Incubator... an internal debate.

[loribischof]

Okay, newbie here. I have a decent size flock of birds (23 with another 15 on the way). I am looking to sell eggs, as well as breed and show (I have 3 children all members of 4H). My ideal flock size would be 160 to 200 laying birds. So I do have a way to go! My question is do I buy the $150 Styrofoam incubator now or do I hold out and save up for the sportsman type models? Also, what models are the best? I'm in it for the long haul, and I don't want to immediately regret my purchase. At the same time, it is hard to increase sales and profit if you have to buy all of your chicks from a hatchery.

Thanks for your time!

Cheers,

Lori

 

[MeepBeep]

It's really up to you, you can use a cheap DIY incubator or even a cheap commercial one and get great results... Or you can invest in something bigger and better, but payback time on bigger and better can be years down the road...

Once you reach your goal of 200 birds what are your plans for the incubator? Is it just going to collect dust at that point until the time comes down the road when you need to hatch more, or are you planning to hatch and sell yourself?

If you are planning to hatch and sell yourself by all means invest in something bigger and better, but on the flip side if you are only going to use it to maintain a flock of 200, a few cheap incubators will likely be sufficient and avoid the big investment...

Even a small incubator can handle 3 or 4 dozen eggs, and with a 21 day turn, you easily hatch out 200 chicks over the course of summer without even trying...

Also I don't think you will instantly regret a cheap incubator purchase as long as you get a model that is decent and not total junk, as it can always be used for small hatches or used as a dedicated hatcher or an emergency backup...

For me after a few mods my 1st cheap foam incubator still works just fine, and I still use it and keep it around as a fallback...

I don't know how much use the cheap foam incubator will get when I finish my fully automated DIY big build, but it's already paid for itself over and over again already, so no regrets...

 

[loribischof]

Thank you! That really helps to put things into perspective! You are right that the return on investment would be a while.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

I have two Little Giant incubators (styro). Honestly, I've been stalking a larger, cabinet style 'bator for a while. I've been waiting for that good deal, so I think I'll be waiting a bit longer. In the mean time, I still hatch like crazy in my cheapie styro 'bators. As stated above, I can easily hatch 200 or so chicks over the course of the summer, I think I've exceeded that this year. However, my incubators are pretty finicky and require a lot of monitoring. So, I'd like to find something that's a little more solid.

If you go for a smaller incubator, Brinsea is an excellent brand. They're a set it and forget it type 'bator. They're a little pricey, and I'd love to have one, they just don't have the capacity I'm looking for and I can't afford their cabinet incubators ( ). Maybe someday

Good luck!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

If you go with the styrobator I'd go with the hovabator line. They are the better styros. I agree with the others. Just keep in mind like funky said bators such as the LG (which is also what I use) can yield out great hatches, but the monitoring and work that goes into them is high to get the good hatches.

 

[MeepBeep]

If you are mechanically inclined never underestimate how good of an incubator you can build yourself on the cheap...

That or you can modify the cheap foam ones to work better, I did several tweaks to mine and it works much better than when I purchased it... The big issue is the temp circuit on the cheap ones wanders, you have to tweak it almost daily in some cases, mine never wandered drastically but it was still annoying, it certainly wasn't set and ignore... But, that can be remedied if you are inclined...

Until I get done with my big one, my primary incubator is one I made out of an Omaha Steak foam box, I didn't just toss it together, I planned the design but in the end it cost me very little, off the top of my head under $20 to build and some stuff I had laying around... The darn thing doesn't look fancy but it runs rock solid... After the first day of making temp adjustments I ran it the entire season never once tweaking the settings... Brought it out of storage this season and it was running about -1° so I tweaked the temp up a bit and it's been running flawless ever since...

I also built an egg turner for it this season, that again cost under $20 and some stuff I had laying around...

Now, I fully understand that building one isn't for everyone but if you feel you have the skills it might be worth considering...

My new build is based on a large armoire that I picked up on Craigslist for free, I wanted it to look more like furniture and this one just happened to be the perfect size based on my primary design specs... I have most of the components but time has been short to actually assemble it, that and writing all the code and building the electronics to automate it will take some brain time, something the children give me little of... I also plan to document the build so that will slow things down a bit as well, maybe next year...