Cheap eBay incubator vs River Systems Advice

[Joannaz]

Hey all!

I’ve been recently trying to hatch a bunch of eggs using this incubator:

However, my hatch rate is terribly low. It looks like the chicks are fully formed but never make it out of the egg. I’ve tried a couple times but only really manage to get 3-5 to hatch which is really sad.

I thought this might be a problem with the incubator so I decided to buy a River Systems ET Super 24 Incubator. I have a local friend who is willing to give me some Buff Orpington eggs and possibly some sebrights. I really want this to go well so does anyone have any tips for using this incubator? It’s currently preheating at 37.7C and I will collect the eggs tomorrow

Thanks in advance!
Joanna

 

[SpicyDill]

I can't attest personally to either of those incubators, but I just got started incubating (I usually have the hens do the work) this year with a cheap incubator as well. I found there were two issues with it: it's terribly tricky to maintain humidity, and the thermometer's not particularly accurate. I stuck an inexpensive humidity and thermometer combo in there to help me keep an eye on things. I realize that doesn't help you with your new incubator, but if you ever want to fire up the old one to give it another go, a "second opinion" on humidity and temperature is handy with the cheapies.

 

[Joannaz]

Thanks for the advice! I found out after my first hatch that the temperature was off by 2C compared to some of the other thermometers so I’m surprised there were a few that hatched!

I’m always a bit confused when it comes to humidity so I think I’m going to follow one of the guides here and start to weigh the eggs / draw on the air cells to try and keep it right. Maybe I had the humidity too high and the chicks drowned?

 

[Joannaz]

@SpicyDill what was your success rate with your cheap incubator?

 

[SpicyDill]

@SpicyDill what was your success rate with your cheap incubator?

Honestly, I'm only working on my second batch now and about to candle them for the first time tomorrow, so I don't have a great baseline to operate from! I've had my hens do all the hatching for years, but wanted to open up my options this year so I'm not always stuck hoping and praying for enough broody hens. My last hatch started with 10 eggs, we had a power outage and then my klutzy self dropped 2 while candling ... and I'm a rooster short, so fertility rates aren't amazing right now, anyway. But I got 5 chicks from that hatch. Lost one to severe spraddle-leg that leg binding didn't correct, so 4 surviving chicks out of the 8 eggs I didn't drop. Of the 3 remaining failures, 2 appeared to have been infertile and 1 had stopped developing partway through.

 

[PrettyBeaks]

I used this cheap incubator and it worked just fine. I had to rotate the eggs manually three times per day and keep the reservoir filled with water. I've also loaned it out to friends for their projects. If you have the ability to be home to rotate eggs, it's a great deal.

 

[MGG]

Did you calibrate the thermometers? If you didn't calibrate them you can't trust them. How many times a day did you turn them?
What was your humidity and did you check it with a reliable salt tested hydrometer? Any dirty eggs? Do you clean the incubator very well after each hatch? How much ventilation is there?