Thinking about getting an incubator!

[ket806]

First thing to do is set a budget and figure out how serious or not you want to be about hatching.

always remember if you buy the least expensive you may not get the best hatches.

Thank you!

 

[ket806]

Broody hens- They take care of the tempture control , humidity , turning and general care of the eggs, plus there isnt much cuter then seeing babies peeking out of mommies feathers or sitting on her back, she also takes care of the temputer control , and teaching chicks to eat and drink once they have hatched as well as takeing care of them , you dont have to worry about chicks getting to warm or to cold or fires from heat lamps and you dont have to pay for ectricity for running brooder or incubator. If your hen is comfertble around you you can still spend time with her and the chicks and socialize them maybe not to the extent as a really hands on mommy with incubator chicks though. Possible avrage cost includeing chicken and feed is probly 25-50 but can range less or alot more depending.

Incubtor- Once you buy , set up and run the incubator especally a good quaility one there isnt huge headaches involved for the most part , you will need a good thermomemter and and way to tell humidity, You will need to check on the bator daily at least to double check temp and humidity, if you dont have a turner you will need to mark the eggs and hand turn them at least 3 times a day. Incubators take electricity and a stable room with a aproiprate place to plug in the bator and possibley the turner. Its so amazeing to watch the little ones hatch. You will then need a brooder box , this can be lots of things , a heat lamp or some time of brooder heater, these take electricity and space , and baby chickies are very dusty  , the more you spend time talking with them holding them feeding them treats and interacting with them the calmer and more friendly your chicks are likely to be. Possible avrage cost includeing bator , brooder , heat source , and gadgets such as thermometers ect your looking at 50-350 this is just a very vuage general range from home made bator with stuf you have laying around mostly to a moderatley priced bator and brooder plus gadgets.
Dont forget you do get what you pay for so the cheaper the bator the less likely you are to have good hatches consistantly

I dont think one is better then the other if its right for the person thats doing it , it just depends on what the persons needs and wants are , do you want fluffy squeeky peeping balls of fluff needing your attention and care for 6 weeks or so , or is it more fun to watch a chicken doing what broody chickens do best? Its all about you . How much time do you have , you might be a stay at home mom but do you have other hobbies , and intrests that you dont want interupted by peeping balls of fluff that can be down right demanding on occasion? Or do you have alot of extra time and are you a really hands on person?


When it comes to stryo bators this one is he best acording to years of reading and lots of reviews on back yard chickens http://www.gqfmfg.com/store/comersus_viewItem.asp?idProduct=77
You can buy it at that sight or from places like our sponsers here , brinsea, my pet chicken , chickens for back yards and probly a dozen other sites just type in the name of the bator and the modle number in a search engine and you can locate alot of places , check sevral sme have it for cheaper then others but they get you on shipping , while some have free shipping but tack extra bucks on
For non styro bators you have
http://www.brinsea.com/products/mini.html the eco and the advance have seen positive reviews here but they only hold 7-10 eggs , witch can be perfect for small flock people and people that dont want or have a way to sale , giveaway or eat the extra chicks you can fit in to one of the 35+ egg incubators. Same thing goes check all our sponser sites for price of bator and shipping to see what is the best deal. They also make larger bators such as octogon 20 eco and advance , octogon 40 eco and advance ect . They can get pretty expensive but if you have the money are a extremlly good option.
You also have ones such as
http://www.strombergschickens.com/product/Rcom-Mini/advanced-incubators , this type of incubator also comes in sevral sizes and price tags and is avalible as servral places
or
http://www.strombergschickens.com/product/Turn-X-6-Incubator-Manual-Turning/advanced-incubators
There are a few small dome like bators for 20-30 bucks out there , I have only heard of one or two people ever getting an egg to hatch from these as they dont have any temp control and basically is a bowel with a light bulb.
You can also make your own incubator and this can be alot of fun and Can be cheaper then a store bought bator .
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/homemade-chicken-egg-incubator-designs-pictures there are lots of other links I am sure , Sally sunshine has an amazeing link about the incubator her husband and duaghter made with lots of advice and detail and even videos.

I dont know as much about broody chickens as I havent had one of these yet but I do know that certian breeds are more likely to go broody for you , so if you dont have chickens yet or non of your birds has shown any interest in brooding chicks for you you can look into getting one (if you have chickens already and only want one) or at least 2 and 3 is better if you dont have any chickens. A few breeds i have heard that go broody and make good moms are
Silkies , Cochin , Orpington , and Wyndotte  Im sure if you go to the broody hen thread and read or ask questions about this lots of people would be wiling to suggest good broodies.

e  e  e  

Thank you so much for all the info! I have a lot of extra time the only other hobby I have is horseback riding. I do have chickens of my own none of which have gone broody yet! I was wanting to start hatching my own 1. I thought it would be fun 2. It would be something me and the little one could do so we weren't cooped up in the house all day 3. Maybe when I get the hang of it possibly try and make some money. I love all birds and have been wanting to get more serious with them.

 

[bayvistafarm]

Just my experience... I bought the brinsea Octagon 20 with turning cradle... and quite honestly, I turned it on... added the eggs.. and just watched the humidity, adding when it got low. Theres a humidity pump you can buy.. which will keep the humidity right.. but I figured I could keep an eye on it. It stayed the proper temperature, and the cradle moved the eggs. To up the humidity at lockdown, I put sponges in the troughs... and paper towels on the 'flat' bottom, and filled them up.. and played with the hole opening on the top. The digital readout on the top lets you know when it gets lower, and you thus add water. It was pretty fool-proof for me. They hatched out, dried out... and I removed them as they were dry, making more room in the bator for the later ones.. as hatching can take up to 3 days.

 

[gabrielle1976]

I have had a Little giant still air and a little giant with fan and both of those made me want to pull my hair out , you have to keep the room there in constantly an even temp , you have to struggle with temp spikes and humidity issues and cleaning I swear that the styrofoam has crevices that germs an bactiria get in that you cant clean out cuase even when I keep the temps pretty good and the humidity pretty good the hatch rates especally after the first go down even though I scrub everything scrubbable and bleach it and let it sun dry and all that like the tips say so if I were you I really woudnt go with the little giant or cheaper modle hovabtors. The genisis has good reviews though.
I do have a brinsea mini eco , I had trouble with the actually ciructriy and had to send it back twice but Im sure that was a fluke, it has kept steady temps of 99.2-100 since being plugged in , Its so little I actually have to keep track of the humidity a little more carefully becuase just a little water in one side of the well can make condenstation , I love it though its nice and steady now and I can see from every angle . I wish I could have gone with the advance or the octo 20 so I recomend that if you can aford it but if not the mini is a nice little bator in my opnion,

 

[ket806]

Just my experience... I bought the brinsea Octagon 20 with turning cradle... and quite honestly, I turned it on... added the eggs.. and just watched the humidity, adding when it got low.  Theres a humidity pump you can buy.. which will keep the humidity right.. but I figured I could keep an eye on it.  It stayed the proper temperature, and the cradle moved the eggs.  To up the humidity at lockdown, I put sponges in the troughs... and paper towels on the 'flat' bottom, and filled them up.. and played with the hole opening on the top.  The digital readout on the top lets you know when it gets lower, and you thus add water.  It was pretty fool-proof for me.  They hatched out, dried out... and I removed them as they were dry, making more room in the bator for the later ones.. as hatching can take up to 3 days.

Thank you for that input!!!

 

[ket806]

I have had a Little giant still air and a little giant with fan and both of those made me want to pull my hair out , you have to keep the room there in constantly an even temp , you have to struggle with temp spikes and humidity issues and cleaning I swear that the styrofoam has crevices that germs an bactiria get in that you cant clean out cuase even when I keep the temps pretty good and the humidity pretty good the hatch rates especally after the first go down even though I scrub everything scrubbable and bleach it and let it sun dry and all that like the tips say so if I were you I really woudnt go with the little giant or cheaper modle hovabtors. The genisis has good reviews though.
I do have a brinsea mini eco , I had trouble with the actually ciructriy and had to send it back twice but Im sure that was a fluke, it has kept steady temps of 99.2-100 since being plugged in , Its so little I actually have to keep track of the humidity a little more carefully becuase just a little water in one side of the well can make condenstation , I love it though its nice and steady now and I can see from every angle . I wish I could have gone with the advance or the octo 20 so I recomend that if you can aford it but if not the mini is a nice little bator in my opnion,

Awesome thank you I will look into all of those!!

 

[ket806]

Ok so what is the "grace period" from when an egg is laid until it has to be in the bator and still hatch?

 

[gabrielle1976]

Under 10 days is the usual time frame given, less then a week is optimal but ifyou have older eggs you can still set them up to about 3 weeks .

 

[ket806]

Under 10 days is the usual time frame given, less then  a week is optimal but ifyou have older eggs you can still set them up to about 3 weeks .

Thanks for clearing that!!!

 

[KYTinpusher]

If you are thinking about getting a Brinsea, they are having a sale until the end of the year. http://www.brinsea.com/buying/holdidaysaleprice2012.htm

Also, from their Facebook page: "Here's a couple of Christmas specials. Save an additional 20% off the Octagon 20 or Octagon 40 Advance and Advance EX models with coupon code "christmas". Offer valid until Wednesday. Or you can save an additional 10% off any product with coupon code "merry" until December 31. Merry Christmas everybody!"

I have the Octagon 20 Advance EX set-up and just ordered a second one! I highly recommend it! Love their sale codes.