if you could buy any bator what bator would you buy?

[muddstopper]

Quote:
I would wager to bet that a very large percentage of the members here use that same exact incubator or similar. Egg source is just as important as the equipment. None of them will work well without a little effort.

 

[Tailfeathers]

I have a GQF Sportsman 1502 with Plexiglass door and topside additional reservoir. It has been running nonstop since the end of April. All I have to do is load the eggs. The temperature has remained constant (except for two power outages) and I never have to mess with humidity whatsoever.

God Bless,

 

[mahalo4]

I am going by what i have read on here for the dickey i have been using an LG with a fan and turner and a still air for hatch just that my house is old and bad insulation and my outside temps really effect my temps.I get decent hatch rates but it is a lot of work i just want something a lot more stable.there is another guy today that is a master carpenter and he is making a bator i might buy it will hold 80 eggs and a hatching tray and that is what i am looking for still learning,sorry for the run on.

 

[cbiblis]

I modeled my bator off of the dickey. Dickey and sportsman are in my opinion the best for the money. however i was not happy with the painted 1/2 plywood casing. The one that i got to model off of was a few years old and you could clean it until the cows came home but you could never get the stench out. this alone told me that the bator itself held bacteria. My suggestion is to build your own. There not that hard. I just built one for someone. It took me 3-4 days but i made upgrades and still saved a lot of money. You can check it out here.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=244700

 

[JamesA]

I have a Dickey and it is so good I do not even put a themometor in it half the time it keeps so stable.I have had some really good hatches with it and will always use a Dickey.

 

[Bedste]

I would buy the one that once you turn it on...it turns the eggs and increases the humidity on day 18 and stops turning... for last 3 days all by itself.... and broods.... is there one with a brooder too? and lots of glass window to see in with and its own thermometor.....

 

[Sialia]

Quote:
You really might want to do some research on those ones before you make that kind of investment. I've not heard great things about them. Just sayin'.

This is a shocking post. Do a search here on BYC. I bet you don't find any negative statements regarding Dickey incubators.

 

[Brick243]

I have a Sportsman. Very satisfied with it. Put eggs in and take chicks out 21 days later.

I haven't heard anything negative about Dickey incubators.

 

[mulia24]

wew, in case i could buy any bator.

i will buy a bator that when i put eggs inside it, it automatically turned on and keep humidity and temp stable with good ventilation and raising humidity higher and keep temp stable on 18-21 days automatically and have an auto turner automatically turning the eggs and have a camera attached inside and auto recorder temp and humidity in case there's fluctuation and have a censor that will report any movement and strange thing inside bator by sending me email full with description and report. and have attached brooder beside it and can automatically providing feed and water in 23rd days if other not yet hatched and have 100% guarantee hatched all eggs we put inside. and the ONE of the MOST important is, having attached UPS that last for 10 hours when power outages happen and automatically recharging when power back, and better if use solar panel or have its own generator.

and i realize i have write too many *and*.

and i haven't or will never ever find a bator like that, if i ever find it then i won't be able to buy it.

but, as the subject of thread said : if you could buy any bator what bator would you buy?

I'm sorry if anyone think i write useless *wishes* or feel offended but that's the actually what kind of bator i want to buy.

 

[walkswithdog]

Quote:
I would buy either another antique redwood cabinet incubator - a Leahy or Cypher, a Dickey or one of the small ones CBIBLIS is beginning to design.

I've had an LG, I've had three homemades, I love my homemades, and my "new" antique redwood one. My homemade mini fridge incubator, holds solid temps, varying about .5-.8 degrees, fits next to my computer monitor, has great visibility inside - to watch hatching, opens easily (not like a foam bator), won't burn me like a foam bator's heating element, is not cramped and I have the pride of having built it.

My IDEAL didn't exist. One with 1-2 hatching shelves, solid wood, more than 40 eggs - fewer than 100, small enough to sit on my desk but larger than a foam bator. Then a master carpenter ended up out of work and started building incubators and I see some serious potential to get what I want eventually. I'm going to start saving again and CBIBLIS is going to work on his designs and eventually I will get what I want

I'm comfortable enough with design and tinkering that I'd go with a master carpenter's work or a Dickey, than the more common sportsman etc. I really love pretty wood work. And a good solid-wood incubator is a gorgeous beast. And buying American has value to me.

What is someone's ideal depends on their needs, their experience, their values, their knowledge.

If you need plug it in and it's perfect and you don't have to ever think or tinker, maybe hova-bator or brinsea for small ones. The cabinet bators are also largely plug and play - GQF sportsman, Dickey. But they're huge.

My antique is also pretty much plug it in and forget it - it's huge. Though I do have to hand turn right now it would fit turner trays.

If I had the money - CBIBLIS and I would get together on what I want. He's got the cabinet/building talent and a good concept and I know what I want in the way of equipment and performance in it.

If I were to tell a newbie what to get - I'd say BUILD one. No you can't just plug it in and it works. But you LEARN more about incubation and everything it needs. You learn about heat elements and choices, wiring and dimmers (in some cases), VENTILATION - air exchange and humidity and how to FIX things that go wrong.

If I were to recommend a 20-40 egg desktop it'd be Brinsea - because I just do not LIKE the design of the foam incubators however well they work and the hovabators work well. I still hate 'em.

Do you want to learn how it all works and why? Or use a plug and play and not have to learn a thing? Totally different goals.

Build a mini-fridge bator, learn how it all works and why and what you LIKE in a design, and don't. Hatch and save and then buy an incubator you KNOW you'll like because you understand the features and benefits and capability. And you have a chance to find out how badly you'll be addicted before you spend hundreds of dollars on the wrong one for you.