Best incubator?

[Abriana]

I posted yesterday about my eleven chickens which died of heat (due to the caretakers forgetting to let them out, there was a mixup on who was doing it while we were away on vacation), including my rooster Napoleon who I adored. I have a hen left (three hens in total are left) who will be fertile and I am planning on saving some of her eggs starting next Thursday. I am going to hatch only 2 or three eggs, with the sole purpose of getting a rooster. I want him to be related to my Napoleon because he was very special to me. Normally I would wait a bit before getting more, but I don’t want to pass up the opportunity of getting a rooster from Napoleon and Christina will not be fertile for too much longer.

Even if I did plan on using an incubator to hatch more chicks later on, I only plan to do a few at a time (by the way, I am getting more chicks and the hatch date of these will be roughly timed with the purchase of new ones) so I would like something small, preferably low cost. I don’t need anything fancy and I don’t need an automatic turner (I’ll do it myself). Any suggestions?

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

Hatching 2 or 3 eggs: 1 could be infertile, 1 could be a quitter, and 1 could be a hen. I'd go for hatching 7 or 8 myself. Then you have a chance for an egg to hatch, that could grow up to be a rooster.

 

[Abriana]

Hatching 2 or 3 eggs: 1 could be infertile, 1 could be a quitter, and 1 could be a hen. I'd go for hatching 7 or 8 myself. Then you have a chance for an egg to hatch, that could grow up to be a rooster.

Well our problem is that we really don’t have a good way to get rid of the roosters, so we don’t want too many. I might do four (which we usually did under our bantam, and our hatch rate was about 75%, but usually 100%).

 

[Lydia Huizenga]

A good incubator is any Brinsea incubator. They are pricey but have a good hatch rate. I myself, have a Harris Farms Nurture Right 360 and it is working perfectly. My eggs all have embryos developing very nicely. My incubator cost $140 but Brinsea can go $200 and way up.

 

[Madpolak]

Nurture Right 360's are hit and miss. I bought two (different vintages) this Spring and have had very unsatisfactory results. Temp s vary greatly on both. Had to get a new humidistat from MannaPro on one. Still not very accurate. Out of over 100 eggs I have had about 10 hatch. I know these are all the rage right now but my experience has been less that satisfactory. Trying to get my money refunded by MannaPro but my experience is that they are not very helpful or responsive to any issues. Had better luck with my old foam incubators.

 

[Kiraeh]

That's disappointing to hear about the Nurture Right. I've heard so much good stuff, folks make it seem like a perfect incubator.

If you have the time and confidence to build it yourself, I really feel like whatever your budget is, you can DIY a more reliable incubator than you can spend the same amount of money on, if you're not finding a good deal somewhere. I've had two very good hatches out of mine, and it wasn't cheap, but wasn't that expensive either. Putting it together requires more work and research, but at the end of that you'll have an incubator that you know all the ins and out of, and have lots of control over. Especially if you're already not concerned with auto turning, which is the most expensive part to add.

 

[Madpolak]

That's disappointing to hear about the Nurture Right. I've heard so much good stuff, folks make it seem like a perfect incubator.

If you have the time and confidence to build it yourself, I really feel like whatever your budget is, you can DIY a more reliable incubator than you can spend the same amount of money on, if you're not finding a good deal somewhere. I've had two very good hatches out of mine, and it wasn't cheap, but wasn't that expensive either. Putting it together requires more work and research, but at the end of that you'll have an incubator that you know all the ins and out of, and have lots of control over. Especially if you're already not concerned with auto turning, which is the most expensive part to add.

Sally Sunshine has a very detailed plan on here to build a DIY one. I priced it out once and I think the pieces and parts came out between $200 and $250 as I recall. My problem is time between actual work and farm work. I would love to get a Dickey's or a GQF Sportsman but they are both pretty pricey. Not sure I am there yet to justify the expense.

 

[FloorCandy]

That's disappointing to hear about the Nurture Right. I've heard so much good stuff, folks make it seem like a perfect incubator.

If you have the time and confidence to build it yourself, I really feel like whatever your budget is, you can DIY a more reliable incubator than you can spend the same amount of money on, if you're not finding a good deal somewhere. I've had two very good hatches out of mine, and it wasn't cheap, but wasn't that expensive either. Putting it together requires more work and research, but at the end of that you'll have an incubator that you know all the ins and out of, and have lots of control over. Especially if you're already not concerned with auto turning, which is the most expensive part to add.

I have the nurture right and I love it. I bought it in maybe March to hatch quail. I’ve never owned or hatched poultry before. I didn’t calibrate it using other thermometers or hygrometers. My eggs were lost in the mail for 6 full days, the eggs arrived day 9 after being laid and I set them right away. I hatched 21 out of 36 random eBay eggs. I had never hatched anything at all and found the nurture right to be so simple. I’m currently hatching my second generation in the nurture right and I’m more experienced and checked the temp and humidity with other devices. It’s decently accurate, maybe half a degree low, humidity maybe 2% off. I like that there’s no issue of cold spots because they get moved around by the turner so no one sits in one spot cooking or cooling the whole time. I can’t recommend it strongly enough for novice hobbyists. I even put 2 eggs per slot in half the slots and there was no difference in hatch success with those in a single occupancy suite.

 

[Madpolak]

I have the nurture right and I love it. I bought it in maybe March to hatch quail. I’ve never owned or hatched poultry before. I didn’t calibrate it using other thermometers or hygrometers. My eggs were lost in the mail for 6 full days, the eggs arrived day 9 after being laid and I set them right away. I hatched 21 out of 36 random eBay eggs. I had never hatched anything at all and found the nurture right to be so simple. I’m currently hatching my second generation in the nurture right and I’m more experienced and checked the temp and humidity with other devices. It’s decently accurate, maybe half a degree low, humidity maybe 2% off. I like that there’s no issue of cold spots because they get moved around by the turner so no one sits in one spot cooking or cooling the whole time. I can’t recommend it strongly enough for novice hobbyists. I even put 2 eggs per slot in half the slots and there was no difference in hatch success with those in a single occupancy suite.

I hear that a lot online. Not what I have experienced at all unfortunately. All the positives you mentioned are what I am having issues with. I have one set at 100 deg and the other at 101.5 just to keep them close to the 99.5 deg they recommend. Humidity is off by anywhere from 2 to 5 degrees and filling them once a day as they suggest is a pipe dream.
It may be a quality control issue at the manufacturer. If you get a good unit you are golden. If not, don't expect a lot of help from MannaPro. The ONE guy in their customer service department takes his time responding and if you get too insistent he stops answering emails and calls all together.

 

[FloorCandy]

I hear that a lot online. Not what I have experienced at all unfortunately. All the positives you mentioned are what I am having issues with. I have one set at 100 deg and the other at 101.5 just to keep them close to the 99.5 deg they recommend. Humidity is off by anywhere from 2 to 5 degrees and filling them once a day as they suggest is a pipe dream.
It may be a quality control issue at the manufacturer. If you get a good unit you are golden. If not, don't expect a lot of help from MannaPro. The ONE guy in their customer service department takes his time responding and if you get too insistent he stops answering emails and calls all together.

I top mine off in the morning and before bed. I find the humidity is difficult to keep low, but I keep the rubber red cover off the second tank filler right from the start, and that helps. You can also run dry underneath and place a small cup of water on top of the middle of the turner, lowering surface area, and increasing the length of time it lasts.