R-Com or Min Advance??? Anyone have any suggestions here???

[Keri78]

Hi Everyone! I'm looking into buying a small incubator for me and my boys to get started with. I homeschool so I really think they would enjoy getting to watch eggs hatch once a year! I've looked at both the R-Com(3 large egg holder) and the Min Advance(9?? egg holder). Has anyone on here had any experiences with either? I like the R-Com but I'm thinking that if it really only holds 3 large eggs then I may need a larger on b/c what if only one or two hatch out?(that's not enough chicks to keep warm even with a heat lamp..they would be lonely right?) Soooo tell me your thoughts...where you bought from....glitches with it....success with it....etc. Thanks, Keri

 

[Serrin]

I've never considered either of those two models. But, I think for the money, you might want to consider a little bit larger model. I've heard of lots of folks around here, singing the praises of the Hovabators and even some of the Little Giant models.

I have an LG still air at the moment. I still can't put eggs into it due to its refusal to hold a steady temperature. Hence, I'm putting together a design to build my own cabinet style bator.

A cabinet style may be far more egg capacity than you want to consider, but there are a great many designs for smaller bators, made from something as simple as a Styrofoam cooler, on this website. You might want to consider checking them out.

This might be a better option for you all the way around, especially as you home school. In building your own bator, you'll be teaching your sons more than just the marvels of nature in hatching out chicks. You'll be teaching them valuable lessons in self sufficiency and resourcefulness in building your own!

Here are links to two pages here that you might find very useful, if you weren't already aware of them:

This first is for various home made incubators that members have built. The "Chic Chick-Bator" is my personal favorite. Mainly for her concise list of materials needed to build it.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/chicken-coop-incubator.html

This next page is a list of some of the very best pages from this website and others regarding everything hatching. Much of it I would consider in the "Must Read" category, but some of it is just a rehashing of ground that has already been well trodden, but still worth looking at for a refresher course.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=48726

I hope that information helps you out a bit. Good luck on your first attempt. Let us know how it goes!

 

[Keri78]

Thanks! I'll check out those links!

 

[dovecanyon]

How old are your boys? I think it would be great for them to be involved with building the incubator as well as hatching the eggs. I homeschool my son, (now 11 years old) and have always used this kind of project for his schooling. You can plan lessons in every subject around a project like this- math, science, reading, etc. Heck, you will have lesson plan materials for months!!!
We have an incubator, but my son just built a hatcher out of an aquarium for his first batch of eggs "going solo". It has been a great experience for him. He has been posting updates on his hatch on this thread if you are interested: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=284486 there are also pics of his hatcher.