Dickey or Brinsea Ova 190? **Ordered the Dickey!**

[Scraps]

I just got my tax return and DH has given me the go-ahead on a cabinet bator. The Ova 190 is on sale right now for 589

I know a lot of people love the Dickey but I'm looking for a little input on both before I buy something tomorrow. Any info or opinions are appreciated!

 

[Ryu]

We have a Brinsea Ova 190. We've had two hatches out of it so far this year with very good results.

Love the automatic turning.

Temperature control seems very tight, but there is some temp layering in our cabinet. It seems to be pretty sensitive to drafts, more so than my old Hovabator still air.

Our trays didn't come with the egg dividers that were supposed to be included so we had to buy racks, some fit way better than others. The metal tray shelves are very slippery and the non-brinsea racks really slide if you don't make modifications.

You have to be careful on the top shelf if you have big eggs and they are in a rack that puts them on end, we lost three Buckeye eggs this weekend (they got crushed against the humidity tray).

You have to fill the humidity tray every day, and it is a pain. The humidity tray is really cheap, and not very convienient to work with.

The Brinsea 190 is compact, it sits on an old end table we had, and is relatively quiet.

Having been brutally honest about it, I wouldn't go back to the Hovabator. Being able to stagger hatches using the Hova as a hatcher is great.

Let me know if you have any more questions.
Sharon

 

[Scraps]

Thanks for the info Sharon!

I have an LG and a Hova right now and although I've had excellent hatch rates I feel like all I do is play with the temp knobs to keep them steady. What I really REALLY want is to be able to throw the eggs in and come back 21 days later

Did you buy the Commercial style egg flats that Brinsea sells or did you get racks from somewhere else?

 

[Ryu]

Ours came with the white basket type egg trays, that you can flip on top of the other to make a hatching tray. We didn't get the dividers to keep the eggs from rolling around (ommission on their part).

We picked up some trays at a show. For the larger trays, the pale blue ones that sit the eggs vertically works the best. The dark blue tray (the one that looks like a plastic egg flat) slides around way too much. I ended up putting it in one of the white baskets and cutting strips of carboard to keep it from moving.

Unless DH is willing to spring for the automatic humidity module, you will have to visit the Brinsea every day to fill that bleeping tray--unless you are lucky enough to live in a climate where the humidity is high enough without adding more.

I have spoken with my brother (a mech. engineer) about the tray to develop a gravity fed filling system. He took a look at the Brinsea and is building me another cabinet incubator--it's going to have an integrated Ultrafire LED candler and a separate chamber for hatching with it's own humidity control. I can't wait. He thinks he can do it for about $300.

 

[rkent]

I have had a Dickey for 4 years now and have not had a problem. Get the automatic humidity system with it. I have hatched numerous types and of eggs in it with no problems.

 

[hippichick]

I've had a Dickey for a few months now, and I absolutely love it. Pretty much put the eggs in a forget about them, except to add water to the humidity tray every few days.

Paula

 

[Scraps]

Thank you everyone for the input. I decided to go with the Dickey. I called Mr. Dickey last night and put my order in, I got one with all the bells and whistles

He said it would go in the mail this morning

 

[walkswithdog]

Please post the Dickey website again? There was one wasn't there?

 

[hippichick]

Here it is.

http://dickeyincubators.com/

Oh, and Congrats, Scraps! You'll be very happy with it, I'm sure.

Paula

 

[walkswithdog]

Thanks Paula, that's where every spare chicken $ goes until I get one