Incubator suggestions for beginner?

[speng5]

Hi all! New to quail keeping and I am thinking of expanding - seems realllllly uncommon for newcomers to the hobby, right?? Anyway, looking for suggestions for a beginner with a small flock (13 birds) to incubate and hatch eggs! I am frankly pretty overwhelmed by all the choices. Looks like I can spend anywhere from less than a hundred to many hundreds! Also I am wondering what "bells and whistles" per se are just that, and which are actually really helpful or even borderline necessary when it comes to incubating and hatching quail.

Thanks!

 

[Nabiki]

Any incubator is likely to do the job. The two main features to look for are fans and an egg turner.

No matter which incubator you choose, put a calibrated thermometer or three inside along with a salt calibrated hygrometer. Incubators lie.

Here's an article that might help you get some ideas.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/coturnix-incubation-tips.76184/

 

[CovidtimeQuail]

Any incubator is likely to do the job. The two main features to look for are fans and an egg turner.

No matter which incubator you choose, put a calibrated thermometer or three inside along with a salt calibrated hygrometer. Incubators lie.

Here's an article that might help you get some ideas.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/coturnix-incubation-tips.76184/

Totally right. Birds have been doing this for millennia and all they really need to do is be warm enough. Just make sure your incubator keeps a steady temperature: doesn't spike or drop. A separate inside thermometer/hygrometer is key and I like the Govee products for price and quality. You can check on the readings through your phone.

 

[speng5]

Any incubator is likely to do the job. The two main features to look for are fans and an egg turner.

No matter which incubator you choose, put a calibrated thermometer or three inside along with a salt calibrated hygrometer. Incubators lie.

Here's an article that might help you get some ideas.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/coturnix-incubation-tips.76184/

Thanks for the post, that’s a great link!

 

[speng5]

Totally right. Birds have been doing this for millennia and all they really need to do is be warm enough. Just make sure your incubator keeps a steady temperature: doesn't spike or drop. A separate inside thermometer/hygrometer is key and I like the Govee products for price and quality. You can check on the readings through your phone.

Thanks for the suggestion, I love the Govee meat thermo I have for smoking. Didn’t know they made hygrometers but I would definitely trust one made by them.

 

[jargon777]

I have one of those cheap 100$ ones from Amazon. I did put a thermometer in it the first time to make sure it was sort of reliable.

In general it worked fine. On the high end I have had hatch rates of 80-90%, but on the low end sometimes I've had bad hatches of 50% (usually when I mess up with adding the water). If you aren't picky about hatch rates and aren't spending a fortune on fancy eggs, I don't think you need an expensive one.

 

[CovidtimeQuail]

I had a guy buy chicks from me because his hatch rates weren't great. He had a really fancy setup and expensive incubator. When he saw my 50+ year Styrofoam box of an incubator I bought second-hand, he just couldn't believe it. FWIW, it has a fan, circulates air and keeps the temperature steady. That's all that's needed.

 

[Susan Skylark]

Watch some of the cheap incubators off Amazon, I’m playing with one now that keeps the humidity at 80 percent even with only 5mls of water in it, it came with a water bottle which is obviously not needed! Temp seems stable but will have to work on the humidity, I started out (a month ago!) with a borrowed nurture right 360 and had great luck/good learning machine but either get the quail rail or hand turn, the chicken turner is too big! Also get multiple hygrometer/thermometers as suggested, my first hatch was too cold and it took until day 20 for everybody to hatch! Have fun!