Best Incubator?

[txguinea]

Hi from Texas! We got young adult guineas from a local breeder for the purpose of insect control in our garden on our farm. We have 7 female and 2 male. We were surprised when they started to lay eggs. We have enjoyed eating the eggs and decided to incubate some. To start off we borrowed an incubator from a friend who had incubated numerous rounds of chicks. It is a ReptiPro 6000 and holds 32 eggs. It came with the automatic egg turners and has kept the temperature somewhat consistent. Fingers crossed for this batch that is hatching now We are looking for our own incubator as we are excited to incubate some more guinea eggs. Any suggestions for a good incubator at a reasonable price? Thanks!

 

[txguinea]

Another question! When the keats are in the brooder I know that the brooder needs to be in the 90's. The brooder is going to be outside in our metal barn. Currently it is over 100 degrees outside. They will be in an adapted metal trough brooder. Is it necessary to have a heat lamp when it is already that hot?

 

[PeepsCA]

ReptiPros are excellent incubators, but spendy. Brinseas are also very good, but also very spendy.

GQF Hovabator 1588s are good for beginners, (but styrofoam), and not quite as expensive (even with an auto egg turner). I suggest getting a back up hygrometer/thermometer you can put inside the 1588 tho, the newest model they are now making has a digital control panel and some have reported it's not always accurate. I also recommend getting the automatic egg turner with the 1588 if you go that route, (hand turning your eggs can be fun, but not having to worry about turning the eggs 3-5 times a day EVERY DAY takes a lot of stress out of incubating). You will still spend a pretty big chunk of change for the 1588 (usually around $200 for the incubator/turner combo, plus another $20 or so for a good hygrometer/thermometer), but you can set 42 eggs at once in it, and it has a nice big window for checking on pip progress, watching your hatch thru, checking on temp and humidity etc. I have 2 of these units (older models, w/o the digital control panel), and they have served me well. I've incubated over well over 1500 keets in them

A lot of people use Little Giant incubators, but I do not recommend them, even if you get the fan kits they make for them (I always incubate via circulated air, I am not at all a fan of still air incubation, especially for Guinea Fowl eggs). LGs do not stay stable unless they are in a perfectly stable room, they aren't very reliable after a couple yrs of use (temp fluctuates way too much... spiking dangerously high at times) and there are areas inside that are too warm or too cool, even with the fan. The worst thing about them IMO, is that the temp control is ridiculously touchy and hard to get set to the perfect temp (I really dislike LGs, I struggled with them as my designated hatchers for 4 seasons... but I've moved on, so never again, lol).

There a a few other brands of styrofoam incubators that are similar to LGs (in price and quality), but still not as reliable/stable as the GQF Hovabator 1588s... but you get what you pay for, IMO.

With your outside temps that high I'd only provide heat (a low wattage regular bulb) for the keets at night in one area of the brooder tank, and a small fan blowing in one area of the tank during the day for them. They can overheat very easily and die when they are really young and out in those temps because they get sleepy when they are too hot and don't always drink as much as they need to, so you may want to keep them in the house for the first week just to make sure they are all doing well. Cool slices of any type of melon or cucumbers for them to peck at can help keep them hydrated and moving around, but make sure they eat plenty of their high protein starter feed (Turkey, Pheasant or Game bird starter feed), not just melon or cucumber.

Best of luck, please post pics of your hatch!

 

[txguinea]

Thank you for your help! I definitely want a incubator that as an automatic egg turner and that has circulating air. I really do like the ReptiPro 6000 and we may just end up using that. It had two racks one that is flat and another which is actually the top shelf and it has square holes. I have read that it is not good to hatch the eggs in the egg turners even when they are turned off. So, with the one that has the holes is it okay just to place the eggs on them? I don't want the keats legs to fall through when they hatch or maybe they wont. And the the melon and cucumber idea is great! We actually have a surplus of those in season on the farm right now. And I will definitely post pictures! We had one start pipping

 

[PeepsCA]

I haven't ever used a ReptiPro (or seen one in person), so hopefully someone that has one will chime in about leaving the racks in or taking them out for the hatch. As long as the keets can't fall into any water and the turner is shut off they should do ok, even if they fall thru... not sure tho, I'd have to see a pic of the eggs in it and what the keets may get tangled up in or under to give you a better answer. Whatever you have going on now I'd just leave it as is tho, you don't want to lose the humidity and warm air by opening it up. Just keep an eye on the keets and see how it goes. Intervene if you need to... but you may want to run the shower on hot, get the bathroom all hot and steamy then take the incubator in there to make any changes, just to play it safe and not risk harming the other unhatched keets.

Good luck!

 

[txguinea]

I will definitely take pictures of the incubator once this group is done and figure out a better situation before our next round if no one else has advice about the ReptiPro. I wont make any changes for this group though. I hope it wont be too much longer until the first egg hatches. It has poked a hole through the white membrane. Thank you again for your help!

 

[PeepsCA]

Is that your pipped egg in your avatar pic? If so that's a pretty good pip! Hope you get to watch and don't miss it, I love watching them hatch.

 

[txguinea]

Yes, that was the egg late last night. It has done more since then. I hope I will be able to be there to watch it happen.

 

[Alaskan]

In my odd incubator I cut a sheet of cardboard to go completely under the eggs, then I placed a slip proof mat inside, and paper towels to cover areas that mat didn't reach.