What should I get?

[Jakesnake2323]

I've been looking around for a quality incubator that isn't too expensive. I have no idea what brand is good. If anyone has some suggestions for a nice incubator that would be awesome!

Thanks!

 

[Ridgerunner]

I’m not sure what you mean by “quality”. That’s a pretty nebulous word and can mean different things to different people. The less expensive the more you generally have to work with it. There are many different brands on the market. The three most common are the Little Giant, Genesis Hovabator, and Brinsea. They all make different models.

The Little Giant is generally the least expensive with the Brinsea the most expensive. Most of the complaints on this forum are about the Little Giants but a whole lot of people have hatched a whole lot of chicks with them.

My suggestion is to decide on what you want the incubator to do. How many eggs would you set at one time and how often would you use it? That might help you decide whether you want to spend more or less money.

One feature I think you should get is an automatic egg turner. That just makes your life a lot easier. I personally like a forced air. That’s one with a fan. They are easier to operate and I think give you more consistent hatches. You need a window so you can clearly see inside. I don’t see how people can stand to go through a hatch if they can’t see what is going on inside. I think they all come with vents, but that’s another feature I would not do without. You can use them some to control humidity but I really like that they give me access inside without opening the incubator.

You need controls that allow you to adjust the temperatures fairly easily. Practically any of them need to be tweaked some. And look at ease of adding water or controlling humidity. Some of the more expensive Brinseas are really good at that.

Some people hate the Styrofoam incubators. I have one and it works fine, but I usually only use mine twice a year. The hard plastic ones can be easier to clean if they get dirty. That’s the big advantage to me of the hard plastic over the Styrofoam.

Do not trust the thermometers or hygrometers that come with any of them until you’ve calibrated them. They are not always that accurate.

 

[Jakesnake2323]

Thank you for the reply, I was planning on incubating 15- 20 eggs at a time. I was hoping I could make a few bucks by maybe selling the chicks to Tractor Supply or Agway. There are lots of options, I thought this one seemed nice for the price.

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[dheltzel]

The "Genesis Hovabator" mentioned is actually 2 different models of the styrofoam units manufactured by GQF Manufacturing (GQF = Georgia Quail Farm). The regular Hovabator is much like the LG (Little Giant), and about the same price. The Genesis is the digital version of the Hovabator and quite a bit more money.

There is another styrofoam incubator manufacturer, Farm Innovators. I've never used them, but they seem like a clone of the LG models.

Brinsea is a more "high end" brand, quite a bit more than the styro-bators, if you consider the capacity. In fact, some of them can rapidly approach the price of a cabinet incubator.

If you have the money and know you won't want anything larger, the Brinsea is probably your best bet. If you want to start cheap, I recommend a GQF Hovabator, in one of it's many different price points (Genesis being the top of the line in styro-bators).

Anything you get can be resold later if you take good care of it. So, if you don't like it or need something larger later, you can trade up then.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The "Genesis Hovabator" mentioned is actually 2 different models of the styrofoam units manufactured by GQF Manufacturing (GQF = Georgia Quail Farm). The regular Hovabator is much like the LG (Little Giant), and about the same price. The Genesis is the digital version of the Hovabator and quite a bit more money.

There is another styrofoam incubator manufacturer, Farm Innovators. I've never used them, but they seem like a clone of the LG models.

Brinsea is a more "high end" brand, quite a bit more than the styro-bators, if you consider the capacity. In fact, some of them can rapidly approach the price of a cabinet incubator.

If you have the money and know you won't want anything larger, the Brinsea is probably your best bet. If you want to start cheap, I recommend a GQF Hovabator, in one of it's many different price points (Genesis being the top of the line in styro-bators).

Anything you get can be resold later if you take good care of it. So, if you don't like it or need something larger later, you can trade up then.

Perhaps you could contact GQF and explain this to them. I’ll give you a link to their site and an excerpt from that link. They also messed up on the paperwork that came with my old model 1588 but I can live with that. My older model 1588 was not digital but the new ones are. That was a huge improvement. I hate those dip switches.

http://www.gqfmfg.com/store/comersus_viewItem.asp?idProduct=77

The GENESIS Hova-Bator is TUV LISTED. This certification along with the safety afforded by its 12 Volt system makes it perfect for use in classroom and laboratory settings. It is pre-set for bird eggs. Simply plug it in, then add water for humidity and eggs. While the thermostat set temperature can easily be fine tuned, most users won’t find it necessary. The LCD will display set temp, actual temp and humidity percentage in both Fahrenheit and Celsius. The pre-set microprocessor based thermostat digitally regulates itself. The digital technology in this thermostat means the command setting is never affected by changes in humidity, temperature or dust.

Other than me getting picky about this, I think we pretty much agree. There are not going to be any new top quality really easy-to-operate incubators really cheap. You get what you pay for, either in reliability or ease of operation and maintenance.