Getting the flock out of here - a diary of a crazy chicken man

[hillfloweranch]

PS what did Bernie think of the "giant" NHR eggs?

 

[Sweetpea3829]

Which one did you get? And I'm the same way.. I want to get a Brinsea and get to hatching, keep having to remind myself I'm about to pop

Birthday is in August... good time to get one and get to hatching.

I got the Octagon 20 Eco (or whatever its called...manual turning, lol). I'm eagerly awaiting my Fedex man...

 

[Tomtommom]

I got the Octagon 20 Eco (or whatever its called...manual turning, lol). I'm eagerly awaiting my Fedex man...

I am still on the fence about which one I want. Most egg auctions are for 12+ eggs, so if I have the mini advance... I'd have way too many eggs. I could go manual with the mini, which allows like 11 eggs... but then I have to turn 3 times a day and in such a small device, the humidity drop 3 times a day could be an issue.. and my memory is terrible. I'm a pretty 'hands-off" person... I would totally forget. The 20 manual seems too big, but it does make egg turning easy from what I see (you just tip the thing, instead of touching the eggs and possibly contaminating them).

I suppose I don't HAVE to fill the 20.... right? I'm just a chicken snob who wants breeds I can't find close by and it seems it would be smarter to hatch auction eggs (12+ eggs) and hope to get a few babies out of it, than having to mail order chicks and always have to order way too many.

Last option is getting broody-prone birds. Good option too, reliable, once you catch them on time and get eggs on time

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote: Can a turner be added later?

 

[piglett]

I am still on the fence about which one I want. Most egg auctions are for 12+ eggs, so if I have the mini advance... I'd have way too many eggs. I could go manual with the mini, which allows like 11 eggs... but then I have to turn 3 times a day and in such a small device, the humidity drop 3 times a day could be an issue.. and my memory is terrible. I'm a pretty 'hands-off" person... I would totally forget. The 20 manual seems too big, but it does make egg turning easy from what I see (you just tip the thing, instead of touching the eggs and possibly contaminating them).

I suppose I don't HAVE to fill the 20.... right? I'm just a chicken snob who wants breeds I can't find close by and it seems it would be smarter to hatch auction eggs (12+ eggs) and hope to get a few babies out of it, than having to mail order chicks and always have to order way too many.

Last option is getting broody-prone birds. Good option too, reliable, once you catch them on time and get eggs on time

i started out with a hovabator with fan kit

after the 1st batch i added a turner but you don't have to have one

a person can start hatching with a still air foam hovabator for $50 from ebay including the shipping

oh also don't order high $$$ for your 1st hatch

it takes time to figure it all our

my 1st batch was with a junk bator called "sunny side up"

the eggs came from a farmer down the street & i gave $3 for them

the results were poor but i started the learning process

i now can set over 200 eggs at a time if i wish

but i have been doing this for a while



what i would say is start with a cheep foam bator & you can always use it as a hatcher later (that is what i do)

once you are ready to step up you can always upgrade

good luck
piglett



edit: oh also auction eggs are really tough to hatch & must be treated differently than local eggs if you going to get even fair results.

 

[ozexpat]

I have similar opinions to piglett.

I think Brinseas are great but costly.

If you opt for a styro, get the hovabator over the LG or Farm innovators. They are much less volatile.

I have (in 2 countries):

2 hovabator 1602N with fan kit
1 Farm Innovators
1 Hovabator Gennesis

I also use 3 home made bators - 1 x 800 egg, 1 x 150 egg and1 x 20 egg capacity

 

[Sweetpea3829]

Can a turner be added later?

I think so, yes. But because we homeschool, being home isn't usually an issue.

i started out with a hovabator with fan kit

after the 1st batch i added a turner but you don't have to have one

a person can start hatching with a still air foam hovabator for $50 from ebay including the shipping

oh also don't order high $$$ for your 1st hatch

it takes time to figure it all our

my 1st batch was with a junk bator called "sunny side up"

the eggs came from a farmer down the street & i gave $3 for them

the results were poor but i started the learning process

i now can set over 200 eggs at a time if i wish

but i have been doing this for a while



what i would say is start with a cheep foam bator & you can always use it as a hatcher later (that is what i do)

once you are ready to step up you can always upgrade

good luck
piglett



edit: oh also auction eggs are really tough to hatch & must be treated differently than local eggs if you going to get even fair results.

I hatched my first hatch last year with my neighbor's styrofoam hovabator. He gave us over a dozen eggs, which had sat for too long, but we still managed to hatch 8 of them. Hubby wanted me to use the borrowed hovabator again, but I really wanted my own incubator, rather than waiting for the neighbor's.

As for volume...well...I will probably only hatch once or twice a year. Which, I know...I probably should have just borrowed the neighbor's if I was only planning on a once or twice a year hatching buuuuut...again, I really wanted my own. (His incubator was pretty gross...lol).

I'm having a devil of a time sourcing local eggs of the breeds I want, so I think I'm just going to order eggs from Meyer. Hoping I don't regret it.

 

[ozexpat]

I think so, yes. But because we homeschool, being home isn't usually an issue.




I hatched my first hatch last year with my neighbor's styrofoam hovabator. He gave us over a dozen eggs, which had sat for too long, but we still managed to hatch 8 of them. Hubby wanted me to use the borrowed hovabator again, but I really wanted my own incubator, rather than waiting for the neighbor's.

As for volume...well...I will probably only hatch once or twice a year. Which, I know...I probably should have just borrowed the neighbor's if I was only planning on a once or twice a year hatching buuuuut...again, I really wanted my own. (His incubator was pretty gross...lol).

I'm having a devil of a time sourcing local eggs of the breeds I want, so I think I'm just going to order eggs from Meyer. Hoping I don't regret it.

Unless you plan to show your birds, hatchery stock is fine.

I used Dunlap. I will have bernie candle the white eggs tonight - day 5 and give you a prelim. The duck eggs looked good for a trans-pacific setting last night on day 4.

 

[Tomtommom]

The styrofoam factor is what really turns me off from well.. styrofoam incubators. I have small kids, idiot cats and I am freaking clumsy.. I would not expect a styrofoam anything to last long in this house (I can already see my son or cat trying to eat the dang thing). They seem like they would be hard to clean.. Also, Brinsea products retain their resale value. I have seen used Brinsea incubators and heat plates go on Ebay for 80% or more of the new value. Impressive, in my opinion.

 

[Tomtommom]

Oh, and Sweetpea, you can buy a 'turning cradle' for your octagon, it's about $80. Pricey in my opinion, especially since it's so darn easy to prop up a different side of the thing (because that's what the cradle does).