Need a New Bator.. Reccomendations?

[ddeans]

Hey everyone, I bought a bator (Brower top hatch) off ebay on 11-21. Today I finally got an email from the seller saying that he never shipped it and issued me a refund. Luckily for me someone on here (marlinchaser) was incredibly nice and let me borrow his. Thank goodness he did because I had eggs on order and my old bator died.

I want to spend around $250 on a bator, but I am looking for reccomendations from you as to what you suggest for this amount. I really liked the brower top hatch, but I too have heard some not so good things.

Any ideas?

 

[UrbanMama]

How many eggs do you want to be able to incubate at one time?

 

[jimnjay]

I would still reccomend the Top Hatch, you can get it at Cutler Supply for around $ 150. I recently settled for a HovaBator circulated air with turner and I still don't like it nearly as well as the Top Hatch I sold last year. I could kick myself for selling that when I bought the TX-6. I love the TX-6 and would use nothing else but I recently lost my entire flock and needed to get a larger unit to hatch the eggs that I could save. find the HovaBator to be awkward to use when adding water. Personal preference of course but the Top Hatch is a much more durable unit and in my opinion user friendly. If you have a place to put it where the light flashing does not bother you, it will be the best bang for the buck.

 

[ddeans]

Quote:
No more than 30-40.

 

[ddeans]

Quote:
But I was told that they are unreliable when it comes to temperature.. Is that true?

 

[UrbanMama]

I really like my Hovabator Genesis 1588 w/ autoturner. I was torn between it and the Brower top-hatch, but after reading some of the negative posts about the top-hatch, I opted for the Genesis (which I've never read a negative post about) The Genesis is wonderful and if I could afford it, I would buy 2 more just like it!

(PS, check out Barn and Home Basics...they give BYC'ers a 5% discout...code byc5....and they have phenominal customer service!)

 

[jimnjay]

My Top Hatch worked very well and and the temperature stayed just as steady as the HovaBator I just bought. I used a bubble wrap cozy around the tub to give it a bit more insulation. I also keep it in a room with very little temperature variation. The Genesis is a fine unit too from what I have read. I don't care for the Styrofoam incubators. Personal preference but the Top Hatch is made much better and is easier to use in my opinion. You do not have to remove the turner you just lift the tub off the spindle and it goes on without much of a production at all. One of our members just bought one and did a nice write up on her's. Here is the link and you can see the cozy she made.
http://backyardchickens.yuku.com/topic/12230