Incubator for Shipped Eggs

[SilkieLoverFarm]

So I'm looking for another incubator that can do a couple dozen or more at one time. My budget is around $150. And these will all be shipped eggs. So I can pretty much bank on detached air cells.

So I'm not sure what to buy. Brinsea, I would like but just can't go there $$$$$ at this time.

I know shipped eggs with detached air cells have a better chance if standing upright vs laid down, so I've read. And I need stable temps/humidity that can handle fluxuations in both outside of the bator.

I like what I'm reading/seeing on the incuview and the nurture 360. Though the nurture 360 is only 22 eggs. And both are lay down bators.

I'm not sure if there's the possibility of putting stand up trays or egg cartons in either one. Anyone do this successfully?

I also looked at the ones with the long yellow egg tray inserts that stand the eggs up. Although not sure if it's stable enough or if silkie eggs do well in them. Haven't seen the greatest of reviews on them but most concerns I think can be fixed with minor alterations to the inside flooring. Anyone have luck with these, with shipped eggs? Are they stable in temps/humidity?

i currently have a small 12 eggs incubator that I have to babysit a lot. So stability is important to me but Im literally intimidated by hovabators and the likes, as I'm new to incubating...

Comments, feedback, suggestions are all welcome. Thank you in advance.

 

[SilkieLoverFarm]

So I'm adding farm innovator 4250 to this list of possibilities.

@BrinseaUS cut me a deal. I'll blog about you and be your bf. And you'll potentially be saving little baby silkie lives. Lol .. making the world a better place, by that alone.

 

[CindyinSD]

I have the incuview and am happy with it. Mine does require some babysitting, but I feel that is my fault. I have it in the utility room and there’s a lot of coming and going to the garage, so the room temp is unstable. It’s a convenient spot for me, though. A little fluctuation is not a huge deal. Mama hen isn’t perfectly uniform either. You just want to avoid over-heating or cooling them for a long enough time to change the internal temp of the egg. I don’t know how long that would be, but my hatches have gone well so far. I have some of my own in there now. Ten days to go... So far, so good.

I was concerned about the lay-down egg position too, but in two hatches of shipped eggs, every egg (but one) that began to develop, hatched a healthy chick or duckling. The one that didn’t, failed early. None of the air cells were stable. What I did was set them (at temp) broad side up in a paper egg carton for the first couple of days. You can fit two of these in the incubator with the turner removed. After that I put in the turner and placed the eggs inside the rails.

Whether that helped I can’t say, but I don‘t think the non-developers were the incubator’s fault. IMO they got knocked around too much in shipping or weren’t fertile to begin with.

I don’t know whether you could rig this incubator to accept a conventional turner. People do all sorts of amazing things, but I’m not handy with machines. I think you’d probably be into it for more money than you wanted to spend though, however inventive a person you might be.

 

[FoodFreedomNow]

I have a couple of the Brinsea Octagons and they're great. I also have several Hova-Bators (2 of the 1588, and a 2370 that I use as a hatcher)...no need to be intimidated. And you can clean and disinfect them well. If you go the Hova-Bator route, I strongly recommend an independent thermometer, in particular, and a hygrometer. I've found these units to be dependable and capacity is about 50 chicken eggs, so plenty of room. I use a Little Giant autoturner with the 1588 and it works like a charm - have hatched shipped eggs successfully in them, too. Best of luck!

 

[maeg]

I second the Incuview, I've had great hatches with it and the price is right. I do place it somewhere without drafts, and I do keep an eye on it, but I've been able to leave the house for long work days, no problem. I too have also put my shipped eggs fat side up in the incubator for the first couple of days before laying them down in the turner trays, with good results. Good luck hatching!

 

[Rammy]

I have a couple of the Brinsea Octagons and they're great. I also have several Hova-Bators (2 of the 1588, and a 2370 that I use as a hatcher)...no need to be intimidated. And you can clean and disinfect them well. If you go the Hova-Bator route, I strongly recommend an independent thermometer, in particular, and a hygrometer. I've found these units to be dependable and capacity is about 50 chicken eggs, so plenty of room. I use a Little Giant autoturner with the 1588 and it works like a charm - have hatched shipped eggs successfully in them, too. Best of luck!

I have a 1588 also and use the LG egg turner in mine and love it. Dependable, easy to clean, and lots of headroom for the chicks. I like the fan and the large window too.

 

[LynnaePB]

I've got a nurture right 360 and a brinsea octagon eco 20. I've had one batch of 18 shipped silkie eggs I started out in the 360. I cut down egg cartons and let them sit fat end up without turning until the third day when I removed the cartons, put the turner back in, and laid them on their sides (they had decent air cells to begin with). I noticed the temperatures were a little uneven when I had the cartons in the incubator, I think they blocked some of the airflow. I still got a really good hatch for shipped eggs, a little over 65% (12 hatched out of 18, 16 made it to day 19).

I like using the brinsea until the air cells have stabilized because it does hold the eggs upright. I find the temperature fluctuates more in my brinsea than the nurture right 360 if the room temperature fluctuates (I definitely prefer the 360 for any non shipped eggs). I've also had 2 fans go out in the brinsea (not good when you are in the middle of incubating). Both incubators have given me very good hatch rates with eggs from my own flock. shipped eggs are tough, I've had excellent hatch rates and very low hatch rates with shipped eggs using both of these incubators (I've been very lucky to have not ever had less than 2 chicks hatching from shipped eggs though).

Another good thing about the nurture right and shipped eggs is that you can position the eggs with the air cell facing the window during lockdown/last 3 days and can candle through the window if you have a bright candler/flashlight. I find my shipped eggs often have a harder time hatching. Being able to see how they progress and when they internally pip really helps with knowing when intervention may be beneficial (this is only useful if you are comfortable being hands on though).

Good luck, I hope you find a good incubator that fits your needs well!

 

[SilkieLoverFarm]

I've got a nurture right 360 and a brinsea octagon eco 20. I've had one batch of 18 shipped silkie eggs I started out in the 360. I cut down egg cartons and let them sit fat end up without turning until the third day when I removed the cartons, put the turner back in, and laid them on their sides (they had decent air cells to begin with). I noticed the temperatures were a little uneven when I had the cartons in the incubator, I think they blocked some of the airflow. I still got a really good hatch for shipped eggs, a little over 65% (12 hatched out of 18, 16 made it to day 19).

I like using the brinsea until the air cells have stabilized because it does hold the eggs upright. I find the temperature fluctuates more in my brinsea than the nurture right 360 if the room temperature fluctuates (I definitely prefer the 360 for any non shipped eggs). I've also had 2 fans go out in the brinsea (not good when you are in the middle of incubating). Both incubators have given me very good hatch rates with eggs from my own flock. shipped eggs are tough, I've had excellent hatch rates and very low hatch rates with shipped eggs using both of these incubators (I've been very lucky to have not ever had less than 2 chicks hatching from shipped eggs though).

Another good thing about the nurture right and shipped eggs is that you can position the eggs with the air cell facing the window during lockdown/last 3 days and can candle through the window if you have a bright candler/flashlight. I find my shipped eggs often have a harder time hatching. Being able to see how they progress and when they internally pip really helps with knowing when intervention may be beneficial (this is only useful if you are comfortable being hands on though).

Good luck, I hope you find a good incubator that fits your needs well!

Thank you so much, that was so informative! I'm hands on myself too, if a baby needs help, I'm helping. I read that the 360 heats back up very quickly and gets humidity stable again quickly if the lid is opened. I read it's within minutes and less. Has that been your experience?

Question on the brinsea. Is the one you have the auto turner or the manual. I read on a blog recently that with shipped eggs in egg cartons as well as manual incubators, they use an object to lift one side and then move it to the other side when they start turning. Anyone ever try that with the manual brinsea? Or any of their incubators, did it work well? I just started doing that with my batch that I have in my small incubator a couple of days ago. So I don't have to open the lid every time I do turning. I did this while holding my own flocks eggs but never thought about it for in the incubator.

I love love love how you can put a flashlight by the window in the 360 and candle!! Thank you for that! That right there adds value to me.

@BrinseaUS no bueno for this poor lady. Free incubators!! ...for everyone on this thread? Lol.. Seriously though, I'll prob own one of yours eventually too, like when I'm a thousandaire..

 

[LynnaePB]

Thank you so much, that was so informative! I'm hands on myself too, if a baby needs help, I'm helping. I read that the 360 heats back up very quickly and gets humidity stable again quickly if the lid is opened. I read it's within minutes and less. Has that been your experience?

Question on the brinsea. Is the one you have the auto turner or the manual. I read on a blog recently that with shipped eggs in egg cartons as well as manual incubators, they use an object to lift one side and then move it to the other side when they start turning. Anyone ever try that with the manual brinsea? Or any of their incubators, did it work well? I just started doing that with my batch that I have in my small incubator a couple of days ago. So I don't have to open the lid every time I do turning. I did this while holding my own flocks eggs but never thought about it for in the incubator.

I love love love how you can put a flashlight by the window in the 360 and candle!! Thank you for that! That right there adds value to me.

@BrinseaUS no bueno for this poor lady. Free incubators!! ...for everyone on this thread? Lol.. Seriously though, I'll prob own one of yours eventually too, like when I'm a thousandaire..

I'm glad you found that information useful! Sometimes I feel like I get a little long winded in my replies!

As far as humidity returning to normal with the 360 I usually only lift the lid a little when I need to get into my incubator during hatching. It usually doesn't drop too much maybe 10% or so and it does return quickly (usually in less than a minute for me). I do live in a rather humid area so that might help. The brinsea is also good about not dropping too much and returning quickly. Both incubators don't drop in temperature too much and return pretty quickly as well.

I have to manually turn with my brinsea, the nice thing about the octagon 20 is that since it is octagonal you are meant to just tip the whole incubator to one side or the other to turn so you don't have to individually turn the eggs. The only downside to this I've found is the temperature on the low side and high side are a little different but I still get good hatches so I guess the difference isn't a biggy (just stresses me out if I start worrying about it too much).

Here's a pic of the candling through the window on the 360. I hatch mostly silkie eggs which are generally cream to light brown and I can tell when they "draw down" internally pip and when their breathing starts to become more steady. I would guess darker shelled eggs would be harder to candle though and you won't get as good of a view as candling with the light right up against the egg. I've been spoiled with hatching in the 360 and hate that I can't do the same in my brinsea. Also I love that I don't have to open the incubator to get more water in the 360 since the entrance to the wells is on the outside, another great pro there! The major cons are minor, it's a little more annoying to clean than my brinsea and the lid is a lot more awkward to lift than the brinseas.

 

[SilkieLoverFarm]

I'm glad you found that information useful! Sometimes I feel like I get a little long winded in my replies!

As far as humidity returning to normal with the 360 I usually only lift the lid a little when I need to get into my incubator during hatching. It usually doesn't drop too much maybe 10% or so and it does return quickly (usually in less than a minute for me). I do live in a rather humid area so that might help. The brinsea is also good about not dropping too much and returning quickly. Both incubators don't drop in temperature too much and return pretty quickly as well.

I have to manually turn with my brinsea, the nice thing about the octagon 20 is that since it is octagonal you are meant to just tip the whole incubator to one side or the other to turn so you don't have to individually turn the eggs. The only downside to this I've found is the temperature on the low side and high side are a little different but I still get good hatches so I guess the difference isn't a biggy (just stresses me out if I start worrying about it too much).

Here's a pic of the candling through the window on the 360. I hatch mostly silkie eggs which are generally cream to light brown and I can tell when they "draw down" internally pip and when their breathing starts to become more steady. I would guess darker shelled eggs would be harder to candle though and you won't get as good of a view as candling with the light right up against the egg. I've been spoiled with hatching in the 360 and hate that I can't do the same in my brinsea. Also I love that I don't have to open the incubator to get more water in the 360 since the entrance to the wells is on the outside, another great pro there! The major cons are minor, it's a little more annoying to clean than my brinsea and the lid is a lot more awkward to lift than the brinseas.

View attachment 2008313

Oh my gosh, I love that pic! All I have are silkies and theyre probably all I ever will be hatching.

I didn't know that about the brisnea for turning, that's cool, super easy.

A lot more good info, thank you so much!!