Help me decide what incubator to buy!

[shmccarthy]

Hatching season is a few months away and I need help deciding what incubator to get, between these two. I am willing to spend the money, but if the cheaper one is just as good I will buy that one. I would like to hear from people who have used either or know about either. I am doing larger scale hatches this spring and these both have what I like (large capacity and auto turner). Opinions please!

This one is the cheaper one. It was my original plan and it comes with both the incubator and auto turner. It seems relatively straightforward and easy to use.

I bought my previous incubator (RCOM mini) from them and I was very happy with everything and their service. This one is more expensive but this incubator retails for a lot more. It seems to have more complicated controls but it looks to have all the bells and whistles. I like this one because it looks durable and effective to use.

Anyone use/have these? What one should I get?

 

[Avlana]

When starting out with incubation and hatching, I used the little giant incubator. I had some success with them but they were a pain. I had constant temp spikes and had to always watch them closely. I have no experience with the Janoel? I've never heard of it. I use rcom20 and brinsea mini and octagons and love both brands. Check them out. If both rcom and brinsea are out of your price range, I'd recommend the hovabator Genesis 1588. They work great too. Much better than little giant.

 

[joelharris]

When starting out with incubation and hatching, I used the little giant incubator. I had some success with them but they were a pain. I had constant temp spikes and had to always watch them closely. I have no experience with the Janoel? I've never heard of it. I use rcom20 and brinsea mini and octagons and love both brands. Check them out. If both rcom and brinsea are out of your price range, I'd recommend the hovabator Genesis 1588. They work great too. Much better than little giant.

I agree about Brinsea, I have always found them very reliable and have had great hatch results from brinsea incubators, I think they do a 48 egg one called the Brinsea octagon 40 it has autoturn, but as you get what you pay for they are on the very expensive size and quality is worth paying for.

 

[Avlana]

Here's the hovabator genesis on amazon. You may find them cheaper too on ebay or elsewhere.

http://www.amazon.com/GQF-1588-Genesis-Hova-Bator-Incubator/dp/B001O4L9LK

 

[Avlana]

Sorry if I'm posting so many links :x


But yes, I've had great success with brinsea. The octagons come in two sizes 20 and 40? And as advanced (digital readings) or eco (eco has a thermometeor, which works great too and has been very accurate for me.)

http://www.brinsea.com/prod-Octagon_20_ECO_egg_incubator-224.aspx

http://www.brinsea.com/prod-Octagon_20_ADVANCE_digital_egg_incubator-210.aspx


Those are the 20s, they fit roughly 24 chicken eggs, but they have larger bators too. Rcoms are a bit pricey but they're so worth it!

 

[shmccarthy]

I really liked the RCOM I ordered from the people in the second picture. It could only hold 3 eggs but it was perfect for starting out with my small flock. My flock size is increasing a lot this spring (25 pure Ameracauna chicks and 5-10 French marans chicks) and would like to breed and sell chicks. The pretty colored eggs are what got me interested I would like to keep my price limit at about $200 the cause the chicks have been pretty pricey themselves. I've heard a lot of good things about brinsea but I would probably have to shop around a but because I know they are pretty expensive. I work 9-5 weekdays so I definitely want something that can keep stable temperature and turn the eggs when I'm not home. I put it in the basement over the summer and had really good hatch rates. I paid about $125 for my RCOM mini last year, for what the RCOM is, it was worth it. I just need something larger.