hobavator made of styrofoam?

[wildorchid053]

i was looking into getting an incubator this spring and was looking at the 1588 hobavator.. is it plastic or the whole thing foam like those inexpensive ice chests? and how easy are they to clean? i hear great results but if it is easily breakable i think i will upgrade. thank you in advance for the info

 

[bonnylass79]

The Hova-bator is thick styrofoam. I haven't had any problem cleaning it and I usually get a 75% hatch rate. We keep it in the box when not in use and on a shelf when hatching. I would consider it pretty sturdy. A plastic incubator would probably crack more easily. The best thing that I've found with it is that the temp stays very steady. We didn't have to do any adjusting once the temp was set.

 

[Painted Spirit]

I really like my Hova Bator! I compared mine to a Little Giant - the HB wins! There is a plastic tray on the bottom to catch most of the mess, it holds a lot of water compared to the LG, I've got it in a spare room and no problems with temp fluctuations. I did add a fan from ebay that was super easy to install and would recommend one, plus I've got a turner as I'm not home enough. I've got prolly $110 in it for bator, turner and fan.

 

[Poulets De Cajun]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=157493

 

[Tuffoldhen]

I've had my hova bator 1583 for a few years now, looks as good as new and has hatched around 700 chicks in it alone!! Course I have 3 other different brands too.

 

[Akane]

My styrofoam lg is missing a corner. The hova has round corners so that's less likely to happen but you can break a styrofoam bator fairly easily if you were to drop something on it or set it somewhere it could accidentally be stepped on. That said mine is on it's 2nd year and the only damage is some holes I purposely put in it to decrease humidity when hatching large numbers of quail. I also have had no issues with infection or it not being clean enough. I just wipe with vinegar after every hatch and soak it outside with bleach a couple times a year. Same thing I'd do with plastic ones. Plastic incubators can crack and I've cracked other items made of the same thickness and type of plastic. Either way the low end bators do require a little more care to keep them in one piece than if you are buying something more costly but so long as you aren't abusing them and your overgrown akita puppy doesn't take an interest in trying to eat it's way to the hatching chicks

they will hold up fine. If you go with styrofoam bators the hova is much easier to adjust and get a stable temp and proper humidity than the lg. I try to avoid using the lg and only pull it out when doing staggered hatches and move the eggs to the hova as soon as it's free.