... This forces the air into a cyclone inside the incubator and also insures the water heater thermostat gets a nice breeze over it at all times so it regulates better...

On eggs that I collect out of my own coop, once I remove infertile clears at day 4 or 5 (usually only an egg or two per two dozen set) I usually get near a 100% hatch rate on the remaining fertile eggs...

Shipped eggs area always hit or miss so I won't judge my incubator on them...