I got my first chickens spring of last year, so I'm not all that experienced in the chicken world. I know I want to add more chickens to the farm this year and I'm trying to figure out if I should just mail order more chicks and hope I get the breeds I want, or if I should learn to incubate eggs and hatch my own. Is it cost effective to hatch? Maybe that's not a question I should ask What factors did you consider before you decided to start incubating and hatching eggs? Also, is buying a used incubator asking for problems? I'm sure it's like anything else and buyer beware, but are there hygiene issues to be considered?
Is it cost effective? I guess that depends on how you use it and how much you spend on it. We bought a hova bator (styrofoam) for $60 on Ebay last year, and then we hatched our own eggs and sold the first two hatches for $1.50 per chick. For us, that made it definitely cost effective. We had made a profit in two months. Now we're using it to populate our dual purpose meatie population, and we hope to sell more chicks in the spring. Other factors that make me happy i have my own incubator and know how to use it: if a friend nearby has chicken breeds that i want, i can get their eggs and incubate them and feel safer than if i were to bring home their chicks or full grown chickens. Besides all that, it's just really awesome to stick a bunch of regular ole eggs in a styrofoam box and produce living beings.
We have a Hovabator as well...ok...you caught me...we have 4...all running right NOW. I recommend them. Some of ours have fans (and if you can...get one of those if you're going the basic styrofoam route) some don't...we still do alright. Keep an eye on your local craigslist/classifieds section. You just NEVER know what you'll find. Cost effective? We got one of ours as a Christmas present (apparently the weirdest pic my mother has ever given), two from LovinMyPeeps secondhand, and one out of our local free classifieds paper (with turner) for DIRT CHEAP. So...figure...all these incubators/turners, and I've spent around $60. We have in the bators right NOW: Some of our own Dominique, Chantecler, and EE eggs Purchased White Chantecler (72) Welsummer (24) Ameracauna (12) all purhcased from a nearby breeder for a RIDICULOUSLY good price (off season for him, it's hard to move hatching eggs in Canada in the winter). For us, it's cost effective.
I have an older Hova-Bator and it works awesome! I've done two small hatches (1 Quail and 1 Chicken) so far with good results, especially since those were my first hatches. It's a still air model (#1582), with the HUGE window in the top. My kids love watching the eggs hatch!