Can anyone tell me what the most economical incubator is? I need one that I can hatch goose eggs as well as chicken eggs. I have a headache from looking at all of the different kinds trying to decide Thanks!
Im looking for a new incubator as my current one has killed so far 20 out of 21 chicks. My last one is probably dead but I'm waiting a few more days to know for sure. I have decided to get a Brinsea 24 egg octagon incubator. I do not now or will ever recommend a Farm Innovators incubator. I have the 2100 still air model and I just bought a new air fan for it and it has done better than before but still terrible. Some people have had success with that brand of incubator but this has done me in.
A friend of mine has had a good hatch rate for goose eggs using a HovaBator Genesis 1588 Incubator, which can be purchased for around $200. You can see one along with the goose egg racks at http://incubatorwarehouse.com/hova-bator-genesis-1588-deluxe-kit.html.
I use brinsea mini advance. It holds 7 eggs. Just hatched 100% rate open my first try. 5 of 7 were fertile. They are all doing good. 169.00 on amazon
I use Brinsea octagon 20 advance ex with humidity pump it really is a set and leave it incubator that has produced some excellent hatch rates for me. I know Brinsea is a little more expensive but really is well worth the money in my opinion. Good luck with your new incubator.
I'm going against the grain here but I have a Hova Bator still air... Each incubator is different and where you live, your climate and how you run it makes the difference. I purchased this as a package off Ebay, got the turner with it and paid right around $85.... My first hatch was great, the next four were awful, I thought it was the incubator but after much reading on this site I started using it differently, I don't follow to rules to the letter and the last three hatches have all been above 95% of the eggs that make it to lockdown. I love my incubator and will purchase another before next spring in anticipation of hatching my Turkey eggs, the only thing I will do different is get the Hova Bator with the fan, I used a borrowed one and did notice it held the temperature better.
If you are going to buy the Brinsea...get the EX version..it comes with a humidity reading too....I had to put a humidity guage inside myself to monitor it. Also, the directions say fill one side of the tank in the middle to to top..when I did this I was at 80% humidity. I had very little water in there and the humidty stayed around 38%. When I went to lockdown I had to fill both sides with water sicne I put a paper towel on the bottom for the eggs to sit on. The humidity was around 85% while they hatched. They were fluffy around 4 hrs later. Also look at the brinsea brooder, my chicks love it.....and looks safer than a heat lamp..
