Ok,I'm confused - Incubator vs Hatcher

[BorderKelpie]

I have noticed that some people have posted saying they have moved eggs from the incubator into a hatcher. Is this something I am supposed to do? I have never tried this before, have recently purchased an incubator and am anxiously awaiting my very first set of hatching eggs. Do I need to locate a hatcher PDQ, or am I correct in thinking that my fuzzbutts will hatch right in the incubator ?(gods willing!) I have spent the last 3 days tinkering with the temps in my 'bator, have my brooder cleaned out and ready, what am I missing?
Thank you!

 

[Riocotesei]

Luckly for you, you aren't missing a thing

A Hatcher is just another incubator.
Some people, like me for example, have 2 incubators. One incubates the eggs from day 1 to 18. Then the other "hatches" them day 18- till hatch.
You can, and many do, hatch their chicks in the same 'bator.
But I move my eggs on day 18 to another incubator where they will hatch. So it's called a hatcher for that reason.

Some reasons for having 2 'bators:

-Keeps the 1st incubator clean, hence less work.
-Some people can move more eggs into the first incubator while the hatcher finishes the process.
-Then some people have "staggerd hatches". Say you have 20 eggs, but 10 are due 6 days before the other 10. You can put the 10 that need to hatch into the hatcher, and leave the other 10 eggs that need more time to incubate in the 1st incubator.
Hope this helps and that at the same time I didn't confuse you.

Good luck with your hatch, and

 

[BorderKelpie]

Thank you so much for answering! I was paranoid enough already - hatching for the first time ever, getting eggs through the mail, getting a breed I've never even seen in person before, and then I thought I was going to not do it right anyway. Thanks, my little Buckeyes have a chance! (I hope, lol - I've already named one and the egg isn't even here yet, I'm bad) and thank you for the

 

[Ryu]

Buckeyes are a good breed to start hatching with. They are real finishers. Very high hatch rate, strong chicks.

Good luck, enjoy.