Incubator Suggestions

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Bantamlover23

Bantamlover23

Songster
11 Years
Aug 6, 2008
497
1
129
Chuluota, FL
Well my mom finally gave it up and said that we can get an incubator, so I have several questions for you guys.

1.) What type of incubators are good. I am not looking for a huge one but one that can hold more than 3 eggs. Most of the eggs that will be hatched will be various bantam eggs

2.) How long can you store eggs to be hatched?

3.) If you have anymore suggestions that would be great.

Sorry if I seem like I am asking a bunch of questions I am just really eggcited.
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and I have had a lot of coffee this morning
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Well I'm not sure about the best incubator but you could ask your local feed store and see what they have to start.
You can keep eggs for hatching in a cool place (not the fridge), and when ready with the incubator use the freshest ones you have, that look good, and that preferably aren't more than a week old.
An automatic turner is good to have with an incubator.
There are good articles/info in the learning center ("Dry Incubation") and in the stickies to read for more information about incubation.
Have fun!
 
Well first I would have to ask how much youre mom is willing to dish out , cause brinesea has a 20 egg incubator on sale right now for 99 or it was on sale the lst time I looked. This is a really good bator and outshines the stryo bators by a lot , most people here say a hovebator but if you get a fan and turner youre looking at more thenfor the brinesea and its just a stryo bator glorified.
THat being said any of the table top styro bators will work they just take much more attention and paticence.
I have a little giant still air without a turner , it cost me 41.99 or so from tractor supply company and about 8.00 for shipping it works fine but you have to get it up to temp be carefull with the knob as its SUPER sesitive, you have to spend hours and hours waiting on youre tiny adjustments to get it set right, after that thouhg as long as you dont bump the knob or unplugg it or have big shifts in room temp there pretty stable.
Good luck.

And you can make one , if you dont have stuff lying around and you have to buy all the parts it can be more expensive then the little giant though.
 
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I recently bought a hova 1588 only because it had a larger capacity than the more expensive ones, like the brisnea. Altho I would sure love to have a Brisnea and keep my 1588 as a secondary, just because of the superior quality of the brisnea. I just figured the best value for my purposes was the GQF 1588, since I wanted to set a good number of eggs and since this is a forced air as well, that it hopfully would reduce baby- sitting time. I have found that it maintains temp. very well. I have played around a good bit with the humidity, tho, but think I have the hang of it now. I think the majority of folks on here use this type. I also use an egg turner, which reduces allot of work and worry about disrupting the climate with opening and closing so much. I use aquarium size clear tubing stuck down in the water tray and a 10 cc syringe to add or remove water. I leave it in place. Forced air incubators also stabilize their climate much more quickly than still airs. Their are many more folks here that know allot more than I do. This is just me talking about what I have found to be true with my own personal exp. and the much appreciated guidance of those on BYC!
 
Don't try to hatch any that over 2 weeks old. Also get you a small keychain led flashlight and after 10 days turn off the lights in your house and hold the small flashlight up to the egg. If the egg is glowing after 10 days with no dark spots in it - then it is bad and won't hatch. Throw those out.
DO NOT TRY to use DRY incubator methods... this is promoted by people who live in very humid climates (Guam, Hawaii, Philippines). It won't work in normal environments. Do not even waste time with the wafer type thermostats.... make sure your incubator has a electronic thermostat.
Get you a good digital fever thermometer these will give you a good idea of what you actual temp is in the incubator. (make a small hole in the incubator and place the stem through it) Don't use the household temperature devices. You know the ones that monitor the temp of your house and shows humidity...
I don't recommend the Autoturners in the styrofoam incubators. They don't work very well. Just place the eggs in the incubator with X on one side and a O on the other. Then once a day take the palm of your hand and just roll the eggs from X to the O side.
3-4 days before they are due to hatch... quit turning the eggs and fill both water trays. If your humidity isn't high enough (you want water droplets forming on the windows) then add extra dishes and put a sponge in the water dish. This will increase the surface to air ratio and allow more humidity into the air. If your humidity isn't high enough then when the chick pips the shell he will dry up and can't spin inside the egg and chip himself out.
Hope this helps... Let me know if you have any questions.

John
 
I know this is an old thread.... I just have one question before I buy the R20: it looks small in pics... is there room for chicks to 'hang out' while the rest of the eggs hatch?
Thank you
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I have 2 of the Marsh Roll-X's. Yes, they are expensive, but those will hatch anything
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and they are worth it. If you have the funds for it.
 

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