Using a "hatcher"

[curranchickens]

I am ordering a hovabator 1588 with automatic egg turner today. I do not have very many chickens and therefore will not be able to fill it up. I wanted to do staggered hatches where I can hatch some every week or so. I have read alot on here about using a "hatcher" to do this. ie... placing marked eggs into a good incubator for the first 18 days and then when it is time for lockdown, moving the marked eggs into a second incubator to hatch in leaving the other eggs safely incubating in the first incubator.

My question is, does the second incubator being used as a hatcher have to be an expensive incubator like the hovabator 1588 or can it be one of the cheap ones? Possibly even the still air lg that you can pick up at tractor supply?

I would hate to incubate perfect chicks only to move them into something that will kill them on hatch day.

 

[EweSheep]

You can use a cheap incubator for your hatching out series. I used an old modified LG incubator which did OK for hatchings.

 

[Cattitude]

I'm using a still-air LG as well. Works pretty good.

 

[Ilovemyduckies]

you could probably use a cheap one. This is just me, but what I would do is buy another one of the same incubator just without the turner (if you can buy it without the turner).