The 9300 is an inexpensive and basic styrofoam incubator widely available. I purchased one to hatch chicks with my child, and didn’t have the time to build my own. I have done a small one in the past with success, and have a large cooler I can convert to an incubator, but no time currently to do so. When shopping for an incubator, it was hard to find very many automatic models in a reasonable price range since Covid has created scarcity, but my local TSC had the 9300 in stock, so I bought one.
We’ve hatched 3x in this incubator, no turning tray, so all were hand turned. First hatch (still air) was pretty good, nearly all hatched, only a couple quitters. Second hatch (still air) was not so good but I had thermometer problems, so I think the temp was too high too often. In addition, eggs were not turned 3x per day, only 2x, which likely compounded the temp issues as they were not getting turned and position within the incubator was changed less frequently. Third hatch, I purchased the fan for the 9300 from incubator warehouse and turned/rotated position of the eggs 3x daily. Every single egg hatched that went into lockdown (I think 2-3 quitters before that). I sold all hatched chicks, except the 3 that child begged to keep. Overall, I learned a lot from these hatches! The 9300 is a viable inexpensive option if you are able to attend to turning and repositioning the eggs within the incubator. I paid $49 for the incubator and $21 for the fan. The sale of the chicks has recouped my costs!
Writing this to encourage anyone that just wants an inexpensive option for occasional hatching. If I were to decide to hatch more frequently, I would consider a higher end incubator.
Here are some of the chicks from my most recent hatch in the 9300:
We’ve hatched 3x in this incubator, no turning tray, so all were hand turned. First hatch (still air) was pretty good, nearly all hatched, only a couple quitters. Second hatch (still air) was not so good but I had thermometer problems, so I think the temp was too high too often. In addition, eggs were not turned 3x per day, only 2x, which likely compounded the temp issues as they were not getting turned and position within the incubator was changed less frequently. Third hatch, I purchased the fan for the 9300 from incubator warehouse and turned/rotated position of the eggs 3x daily. Every single egg hatched that went into lockdown (I think 2-3 quitters before that). I sold all hatched chicks, except the 3 that child begged to keep. Overall, I learned a lot from these hatches! The 9300 is a viable inexpensive option if you are able to attend to turning and repositioning the eggs within the incubator. I paid $49 for the incubator and $21 for the fan. The sale of the chicks has recouped my costs!
Writing this to encourage anyone that just wants an inexpensive option for occasional hatching. If I were to decide to hatch more frequently, I would consider a higher end incubator.
Here are some of the chicks from my most recent hatch in the 9300:
