Good incubator? Advice?

[Frosty]

I have a few incubators... The old GQF Cabinet incubator, bought off of eBay used some years ago, and 2 Little Giant incubators (actually, just one of those now... I had two late litters of kittens that I put in the spare bedroom last fall with their mom's and they shredded up the one incubator that was stored in that room

)

So now the question... sometimes I have smaller batches of eggs that I want to hatch. I don't quite trust the Little Giant with these eggs, but don't like to start up the GQF for a dozen or so eggs either. So I would like to get a good smaller incubator. Right now I am leaning towards the Brinsea Octagon (with the cradle and humidity pump) but the R-Com doesn't look bad either. Anyone have one of these or another that I may be over looking? Thoughts or advice? I should add that whatever I get would mostly be used for peafowl and turkey eggs if that makes a difference...

Thank you in advance!

 

[Sweetfolly]

I'm a Brinsea girl - I don't incubate in anything else anymore. I have 2 Octagon 20 ECO's and one auto-turning cradle, and even the ECO's are so easy keep a rock-solid temperature and humidity in, that I don't even check temperatures after the first day I have them running anymore! I just plug them in, make sure they heat up to 99.5, and I trust them to stay there for as long as I have them plugged in!

I just hatched 58 of 100 shipped Coturnix quail eggs in them, although they're usually full of duck and bantam chicken eggs. Last year, I hatched Indian Runner, Campbell, and Hookbill ducks, and Bantam Cochin, Japanese Bantam, and Polish Bantam chickens in them. I'm trying notoriously hard to hatch Call ducks in one of them for the first time right now - I just set the eggs tonight (from my own birds)!

Humidity's a breeze in them too - for most of the eggs I incubate in them, I keep both water channels filled during incubation, and then I throw a damp washcloth over the bottom for the hatch. I don't even have a hygrometer in there anymore, I just follow the same routine that's been working for 2 years now!

Of course, that's irrelevant if you're looking at the Octagon Advance with humidity pump - I'm just saying, the fancy gadgets and doodads really aren't necessary! I set my eggs in my Eco's and I completely forget about them except for a weekly water check. And I've never had a "failed" hatch in them - every time I've set eggs, I've hatched babies! Shipped eggs or my own!

So, if the bottom of the line ECO model is that reliable, I'd absolutely jump for ANY of Brinsea's incubators in a heatbeat!

 

[Frosty]

The big reason that I am looking at the one with a humidity pump... Our climate tends to be very dry here. It is not at all uncommon to have humidity during the day in the summer run in the 30's and lower 40's. So with my GQF and the LGs I have had to really watch the humidity and it was a battle to get it above 45% or so. So I was thinking the pump might be a good thing to have? Or is the ECO easier to get the humidity up than the ones that I have?

 

[thunderwagn]

I live in a very dry area as well and have zero issues getting and maintaining humidity in my Brinsea. Even when bumping it up for hatching.

 

[Frosty]

Quote:
Do you have the humidity pump or just the water in the incubator itself?

 

[pascopol]

Quote:
B R I N S E A ROCKS ! ! !

It hatches every hatchable egg, no iffs, ohhs or ANY excuses.

 

[Frosty]

I will say that my best friend got a Brinsea Mini, and couldn't stand it sitting there empty. She doesn't have any roosters, so I gave her seven eggs from my mixed flock. Last weekend, she had 6 babies hatch, would have had seven but the end of one shell from a chick that hatched covered the end of an egg that was pipping and the little one didn't make it. If it weren't for that, she would have had a 100% hatch. Guess my fertility is pretty good too?

So I'm leaning toward the Brinsea. Thank you all who answered!

 

[bakerjw]

I have a Top Hatch that I loathe and am going to get a new incubator. Specifically I am looking at some by Brinsea.

Other than the specifications shown on their website, how much of a difference is there between the ECO and the Advance as far as temperature and humidity stability are concerned?

 

[thunderwagn]

Do you have the humidity pump or just the water in the incubator itself?

I do have the pump. It really makes hatching simple. My only draw back with the Brinsea, is that its just to small for my needs.​