hovabator Genisis 1588 Questions.

[tristancolli]

Hey everyone so i have a 15 year old hovabator and it died and im going into show bird breeding and i have been looking at getting the new 1588 with the electronic thermostat and i just had a few questions.

1) I have heard some people talking about trouble getting humidity up during lock down is this something alot of people are finding? if so how do you get the humidity higher?

2) Well i have read the thermostat is still adjustable but a few people told me it isn't, so it is?

3) If you have had a wafer style thermostat hovabator before do you find this easier to use? and do you like it more?

4) And this is probably a stupid question but will my old egg turner fit? or do i have to buy a new one also?

 

[hokankai]

1) I have heard some people talking about trouble getting humidity up during lock down is this something alot of people are finding? if so how do you get the humidity higher?

I did not have a problem with this. What I did was have a sponge in a bowl, and a piece of airline tubing sticking out of the incubator so I could add water to the sponge. The sponge does a great job getting the humidity up and you can add steamy water if necessary.

2) Well i have read the thermostat is still adjustable but a few people told me it isn't, so it is?

The 1588 Genesis is in fact adjustable. I left the preset settings my first hatch and the eggs hatched late. This time I have a better thermometer and have had to adjust it up to get it to the correct temp.

3) If you have had a wafer style thermostat hovabator before do you find this easier to use? and do you like it more?

Wafer incubators are notoriously NOT user-friendly. The 1588 is very easy, you just hold down the buttons to adjust the temp

4) And this is probably a stupid question but will my old egg turner fit? or do i have to buy a new one also?

Yes, the hovabator egg turners fit all hovabator incubators

 

[tristancolli]

BUMP

 

[ducksarecool12]

I won't be much help because I got my hovabator for Christmas and haven't got to use it yet. BUT I set it up a few days ago because I have eggs coming in the mail tomorrow! I have also read about having an adjustable thermostat. Mine in automatic basically. It has a preset temperature of 100f but can be set different if desired. That's all I know since I haven't used it at lock down yet! Here's a pic of mine.

 

[tristancolli]

1) I have heard some people talking about trouble getting humidity up during lock down is this something alot of people are finding? if so how do you get the humidity higher?

I did not have a problem with this. What I did was have a sponge in a bowl, and a piece of airline tubing sticking out of the incubator so I could add water to the sponge. The sponge does a great job getting the humidity up and you can add steamy water if necessary.

2) Well i have read the thermostat is still adjustable but a few people told me it isn't, so it is?

The 1588 Genesis is in fact adjustable. I left the preset settings my first hatch and the eggs hatched late. This time I have a better thermometer and have had to adjust it up to get it to the correct temp.

3) If you have had a wafer style thermostat hovabator before do you find this easier to use? and do you like it more?

Wafer incubators are notoriously NOT user-friendly. The 1588 is very easy, you just hold down the buttons to adjust the temp

4) And this is probably a stupid question but will my old egg turner fit? or do i have to buy a new one also?

Yes, the hovabator egg turners fit all hovabator incubators

so u said u had to adjust the thermostat for your seccond hatch. is it preset at 100 or 99.5 cause i was talking to a few people and some where 99.5 and some were 100my old bator was the hovabator with the wafer and i used to have excilent hatch rates usually no lower then95%. are there any other tips for good hatching with the hovabator 1588??

 

[tristancolli]

I won't be much help because I got my hovabator for Christmas and haven't got to use it yet. BUT I set it up a few days ago because I have eggs coming in the mail tomorrow! I have also read about having an adjustable thermostat. Mine in automatic basically. It has a preset temperature of 100f but can be set different if desired. That's all I know since I haven't used it at lock down yet! Here's a pic of mine.

i would love to hear about your results with this incubator please keepme updated. and anyone else with experience with these i would love to hear your experiences with the 1588

 

[hokankai]

so u said u had to adjust the thermostat for your seccond hatch. is it preset at 100 or 99.5 cause i was talking to a few people and some where 99.5 and some were 100my old bator was the hovabator with the wafer and i used to have excilent hatch rates usually no lower then95%. are there any other tips for good hatching with the hovabator 1588??

It is preset at 99.5, however I was keeping it downstairs where it was cooler than usual. I have a thermometer inside of a water wiggler which mimics the thermal mass of an egg. Right now my thermostat is at 101, but the water wiggler is reading 100. I adjust it a few 1/10s of a degree accordingly, for instance I just adjusted it down to 100.5 to get the water wiggler temp to 99.5.

Other advice, don't use the wells in the bottom. I have different sized bowls with different amounts of surface area that give different humidity levels when used. I have the smallest one in there to get a 35% humidity. My first hatch I used the wells and was always battling to keep the humidity down. I had to push back lockdown to day 20 because the eggs weren't losing enough moisture fast enough. This time the tray is dry and I have my bowls to give the humidity I want. I also put a water bottle in there to help stabilize temp for when I open to candle.

Here's my setup. That bowl is for 45-60% humidity. I put it in there because the eggs lost a lot of water their first week, but I just took it out switched to the smaller one and the humidity is now in the 30s%

 

[tristancolli]

It is preset at 99.5, however I was keeping it downstairs where it was cooler than usual. I have a thermometer inside of a water wiggler which mimics the thermal mass of an egg. Right now my thermostat is at 101, but the water wiggler is reading 100. I adjust it a few 1/10s of a degree accordingly, for instance I just adjusted it down to 100.5 to get the water wiggler temp to 99.5.

Other advice, don't use the wells in the bottom. I have different sized bowls with different amounts of surface area that give different humidity levels when used. I have the smallest one in there to get a 35% humidity. My first hatch I used the wells and was always battling to keep the humidity down. I had to push back lockdown to day 20 because the eggs weren't losing enough moisture fast enough. This time the tray is dry and I have my bowls to give the humidity I want. I also put a water bottle in there to help stabilize temp for when I open to candle.

Here's my setup. That bowl is for 45-60% humidity. I put it in there because the eggs lost a lot of water their first week, but I just took it out switched to the smaller one and the humidity is now in the 30s%

ok thank you very much. I would love to follow your hatch progress so please keep me up dated. and i have to wait a month or so to get my income tax back before i can get my bator but as soon as i get it i will be starting to set .

 

[hokankai]

Sure thing, I'm over in the Feb 16th Hatch-a-long and will also have a live hatch cam up

 

[FarmGirl01]

I've been using the 1588 for about 10 years. I've never had to adjust the temps. It's a great incubator to have. I also run it for months at a time and use another one for a hatcher. I don't even use a thermometer or hygrometer. I just fill the wells as stated in the directions.