What kind of Incubator do you have?

[KeilFamilyFarm]

I'm brand new to trying to hatch eggs and really want to give it a shot...

Can you post pictures of your incubators, pros & cons and maybe a ball park of the price?!

THANKS!!!!

 

[DeannaOR]

I have the Hova Bator 1588 with the automatic egg turner. Just like the one in this ad.
I like it a lot. I don't have to do much of anything..it holds temp steady and humidity is easy to keep where it needs to be and adjust. Pretty easy to clean too.
You can see in the price on the web site...I got a smoking deal and only paid $50.00 for mine with the egg turner!

http://shop.gabbardhatchingeggs.com/products/genesis-hova-bator-incubator

My bf just bought an older Hova Bator model 2365 that was a still air. He bought it used for $50 and then bought a fan kit and egg turner to install. His has a weird crank on top of it for adjusting the temperature. He is doing ok with keeping the temperature steady..so far, but the humidity is frustrating him a bit. It's also a little bit shorter depth wise. It's our first hatch with this one..so we will see if we do well with it shortly.

There are a bunch of posts about incubators, you could do a search and see what others think =)

 

[walkswithdog]

No picture yet. Mine's a Winkubator. Don't bother looking it up, it's a homemade wine fridge incubator. Total cost about 60 bucks, bought myself an expensive reptile digital thermometer and thermostat when my cheaper water heater one got fried in a power surge. I like them for the full double glass door. I hand turn. I don't buy incubators and finished it will hold about 8 dozen eggs, +/- 20 depending on size of eggs. I've been hatching on and off for four years. Had an LG and threw it out. Too cramped. Made me cranky. Clutzy enough to like lots of room. Poor sighted enough to want big windows that don't steam up at hatch (grr).

If I reallllllly had to hatch and I reallllllyyyyyyy wanted to go hands off, I'd buy a Brinsea. The super auto one. If I really get the bug again I WILL buy a Leahy or other model of wooden incubator to remodel and use. Love em.

 

[cochins1088]

For my first hatch, I didn't want to spend much money, so I bought one of the cheapest you can get, a Styrofoam Hovabator, the 1602N model. I only paid about $35 and it was great. There are many extras that you can buy along with it like a fan, and automatic egg turners but those add the the price greatly and I found that you really don't need them. They say the extras get you better hatches, but I'm not so sure, my first hatch I had 19 chicks out of 20 eggs with the simple incubator, no fan, and no automatic turner. Also it comes with great step by step instructions for the beginner. I was pleased with my purchase and 5 years later, it still wokrs great. There is one thing, they say the incubator can handle up to 42 eggs, but without the fan, I would recommended putting in no more than 25 to keep a good air flow. So for a beginner on a budget, I very much recommend the 1692N Genesis HovaBator.

 

[junkinstuff]

I would highly recommend the Reptipro 6000 . I have the 5000 and love it. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/616987/reptipro-5000-hatch-a-long Great thread with great people. For the price it is hard to beat in my opinion. http://www.incubators.org/reptipro-6000-incubator.html The egg turners are nice but too expensive in my opinion. Especially since they greatly limit your egg capacity. I only use the top two shelves. and can fit 3 dozen eggs. The thing holds humidity almost too well. I am doing a dry incubation (not adding any water during incubation while monitoring air cells to make sure development is correct) and my humidity stays around 38%...... so not really a dry incubation lol.

I also would HIGHLY recommend a Hovabator 1583 or 1588 Genesis. In my opinion both GREAT hobby level incubators. My 1588 has been rock solid so far. I LOVE the egg turner and think the price is great. During dry incubation in my current climate it holds steady a 28 percent. My unit also keeps temperature perfectly. I have not opened it in over 24 hours. My themometer/hydgrometer reading for 24 hours are high 100 low 99.5. Humidity reading high 32% low 28%. Pretty dang solid!

 

[Paul3874]

Try a dickey.Using mie for the first time and hatch rate is 79%% up 10 from an hour ago. Wow the best I ever had Used to use LG but can get no help from the fact.

 

[quintinp]

I have a cooler incubator. All together I have probably spent about $50 dollars on this. I have spent this much money over time though. I didn't just do it all at once, and many people try to do that, and end up spending even more money on a homemade incubator.

I bought the cooler at a swap meet for $5.

The light fixture was FREE

The power cord for the light was FREE

The 12 Volt cell phone charger that powers the 12 volt computer fan was FREE

The glass window on top was FREE

The Hardware cloth flooring was FREE, (I already had it)

The Computer Fan was FREE

The water heater thermostat was $11

The PVC pipe, the PVC joints, elbows, and caps all together probably cost me about $20

The screws I used to secure the hardware cloth to the bottom of the PVC pipe egg turner frame were about $10

Here is a link to my cooler incubator. It has very detailed pictures of the egg turner, and how it was made, and all the other goods stuff in it as well.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-chick-factory-incubator

Good luck, I hope you found my post, and link to be very helpful in pricing your incubator.

(Don't forget the thermometer and hygrometer. You will definitely need a reliable thermometer for your incubator.)

I recommend using this incubator warehouse thermometer.

It is about $15-$20. (I think)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DIGITAL-EGG...932?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20c332e4ac