incubator

[AngieTimplus4]

I have never used an incubator before. I usually just let my chickens do there thing. My daughter and her class want to incubate at school. What type/brand incubator would be good for this?
Totally new to this so any help is appreciated. Thank you Angie Weir

 

[JetCat]

Hova-bator 1602n is a very reliable and economical incubator, best bang for the buck hands down.

 

[Kidhenduckohmy]

Hova-bator 1602n is a very reliable and economical incubator, best bang for the buck hands down.

I have been getting mixed reviews on the hova bator? Temp. spikes. Have you had no problem with this?

 

[JetCat]

I have two GQF cabinet incubators and still keep a 1602n (with added fan) around for small hatches. I'd say 99% of bad reviews are operator error, they are excellent incubators.

 

[dheltzel]

The cheaper Hovabators require a lot more "fiddling" with the controls than a Hovabator Genesis or Brinsea. And yes, I have worked with all of them. If a kid bumps the controls on the old-style wafer thermostats, it can very easily kill all the embryos before someone notices. It's much harder to mess things up with the better models.

Check out Amazon for Brinsea incubators, and go to Cutler Supply for the Genesis. I don't think you can go wrong with either, depending on how many eggs you want to hatch. For a classroom project, where cranking out a lot of chicks is not the point, I would start by looking at the Brinsea Mini Advance (about $180) and if that doesn't have enough capacity, then move up from there.

 

[dheltzel]

I have two GQF cabinet incubators and still keep a 1602n (with added fan) around for small hatches. I'd say 99% of bad reviews are operator error, they are excellent incubators.

True, but when kids are involved, as in a classroom, a certain amount of operator error is a given. Just because we can operate a Hovabator and get good results does not mean they are ideal for classrooms.

 

[Hholly]

Have you considered building one? It could be part of the learning experience and wayyyy cheaper than most good incubators.

 

[JetCat]

True, but when kids are involved, as in a classroom, a certain amount of operator error is a given. Just because we can operate a Hovabator and get good results does not mean they are ideal for classrooms.

my opinion is the Hova-bator with wafer is less likely to get 'bumped' then anything with a keypad button when it comes to kids, i've seen far more Styrofoam wafer type used successfully in classrooms then any other design.