What is the best table top incubator?

[chickandchicken]

I am looking at purchasing a hovabator with egg turner after having a horrible hatch rate with my brower top hatch. Just wondering if anyone could tell me how successful they've been with these types of incubators "hovabators". I have thought about paying the extra buck for brinsea but .... can't find it in me to pay thatttt much. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Reurra]

keep your eyes out for them on craigs list or kijiji, also check ebay, sometimes you can get them there used, but still good. Ive read hovabator is really really good, but I have experience with hatching....thinking of doing it next year though.

 

[chickandchicken]

I have found a good deal on ebay Just wanting to see how good the hatch rate is. I have heard alot of bad things and alot of good things. But want to see what BYC members think. you have or havn't had experience with hatching? What type of incubator will you be using?

 

[Poetical Peeps]

I have a Hovabator (the newer "Genesis" model). I like that so little is required of me to get a decent hatch -- mine has the humidity reading built in, so I just add a little water when it starts reading low.

As far as hatch rate, so much depends on the eggs themselves. My hatch seems to be quite low with shipped eggs, but very high with the eggs I harvest from my own hens. If you're certain you're hatching fresh, gently handled -- including any bumps or temperature extremes, fertile eggs from a well-nourished flock, and you're still having a low hatch... it could be the incubator.

 

[chickandchicken]

all of my eggs were fertile, cept 2 duds (fresh from my flock of EE's). I had 45 eggs in the incubator. out of the 43 good eggs I got 9 chicks. The hatch before I had 17 eggs, all fertile, 2 chicks. The incubator does not hold the temp well. How good of a hatch rate do you have with the hova on fresh non shipped eggs?

 

[Poetical Peeps]

It's been around 100% for those. A few that haven't developed, I've cracked open and found they weren't fertile (I have one injured rooster trying to keep up with 9 hens... ). For the shipped eggs, I'm happy to get 33-50%.

Are your eggs starting to grow and then dying... or just not growing? It sounds like you have to manually adjust your thermostat?

 

[chickandchicken]

Sounds great!

I have the TH110. I manually set it to 100. It was good for awhile but temperature was still unstable. Might make a skirt for it.

Just seems like a lot less hassle to Buy a hovabator with a turner

.

 

[Poetical Peeps]

I was pretty uneasy spending the money on it, when I realized it was made of styrofoam. It's fairly sturdy and not as hard to clean as I thought it might be. I bought mine off ebay -- I think it was from Incubator Warehouse -- and all was fine. I ordered the quail rails for the turner. I think with shipping and all it was around $240. I have hard more people with Brinsea models mention having problems with the fans being too close to the eggs -- not sure how big a concern it is, but they are certainly out of my budget range.

 

[chickandchicken]

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/HovaBator-Eg...385?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4cec0f0751 here is the one I am looking at. I think this is a great deal. cheapest on ebay I believe. hmm never heard that about the brinsea, good to know.

 

[ChickSter99]

I have a Havo Bator Genesis Pre-set w/ turner that I have been very pleased w/. I also have 2 LG bators w/ turners that I have not been as pleased w/. I like the turner in the LG & don't really care for the Havo bator turner. So, I piece them together. I put the LG turner in my Havo Bator Genesis and a hatchin' we go. The only issue with the Havo Bator Genesis is the fan. When the chicks start pipping, I have to keep a close eye on the humidity to keep them from getting stuck inside the shell. Mine dries them out real quick if the humidity isn't around 70%. Other than that, I have no complaints. Who can beat plugging it in, adding water & eggs? I've spent countless hours & days trying to stabilize my other bators, but this one is a piece of cake. Yet, there are some people that have figured out the trick to the LGs. I just never could.