Cabinet Incubators

[meagan1823]

Hi all,

I have incubated and hatched on and off through my teen years and me and my wife are just now really starting to incubate eggs.
We have a small flock of 2 RIR, 2 red sex link, 3 white leghorns, 1 Americana and 3 copper maran hens with 1 Americana rooster.
We bought a couple of Styrofoam incubators and use one for setting and 1 for hatching.
Our first batch of 8 eggs is due to hatch tomorrow and it is a barnyard mix. Our next batch of 20 eggs is due to hatch next Wednesday and they are Americana and the Americana x copper marans (so hopefully olive eggers).
I guess my point is, I think we are addicted.
So I am wanting to look into a cabinet incubator. I like the GQF Sportsman 1502 because of the 3 racks of sitting trays and the 1 hatching tray.
Do you guys recommend this one? Is there another one you would recommend over this one?
Where do you guys order your incubators and supplies? Best prices?
Any suggestions/tips/help is appreciated.

Thanks
Meagan

 

[Tabasco Jack]

Welcome to BYC and the hatching addiction.

The Sportsman is kinda the gold standard in cabinet incubators. There are others that are similar such as the Dickey.
Check craigslist or some other for sale page and you may find a used one. You'll find several homemade cabinets that say "GQF Sportsman" but it's obvious they're not.

If you're a purist or just like antiques, look for a redwood incubator such as a Leahy or Sears Farm master. I recently bought a Leahy for $350. All I had to do was replace the wafer thermostats and micro switches. I made some other improvements to it. But it's working great.



Whichever route you take, consider keeping your styrofoam incubators to use as hatchers. Most folks raise the humidity level for hatching and if you try to hatch in the cabinet with other eggs in it, you can only have one humidity level. Plus, it will keep all the hatching debris out of your cabinet.

Good luck with it.

 

[meagan1823]

OK thank you so much. I've looked for used ones but haven't had much luck in my area.