the Chick-bator debate

[chika10]

okay im not sure if this will resolve anything but i should give it a try. so ive heard people's thoughts on many sites and reviews on amazon of about 50/50. some say it works some say its a waste of money. so let me start here. is it really "luck" or a persons choice. ive seen people trying so hard to hatch button quail and i hatched 7 out of 12 first try. i did a month worth of research. i thought ahead about possible things that could happen like splayed leg and why are there failures in incubation to prevent them. just like the hatching egg sellers on ebay say. they cannot garuntee hatch due to shipping and how you hatch. anyway if you search it up on youtube they have success. so its clearly not impossible. if you think about it incubators are simple i mean without egg turners and thermostats. so dont say not to get it because its simple garbage. im ordering one off ebay and trying it out myself. i dont go by what people say i need to try it myself i love a good experiment. and the people who say they have tried many times probably have never changed the way the did it therefore not fixing the problem. i get it though because some people cant control the weather and stuff but atleast get it and try it yourself if interested and join me in the process. so please give me your thought of this incubator and why it is the way you say it is like why its bad or good. we all know that there will always be opinions,

 

[Gardeningmama]

I have no experience with the Chick-bator (I saw it got some pretty bad reviews), but I have a Little Giant that I love (which also gets some bad reviews). I would just get the Little Giant for yourself as hatching is addicting, and the Chick-bator will seriously limit the amount of eggs you'll be able to hatch. People that can afford the the more expensive models of incubators will more than not say styrofoam is garbage, but I've hatched out plenty of chicks successfully in it with a Wal Mart thermometer (which I have also heard is garbage). So good luck in your decision making, but if you do get the Chick-bator, remember what I said when you're saying to yourself "I really need a bigger incubator". LOL!! Happy Hatching!!

 

[chika10]

yeah its funny you said that becaues one of the reasons im getting the chick-bator is because its smaller and doesnt takeup much room. im planning on using it for smaller hatches of my button quails because i only have a female and she doesnt produce that many eggs.also because its in a 20$ range. i do want to get a little giant incubator in the future and try that out for future generations of birds. like i said i like to experiment. but im not trying the sunny side up incubator you can tell thats cheap. im glad you gave me your thoughts on the little giant bator. and hatching is sooooo addicting.

 

[stevetone]

Our experience with the Chick-bator was a 40% hatch rate. However, it was a lot of work getting the temperature stable enough to be comfortable. We actually had two running at the same time, and one of them we lost control of the temp and cooked the eggs.

There is no way to control the temperature other than positioning a piece of aluminum foil so that the reflected heat is enough to support your desired temperature (i.e., there is no thermostat). Every slight variation in room temperature required repositioning the aluminum foil. This became very tedious for my daughters and required their hourly attention.

For not much more money a still-air Hovabator or Little Giant would give better results.

 

[midwest]

I posted our experience with the chickbator on the other active post so no need to do it again and besides you stated that you dont go by what anyone says anyways.
I'm excited to hear your experiences with the chickbator and your thoughts of it. Keep us updated.

 

[1muttsfan]

I am glad that someone has had good success with a Little Giant. My experience, and that of many others, has been dismal with them. For very little more you can get a Hova Bator. If you are hatching small batches of your own eggs, maybe that kind of an investment is not worth it. If you branch out into more expensive shipped eggs, believe me it pays off.

When I was a little kid we hatched out chicks in our bedroom in a wooden box fitted with a light bulb - I can hardly believe now that it worked!

 

[chika10]

okay, well my only female button quail has not been laying eggs for almost two months. she layed one egg a few days ago but my clumsy self dropped it. so im a bit confused on what to do. my plan was to get the smaller incubator because i only have one female, but only having a single female she hasnt been laying eggs for a while. so i might have to try the hovabator first then later on try the chickbator. i still really want to try the chick bator but in my situation i think i should go with the hovabator. this hatch is for more females maybe a few more males but this is really for more females. the rest of the males that hatch i will giveaway. so my plan is to get some eggs off ebay which i did on my first hatch. but ebay only sells in quatities of 12 and up with extras. very rarely do you see 6+. and the chick bator is smaller and can fit 8 eggs i believe. hopefully by the time i get the incubator and eggs my girl will lay some. when they hatch i will keep my females find the males good homes cause i already have a bunch of males when they lay i can then use there eggs with the chickbator. so i suppose i waisted yalls time. i cant control when she lays. sorry guys. im doing the hatching in december, but i still dont know if i can trust her to lay then. should i wait and see or hatch in the hovabator because i need time to research on the hovabator .

 

[cluckcluckluke]

At the moment its on sale and costs $16.00 could i just get it for a small experiment.

 

[chika10]

if your talking about the chickbator then yes. plus its only 16.00.

 

[quintinp]

if your talking about the chickbator then yes. plus its only 16.00.

The chick bator does look appealing. I am a collector at heart, and am really wanting to find one of those old Chick-U-Bators. I think they were made in the 50's-60's. They are larger, have thicker plastic, and a real thermostat.

The Little Giant is something I recommend to newcomers, it isn't the best, but it will get the job done, given that you put in a little effort in trying to hatch your eggs.

You will need a reliable thermometer for one. You need to check it regularly. Make scheduled times of the day that you will be checking the temperatures.