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- #101
Corbdee
Duckies!
Thank you so much for the description and disclaimers and tips! That’s exactly what I’m looking for- what users found worked for them a certain wayI've only used one non-diy incubator, but it's done pretty good job and that's why I haven't needed to try others. It's the Janoel24, which is similar to the 12, but not quite the same. I got it in February 2019 and I was attracted to it being less than $200 for having enough space for 30 quail eggs, didn't need any extra attachments (additional cost) to turn the quail eggs, and had decent reviews compared to other brands.
Beyond expected benefits, the turning tray has turned out to be really convenient for having some batch overlap. Remove slats from around the eggs in lockdown and leave the slats next to eggs still needing turning. The tray is large and slow enough to pose very little risk to the first chicks out. Been through several quail hatches and more recently, a few chickens. About to put more chickens in it.
There's only two tiny downsides. While I've had success only filling water reservoirs only twice during incubation (at set and lockdown), not being able to easily view water level under the hatch tray could be inconvenient for someone with less moderate humidity levels. But I recall posts here or there about working around lack of reservoir visibility fairly simply, so not a huge deal. The other thing is lining up the top with the bottom can be somewhat awkward if you don't have good control lifting it up, because the contact area is pretty thin. But we're not supposed to be opening the incubator frequently or wildly, so being careful is generally enough.
On a side note, if you have a child who is a little too nosy (or you're avoiding pestering from your husband lol) like I do, it's actually a benefit that the the "clear" parts are translucent gray instead of crystal clear and it's easy to put a dark gray piece of paper over the one lighted spot. So only the low hum gives away that something is going on.
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