New Borotto Real 24 incubator review

[Jayson_Black]

Hi everyone, I’m a newbie here. I saw there were only a couple of threads about the Borotto incubators so thought I’d put up something as I do my first run of eggs in my new incubator.
I have been using a Janoel 24, it has been reasonably successful so far though it’s thermometer and heating element aren’t quite right. Over the past month or so I have been having to turn the Janoel off for 10-15 minutes and back on again about 2-4 times a day because it’s overheating. Once the ambient outside temp reaches 32C the internal thermometer doesn’t like it and the incubator will heat up to around 39-40C.
I am aware that the Borotto manual says to use it in air temps of 20-25C but unless I have air conditioning that is not possible, even our winters here would be hard to manage that!

So I took the plunge and bought myself a Borotto real 24 with automatic egg turner. Just from the initial unboxing and looking at it, the build quality looks superior to the Janoel. I also like that the eggs have their own individual cups to sit in that then tilt. I find in the Janoel, the eggs can bunch up to one side of their tray and it prevents them turning as easily.
I also ordered some eggs that arrived the same day as the incubator. So I’ve got 6 x Plymouth Rock and 3 x Rhode Island Red chicken eggs and 3 x Blue Slate Turkey eggs. I’m excited to see how they go!!
After the first day, outside temps reached 34.5C - Janoel had to be turned off for 10 minutes twice, Borotto sat on 37.7C perfectly.

I’ll post some more pictures with my next update.

Sorry about the late reply. I too own a Janoel 12 and had the same issue you did. However, I know why it overheats when ambient gets warm. It's because the electronics in the roof of the incubator can generate just enough heat on their own that if the ambient temperature gets above 32C then the internal electronics heat is enough to send the incubator over 38c. It's a design flaw. These incubators are not designed for warm climates like Australian summer.

there is a workaround and it does work. I have done it for 10 years. My Janoel 12 is 10 years old lol.

All you do is run a secondary thermostat that will cut power to the whole incubator until the internal temp comes back down.

If the internal temp gets above 38c then the second thermostat will cut all power to the incubator, when it drops back to 37 the power will come back on and the incubator will then re-heat and the cycle will continue.

once the ambient temperature gets below 32c then the secondary thermostat will stop kicking in and the incubator will resume normal function. Or get an expensive incubator.

It only takes 2 or 3 minutes for the incubator to cool from 38c to 37. I have good summer hatch rates of around 80 to 90% but I think thats more a fertility issue not an incubation issue.

My only other complaint about Janoel 12 Incubators is the price. They used to be around $30 USD (approx $50 AUD at the time) but are now quite a lot dearer than they used to be. many are now around $50 to $70 USD ($75 to $100 AUD) for the same price, you can get much better incubators. given Janoel 12 flaws, they are not worth the price anymore.

I wonder if the price increase is partly my fault. I used a Janoel 12 to incubate an eclectus parrot. One of the hardest Parrots to incubate and hand-rear. I made a video that went viral and I am scared I inadvertently promoted the Janoel 12 incubator in that video. People can not see the trouble I went to in a bid to have a successful hatch, they see a 2-minute time lapse that makes it look easy. These incubators do work but they need help and I think we should be careful not to promote them unfairly.

if you plan on raising chickens for the next ten years then just fork out for a top quality bator. Anyway, I now am lucky enough to be able to borrow a Borotto real 24. My Janoel will be for emergency only, or perhaps as a mini brooder.