please recommend a reliable incubator make/model

[Picco]

I am so sick of sick of dealing with Styrofoam incubators. I need something reliable! Last summer I wasted hundreds of dollars of perfectly fine hatching eggs in crappy incubators. I plan on breeding my penedesencas in the spring and I'd like something that works. I've been looking at the Strombergs catalog and the Brinsea Octagon looks interesting. I am willing to spend up to about $300. Please recommend an incubator that will work for me.

 

[brooster]

broody hens are the best in my experience, if you can get one to go broody

 

[PurpleChicken]

I've been reading so much on this and keep coming back to the Brinsea.
The Octagon seems to be the best in the $200 to $300 range.

Or I may just pay for a Miss Prissy custom edition.

 

[Picco]

Thanks for the advice, Brinsea seems to be a good brandI have one reliable broody and hope to have a few more if my pullets will be up for it.

 

[MaransGuy]

I don't think the styro incubators are a problem. I just had a 100% hatch on two breeds and an 80% on another. I think the biggest problem is the wafer thermostats, styro or not. They just don't keep a super accurate temp and are prone to spikes. If you read through the posts on here about temps going up to 103, down to 95, adjusting it up, adjusting it down etc... I would bet every one of them was regarding an incubator with that type of thermostat. I use a forced air hovabator with digital thermostat and would not trade it for anything. When I had an older model with wafer I had those same problems. I was trying to hatch eggs I paid anywhere from $35 to $85 a dozen for and had miserable results. One of the main problems is that minor temperature fluctuations are not necesarily fatal, but humidity needs to be adjusted to compensate for them. It is nearly impossible to adjust things quickly and accurately enough in that type of incubator. Of course, if you are looking to hatch more than 42 eggs at a time you will need a bigger machine.

Richard

 

[kstaven]

I have never had an issue with styrobators. Even hatched parrot eggs in them that are far more fragile.

But if you are looking for real quality and hate the fiddling you have to do with the Hova etc ... then you can't beat a Brinsea. I have used an octagon and loved it. I have a couple of the new ova easy 380's These are large capacity ones and in my opinion are far more temp and humidity stable than my sportsman ever thought of being.

 

[SloCrevs]

I decided to skip the styraphome altogether. I went straight to the good stuff. I'm hatching good quality, fragile(not to mention expensive) eggs, so I felt that it would be better in the long run to go for a good one straight off. I would agree with the other members when they say that the Brinseas are good. I have a Brinsea Octagon 20 DX, it was $300 brand new. You can get smaller for cheaper. Hope it works out for you!

 

[Sherriekim]

Well, I saw the topic and came in to say "I love my Brinsea Octagon 20" but I see somebody else beat me to it. I have eggs hatching in it as we speak. It really holds the temp and doesn't seem to have hardly any issue with outside weather changes or drafts effecting it. I had no luck in my Little Giant. No matter where I put it, how much I adjusted it, etc... I just couldn't get that thing to hold steady. My Brinsea reminds me of that Ronco Rotiserre infomercial... Just set it and forget it. Ok, not quite, but pretty darn close. I haven't adjusted the temp on the current hatch since day 1, so far nine out of 12 are hatched.

 

[hencackle]

Picco--I'm sorry that you've had trouble with your LG incubator after all the trouble you went through to get the Pene eggs. My pene eggs didn't hatch either

This summer, I had 5 JG hens that were broody more often than not...until I got the Pene eggs and then nobody would set.

I hope your classes are going great!

 

[hypnofrogstevie]

I got a brower top hatch last yr for my birthday. It will be my first time using it this yr. I will let you know how well it hatches my babies. Right now I am having problem with my accurite. I may pick up a new hygrometer at the feed store since it is closer then walart