Best incubator for continuous hatching?

[BirdLeaf]

I bought some styrofoam incubators at tractor supply in January and they’re already failing. I like to do continuous hatching (multiple hatch dates in one incubator, transfer the eggs to the hatcher when they’re ready), and I want something that can handle the continuous running. What’s worked well for you? I would like to keep the price under $800 but I’m willing to spend more if it’s really great. I would love something that’s fully automatic because I have to go out of town regularly and I have an inexperienced chicken sitter. Thanks in advance!!

 

[mdees88]

GQF sportsman is the gold standard in cabinet incubators. Can be had for less than $800. Model 1500 is a standard incubator. Model 1502 has a hatching tray on the very bottom. The 1500 and 1502 are basically the same except the 1502's trays are spaced closer together so you can fit the the hatching tray at the bottom. They are fully automatic.

http://www.gqfmfg.com/1500-series/

Make sure to purchase the Water Reserve System.

http://www.gqfmfg.com/cabinet-accessories/3030-water-reserve-system/

I have a model 1266 that I bought used. It is probably over 20 years old. It works like new and they still make every single replacement part for this model. I've been extremely pleased with it.

 

[Spartan22]

Seems like your looking for Brinsea ovation EX, theres the 28 and 56 model. The ones with EX models are fully digital and fully automatic, feeds water automatically for constant HR, programmable. They also have bigger capacity if you need them. My experience with them is nothing but great.

 

[BirdLeaf]

Seems like your looking for Brinsea ovation EX, theres the 28 and 56 model. The ones with EX models are fully digital and fully automatic, feeds water automatically for constant HR, programmable. They also have bigger capacity if you need them. My experience with them is nothing but great.

I was looking at that on Amazon and it seems to have quite a few dismal reviews. That’s actually the one I wanted most until I saw the reviews

 

[BirdLeaf]

GQF sportsman is the gold standard in cabinet incubators. Can be had for less than $800. Model 1500 is a standard incubator. Model 1502 has a hatching tray on the very bottom. The 1500 and 1502 are basically the same except the 1502's trays are spaced closer together so you can fit the the hatching tray at the bottom. They are fully automatic.

http://www.gqfmfg.com/1500-series/

Make sure to purchase the Water Reserve System.

http://www.gqfmfg.com/cabinet-accessories/3030-water-reserve-system/

I have a model 1266 that I bought used. It is probably over 20 years old. It works like new and they still make every single replacement part for this model. I've been extremely pleased with it.

I’m going to check those out, thank you!

 

[Spartan22]

I was looking at that on Amazon and it seems to have quite a few dismal reviews. That’s actually the one I wanted most until I saw the reviews

We had ours for 2nd yrs now, we love it, we had close to 100% hatched rate all the time, w/ no intervention except checking them every few days so far so good.

 

[BirdLeaf]

We had ours for 2nd yrs now, we love it, we had close to 100% hatched rate all the time, w/ no intervention except checking them every few days so far so good.

I might check it out more, you never really know with Amazon reviews but people were talking about missing parts and warped lids which got me worried. I need a new one ASAP

 

[3riverschick]

I love brinsea. just a wonderful incubator . I don don't hatch a lot of chicks so I use the brinsea mini Advance 7 egg incubator. I once had three of them running at the same time .never lost a chick. perfect hatches
it's just a great company.
Best ,
Karen

 

[mdees88]

Here'a a couple pics of mine. I took the back panel off and you can see the guts of the incubator. In over 20 years the design has changed very little. They are built like a tank. The only difference between mine and the 1502 is the 1502 has a programmable digital thermostat.

I wanted a GQF sportsman 1502 but didn't want to spend $750. Well I ended buying 4 old GQFs (3 1266s and a 1250) for $1000 and I sold 2 of them.

It really depends on what you want to do. These incubators hold 250ish chicken eggs and 1200ish quail eggs. I currently have 260 quail eggs in mine. The table top brinseas look nice and probably work great. If you're only doing a few eggs here or there I might could see buying one. But if you're looking for a large capacity commercial incubator that has a proven track record I highly recommend the GQFs.

 

[Spartan22]

I was looking at that on Amazon and it seems to have quite a few dismal reviews. That’s actually the one I wanted most until I saw the reviews

I did check the review on Amazon, saw it was reviewed by 4 people, that’s unfortunate, since I love the product I even bought a new smaller one just for small hatches for friends that want chicks from me.