Dickey or Sportsman 1502

[keesmom]

Quote:
This is why I'm leaning towards the Dickey. It doesn't have the digital temp, but then the sportsman 1202s don't either and people have great hatches in those.

Does anyone have the dimensions on the Dickey? I can't find that info on his site.

 

[perolane]

Ordered my Dickey 2X2 on a Monday...it was delivered on Thursday. My first hatch in there now! It's not fancy schmancy, but it's very well made & solid as a rock!!! What sold me besides reputation...was that Ernest Dickey answers the phone & is always available if needed! He even took my order...try that with others!!

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

I think im going to order one.

Do they come will the turning & hatching trays?

How many of those plastic egg trays does it take?

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

Chelsea,
You can order the plastic trays from him when you order the bator. Also, since there is only one hatching tray, he will make you dividers for it in case you want to separate your eggs by variety that are hatching at the same time.

I just borrowed one for a couple of months and it was rock stable. Highly recommend.

 

[chickened]

I havethe sportsman 1502 and it is great. Yes it is made from particle board which I am not fond of. The nice thing is you just plug it in temp is perfect no adjustments to be made. It took me about 5 minutes to set it up. Holds 180 eggs but there is enough room to stack them if needed. Parts are readily available. A lot of if not all commercial hatcheries use GQF internals they are reliable.

 

[thunderwagn]

You will have to order egg holders. Each shelf will hold 2 holders, so you will need 6. I got chicken eggs holders and I will say my silky and call duck eggs fit just fine in them. I did get one for turkey, and one for banty eggs (think he called them pheasant). I just wanted to make sure I had a little variety of holders just in case and they are fairly cheap. I would call up Mr. Dickey today and just chat with him. I think he enjoys the conversation. Good luck with your decision.

Nothing wrong with the Sportsman either. One thing I will add and I may be a little crazy on this but like I said, I have the Brinsea 20 adv ex with the bells and whistles. I kinda miss the tinker factor...I enjoyed spending the afternoon setting up my Dickey and getting it dialed just right. Some things are so mindless it kinda takes the fun out...least for me.
We spend lots of money on these bators, which is kind of the point. Ease! I don't have the time usually to fuss around with things a lot. But it was nice to kinda get to know my new high dollar bator, instead of just setting it and walking away. I got to tinker with the vents and find how they affect temps and rh. Just nice kinda messing around with it knowing what factors are involved with each touch. Now that its set, I don't really have to do anything, but if I want to change something, I know the outcome of what each adjustment will be. I even called Mr. Dickey up during the setup and asked for any advice on dialing it in. He suggested putting in all the racks and trays just like you would for a real session and set everything up with it loaded (not with eggs of course). Call me crazy, but it was just nice spending a Saturday playing with my new toy. With as busy as we are all the time, it was very relaxing for me...and enjoyable.

 

[kelar]

I bought a used Dickey incubator and hatcher from a fellow BYCer over the summer and I absolutely LOVE it. Mine are pretty big and do take up quite a bit of room (depth more than anything else), but hatching results have been fantastic. The only "problem" is getting carried away and hatching too many eggs The incubator has 3 trays with bars slotted over the top and I've just prepared egg cartons to hold the eggs. Since I sterilize my eggs in oxine before placing them in the incubator, I can reuse these. I could also remove the bars and use their trays, but have not felt this to be necessary yet. I didn't realize how wonderful it is to have a hatcher - now I can stagger the hatches and don't have to worry about setting and hatching eggs all at once. Highly recommend

 

[SundownWaterfowl]

Thanks All!

Just ordered myself a Dickey!

Supposed to ship out Monday.

 

[thunderwagn]

Nice! And congrats...

 

[kelar]

You won't be disappointed Chelsea - get ready to have fluffy butts coming out your ears though