Incubator recommendations

[ISDPCMAN]

My daughter in law is asking for an incubator for christmas. I don't know what to look for. I'd like to get something that would do most of the work for her as she's pretty busy with work and kids so an automatic turner and heat/humidity control is preferred. I don't know much about chickens except 350º for 15/min lb ;-) I'm hoping to find something decent for under $150. Can anyone make recommendations on a unit of decent quality that would do the trick. I can't imagine she's going to be hatching more than a dozen birds at a time (probably less but I'll settle for 12 as the max)

 

[AmyLynn2374]

My daughter in law is asking for an incubator for christmas. I don't know what to look for. I'd like to get something that would do most of the work for her as she's pretty busy with work and kids so an automatic turner and heat/humidity control is preferred. I don't know much about chickens except 350º for 15/min lb ;-) I'm hoping to find something decent for under $150. Can anyone make recommendations on a unit of decent quality that would do the trick. I can't imagine she's going to be hatching more than a dozen birds at a time (probably less but I'll settle for 12 as the max)

I can tell you finding a 'decent' incubator that has fan/turner and thermostat for under $150 is going to be hard. You have a slightly better chance seeing as you are talking about a max of 12, but I'd have to do some googling. The cheapy styrofoam bators w/fan and turner will run you aout that much. let me do some looking at ebay and maybe I can give you some ideas then you can find out if anyone has used any of them? I'm sure the more long term incubator members will chime in here too.

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Here's one: http://www.ebay.com/itm/48-Digital-...568?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item51c5daa4d0

we have some Janoel users on here that could give you their opinion on this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/12-Egg-Incu...097?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27e6c45539

I'd be curious to know if anyone has used one of these: http://www.ebay.com/itm/SIL-RITE-FA...903?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20ecaa302f

There are probably other's that people know about as well.
The highest recommended bator around here are the Brinseas, but they are a little pricey. Good luck finding a good and reliable one. She will love incubating. Just warn her it is very addicting!

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Hi

Totally agree with AmyLynn. The more you want the incubator to do the more you have to pay. I am one of those that would highly reccomend a Brinsea. Brinsea do a humidity pump that can be added to certain models of their incubators.

I have the octagon 20 advance with the pump so that I don't have to worry about humidity it does it all for me. Along with the auto turner I really can set and forget the incubator only filling the pump tank once a week with water.

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/products/category/egg-incubators

Here is the link on incubator reviews hope you find some more info here on the various incubators

 

[Beyond Yonder]

I ordered one and I have it plugged in today. the temperature came right up to 100 degrees. I am waiting to see how the egg turner does. It turns them every 2 hours. I hope it works because my eggs come tomorrow. I would like a better manual though because I am a first-time incubator person.

 

[hooktontravel]

I know this is an old post, but i am just putting here that I have a Rite Farm 1200 and it seems very good. I didn't bother to do much with humidity except add water just in the last couple of days so it would be damp for hatching, but that would depend on the climate where you are. You might need to do more. It has channels in the bottom for water so you can put water in. if you do it probably checking once a day would be fine. I added an additional thermometer/humidity gauge to compare with the one on the machine.

 

[Leigh47]

I hope you are still on-line, hooktontravel. I bought a 1200 and am not sure how to connect the egg turner. The instructions are weird.

How hard should I push the male and female connectors together to engage the electronic egg turner? It seems like the little clip part on the male side should push all the way through the little square on the female side and become secure, but mine won't go through the square. It's hard to tell if it's right or not. I am wondering if I should trim the little clip to make it go through the square.

I know I can watch the incubator (everything else works great) but maybe someone has this answer before I set up that experiment.

Thanks!