Incubators... What Do You Use?

[Ellochicken]

Hey BYC!
I'm writing a farming journal, and I have a section on hatching & incubating eggs and I want to know what YOU use, and on a scale of 0-10 what you think of that incubator!
Thanks BYC!

-Ellochicken

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

Hi! I have a Farm Innovators Pro. It fits up to 41 chicken eggs and comes with the turner and fan kits installed for about $130. I would give it a 8 out of 10. Two points off for the gauges not being accurate. The temp gauge is off by 8 degrees and the humidity gauge is off by about 6 percent. Easy fix, I bought a $7 humidity/temp gauge and calibrated that. Given the significance of accurate temps and humidity to hatching you would think they would have tried a little harder on that.

However, they hold the temp like a dream once set and humidity is steady for up to three days without a refill.

Overall I love my incubator, it's a great value for the features included. It's been very easy for this beginner to use and my first batch is in the process of hatching as I type.

 

[Ellochicken]

Hi! I have a Farm Innovators Pro. It fits up to 41 chicken eggs and comes with the turner and fan kits installed for about $130. I would give it a 8 out of 10. Two points off for the gauges not being accurate. The temp gauge is off by 8 degrees and the humidity gauge is off by about 6 percent. Easy fix, I bought a $7 humidity/temp gauge and calibrated that. Given the significance of accurate temps and humidity to hatching you would think they would have tried a little harder on that.

However, they hold the temp like a dream once set and humidity is steady for up to three days without a refill.

Overall I love my incubator, it's a great value for the features included. It's been very easy for this beginner to use and my first batch is in the process of hatching as I type.

Wow! That's so exciting! And thank you for posting on my thread, I really appreciate it! I've always wanted to hatch chicks... let me know what happens!

-Ellochicken

 

[NestingHillsSC]

Just bought a used homemade one from a friend who has 300 chickens. Did a little redesigning. Saving up around 2 dozen eggs from my reds. Will set them probably Friday. Here's my setup.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I've only used my current homemade cabinet and an old, free Little Giant and in the condition it was in after I rebuilt the missing pieces I'd give it a 1 or 2 on a 0-10 scale. I'm sure a new one would be better.
My homemade one has 3 shelves to hold turners and a comletely separate hatcher. I'd give it a 2 the first time I used it. After some modifications and after my third hatch I give it a 5 or 6.
I'm opening it up to make some more modifications as I have about a month before I plan on setting eggs again. Knowing what I know now about it, I'm confident after these new mods I will be able to give it a 9.
It was made mostly from used materials I had laying around, some of which was a shelving unit my son was throwing away.
The incubator is contained in a larger container which includes the hatcher. The hatcher is on the bottom, the left side is a bank of computer fans which draw all air up the side of the incubator, across the water tray on top of the incubator and down the other side across the heating elements and then across the hatching eggs. Separate doors with dual pane windows and light, heat and fan controls on the front panel.

 

[Ellochicken]

Thank You Thank You Thank You!

-Ellochicken

 

[red golden]

I am using a homemade cabinet bator i just built. It has a modified 225 watt incukit from incubator warehouse for heat and circulation. I just loaded 28 pheasant eggs in it friday.

It has two egg turner trays but could hold one more or a hatching tray. So far temp and humidity is stable. I would rate it a 5 so far but will give it an 11 if some or most of my eggs hatch lol.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

we have Excellent hatch rates in our homemade incubator with a wafer thermostat https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/incubator-incubator

 

[Caitlin_VT]

I really like my Hovabator 1588 Genesis. I haven't used any other incubators, but for the price, I think it is worth it. (Although I would like it even better if it was not styrofoam). Temp stays very consistent, humidity fluctuates but my house is pretty dry this time of year. My first hatch went great last year - I hatched 28 out of 30 of the bobwhite quail eggs GQF sent free with the complete unit!