Incubators

[AMBene]

I read the thread posted. Very infomative and took me a bit of time to muddle thru it but I did. Thank you all for your posts and help and now I am more confused than ever. I never undertake anything without a good understanding of what I am doing. I researched my tortoises for over a year before setting up their enviroment and aquiring them. My Ladies (chickens) I researched them for a good 6 months and then set them up with what I would call a stellar setting. I love 'em! I think my 4 year olds would enjoy the hatching process, so I have deduced that the best equipment you can afford is best, it is still user dependent and get eggs from a reliable source. Did I miss anything?

I have continued to research. Does anyone have any experience with the RCom Sure King? Or the RCom line in general?

Again...I truly appreciate all of your help and wisdom!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[lagpmgdsls]

Quote:
how many quail eggs actually fit into the brinsea octagon 20? the info says 24 hens eggs so curious how many quail eggs.

 

[JJMR794]

Quote:
how many quail eggs actually fit into the brinsea octagon 20? the info says 24 hens eggs so curious how many quail eggs.

HE HE HE... WELL OVER 250 IF YOU KNOW HOW

 

[lagpmgdsls]

Quote:
how many quail eggs actually fit into the brinsea octagon 20? the info says 24 hens eggs so curious how many quail eggs.

HE HE HE... WELL OVER 250 IF YOU KNOW HOW

do tell please!!!! I am buying a new incubator with some of my tax return and I want to be able to hatch around 80-90 a batch.

 

[JJMR794]

As It Is Supplied The Oct 20 Should Accomodate About That Many... But To Accomodate More You Simply Make New Taller Divider From Sheet Aluminum Available At Any Home Depot, Etc.. And Cut Them Taller Allowing Double Or If Smaller Eggs Triple Stacking. Since It Is Created To Be A Small Environment And Uses Metal Adjustable Dividers Its Simple To Remake New Dividers,,, A Small Sheet Of Thick Aluminum And A Set Of Tin Snips... Cut Taller Dividers Carefully To Keep Starit Edge Then Simply Smooth Out The Edges With A Sheet Of Sand Paper To Get Rid Of Any Rough Or Sharp Spots... Took Me All Of About 20 Min To Make 6 New Diviedrs With Aluminum To Spare. As Well Its A Forced Air Bator So Once Its Sealed And Operating It Reaches Uniform Temperature Throughout... Obviously You Cant Hatch Like That, But I Use A Seperate Still Air Hatcher Anyway, So It Allows Me To Cook Bunches At Any Time... Different Setting Dates? No Problem They Into Different Spaces Inside The Unit.

I Have Been Doing This With Quail/ Partridge Eggs For Years, Taught The Trick To Pascopal Too, Works Like A Charm With Quail/ Partridge Eggs.... Eh Not So Much With Pheasant Or Chicken- They're Too Big To Double Stack

Dont Quote Me On It, But I Believe The Factory Dividers Are Like 1 1/4-1 1/2 Inch Tall And The Replacements I Made Are Like 2 3/4 Inch Tall ???

 

[aprophet]

Quote:
GOOD LORD I WOULD NEVER REFER ANYONE TO THIS MESS.....

THAT STRING IS ABSOLUTELY ALL OVER THE PLACE!

THERE ARE SO MANY MYTHS VS TRUTHS THERE IT ISNT EVEN FUNNY. ALSO THAT STRING WAS GEARED TOWARD CHICKEN HATCHING WHICH IS NEARLY BACKWARD FROM GAMEBIRDS. WE NEED TO CARE WHEN ANSWERING QUESTIONS LIKE THIS OR THE RESULT IS SOMETHING LIKE THAT STRING.... AS A PLACE FOR ADVICE THAT THING IS AN ABOMINATION

AND IF NOT CAREFUL I CAN SEE THIS HAPPENING HERE.... AS HECHICKEN POINTS OUT THE MORE ANSWERS THE WIDER THE SPREAD ON ANSWER RANGES... VERY GOOD POINT. AS FAR AS INCUBATING GOES IT IS AN INDIVIDUAL ARTFORM INFLUENCED BY AS MANY FACTORS AS THE WIND... GEOGRAPHY, EQUIPMENT, SPECES IN FOCUS, PERSONAL HABITS ETC... AS LIFESONG FARM POINTS OUT... BUY THE BEST YOU CAN AFFORD AND AFTER THAT YOU'LL JUST HAVE TO LEARN THE BEST WAY TO OPERATE WHAT YOU HAVE IN ORDER TO ACCOMPLISH YOUR GOALS.

I HAVE MANY INCUBATORS.... BRINSEA 20'S AND 40'S, HOVAS IN STILL AND FORCED AIR, LG'S IN STILL AND FORCED AIR, A DICKEY CABINET, AND SOON HOMEMADE CABINETS... EACH HAS THEIR STRONG AND WEAK POINTS, PROS AND CONS, AND ARE MORE APTLY SUITED FOR DIFFERENT SPECES/ PURPOSES.... MY INCUBATION HABITS VARY GREATLY AS WELL.... I ROUTINEY HATCH YEAR ROUND WELL IN EXCESS OF 10,000 BIRDS.... THEY RANGE FROM CHEAP COTURNIX QUAIL TO EXOTIC AND RARE GAMEBIRDS AND EXPENSIVE MIGRATORY WATERFOWL. I HAVE EVEN DONE WORK FOR STATE AGENCIES WITH SPECIAL PROJECTS...

LG'S ARE GREAT FOR CHICKEN/ TURKEY EGGS.... THEY START TO LOOSE GROUND FAST ON OTHER SPECES.... MOSTLY THE DESIGN FLAW OF NOT HAVING ENOUGH WATER SURFACE AREA IN THEM AS MANY OTHER SPECES REQUIRE MORE HUMIDITY RATHER THAN LESS

HOVAS ARE ROCK SOLID PERFORMERS... THE WAFER THERMOSTATS CAN BE ANNOYING TO GET REGULATED WHEN 1ST STARTING OUT WITH THEM AND WHEN THE THERMOSTAT CONTROL GOES THEY WILL BE ALL OVER THE PLACE TEMP-WISE

BRISNEAS ARE THE RON POPIEL INCUBATORS OF THE WORLD---- SET THE EGGS AND FORGET IT! BUT THE OCTAGON MODELS CAN BE SPACE LIMITING AS MENTIONED EARLIER... THEY MAKE TABLETOP MODELS THAT RESEMBLE COOLER-BATORS BUT ARE RATHER EXPENSIVE WHEN COMPARED TO COOLER-BATORS, THO DO SEEM TO OUTPERFORM THEM... THEIR C ABINETS ARE THE END ALL BOMB! BUT ONCE AGAIN HAVE AN END ALL PRICE TAG.... BRINSEAS ARE GEARED TOWARD PROFESSIONAL USE... THEY ARE INDUSTRY STANDARD EQUIPMENT FOR MORE ZOOS AND CONSERVATION ORGANIZATIONS WORLD WIDE THAN ALL OTHER MAKES/MODELS AVAILABLE COMBINED.

SPORTSMEN INCUBATORS (BY THE MAKERS OF HOVABATOR, GQF) ARE THE MOST WIDELY USED CABINET BY HOBBYIST HERE IN THE USA AND MANY A PROFESSIONAL GAMEFARM TOO. THE MODELS VARY GREATLY IN OPTIONS AND FUNCTION AS DO THE PRICE TAGS

DICKEY CABINETS ARE KNOCK-OFFS OF THE SPROTSMEN

LYONS MAKES SPECIALTY INCUBATORS WITH EXORBIDENT PRICES, THEY COMPARE IN FUNCTION TO BRINSEA, BUT SOME ARE NOT AS USER FRIENDLY AND YET OTHERS ARE... DEPENDS ON THE MODEL AND WHILE I LIKE THEM I REFUSE TO PAY THE PRICE FOR THEM

WHAT DID I MESS? (NOT COUNTING THE EBAY SHANGHAI WEIRD AND UNUSAL SPECIALS...)

this is one of the better posts I have seen , there is a learning curve with styro bators I own use an older 1602N hova my curve was much shorter then mosts will be, I was raised around 50,00 chickens at a time X3 I quit fooling with them for a while, all my hunting Pals raise bobwhites mostly for meat some for training dogs, but again my venture into quail the learning curve was shortened because of all the helpful folks here that and I have been around them the last 30 year if you are just starting to incubate the brinsea is more plug and play the hovas I use you kina have to pay attention to what they are doing. there was a post that kina outlined how to use the styrobators that was really good it would have been nice as a sticky, I think it was by a lady from Cali. good luck

 

[patti'speeps]

I think styrofoam bators are getting a bad rap here. I use 3 of them and have had a 92% hatch rate with them. Last season I hated out over 100 Guineas, ducks and peafowl, and I can't even put a count on the number of Araucana and Ameracauna chicks I hatched. I use a turner in one of them but hate the turner. It's hard to regulate the humidity with the turner in it. I prefer to turn all my eggs by hand. I know it takes a lot of extra time but the result is worth it. From what I have read on all of the forums here it is all about personal preference and what works for the individual. No one person is completely right or wrong in what works for them.

 

[pascopol]

Styrobators are getting bad rap for a reason. They are unsanitary, unstable, and difficult to maintain humidity by your own addmition.

Hovabator is better than LG.

Little Giant bators are notorius for deadly spikes, and LG bators killed more embrios than they ever hatched.

Sure you can hatch easy species like chicks or guineas in them, just like you can get a $2.00 styrofoam cooler, stick a lightbulb in controlled by water heater thermostat, (total cost around 10 bucks) and hatch chicks in it as well as in any overpriced styrobator.

My first bator was an LG, I hatched chicks in it, but I was very vigilant checking it day and night.

I do not use it anymore, but keep it only since I do not want to pollute environment with styrofoam. LOL

 

[Robo]

Quote:
Amen to that!!! Little Giants are worthless, and the tempature spikes are horrible. Hovabators are better, but no where near as good as a brinsea or a good cabinet.

 

[JJMR794]

patti'speeps :

I think styrofoam bators are getting a bad rap here. I use 3 of them and have had a 92% hatch rate with them. Last season I hated out over 100 Guineas, ducks and peafowl, and I can't even put a count on the number of Araucana and Ameracauna chicks I hatched. I use a turner in one of them but hate the turner. It's hard to regulate the humidity with the turner in it. I prefer to turn all my eggs by hand. I know it takes a lot of extra time but the result is worth it. From what I have read on all of the forums here it is all about personal preference and what works for the individual. No one person is completely right or wrong in what works for them.

PATTI NOT TO BE DISRESPECTFUL IN ANY WAY, BUT YOU LIST MANY EASY TO HATCH SPECES... IN THE GAMEBIRD WORLD ITS NOT ALWAYS THIS EASY. DONT GET ME WRONG, AS STATED MANY TIMES I HAVE SEVERAL DIFFERENT INCUBATOR MAKES AND MODELS AND USE ALL OF THEM ALL YEAR LONG, INCLUDING MULTIPLE TYPES OF COOLER-BATORS OR STYROFOAM BATORS IF YOU WILL.SORRY BUT I AGREE SOMEWHAT WITH PASCOPAL, THE BAD RAP IS THERE FOR A REASON IN MOST CASES.​