What type of egg incubator should I buy?

[coachmcguirk]

I want to hatch silkie, mixed bantam, silver pheasant or cochin eggs. I am not looking to raise a lot of chickens. I do not need a large incubator. I have never incubated and hatched eggs before. Regarding if I have a rooster in my flock, I will donate it to a feed store and I can also list it for free on craigslist.

What brand of egg incubator do you recommend? Do you also recommend diy egg incubators found on youtube? Or should I stick to incubators with auto egg turning? What is the price range of the incubator I should choose?

Also, I plan to buy the fertile eggs on ebay. Is there any chance the eggs can crack on the way? Where else should I buy the fertile eggs?

Thank you!

 

[Taylorenee]

Firstly , I would go with the nurture right 360! It's an amazing incubator does all the work for you just add water. Very reliable and accurate little pricey but you get what you pay for! $140 at TS. Has a built in egg candler and has an auto egg Turner that stops 3 days before hatching, I would see if you can buy any eggs local and hatch them , with shipping they get pretty beat up on, hatch rates lower because of handling , but lots of people do it and lots of people have different experiences with it.

 

[ChickenCurt]

If you're not going into production, I would do one of two things: get a broody chicken (Orpingtons, Cochins and most bantams are my preferred Hatcher's) or build one yourself. There are many DIY options online. Most things you can get just looking around your house. The most important thing with an incubator is humidity and temperature control. I like to put the eggs on moist moss (many don't like this because the eggs get dirty). And a low wattage incandescent bulb usually works inside a cooler. You want your incubator temperature to hang around 110. If you get the wattage right then all you need to do is turn the eggs (I recommend every six hours). Keep some kind of thermometer in there. If things get too hot you can crack your lid (some people open them to cool things down but I think that cools things too much). I also recommend that the eggs aren't too close to the heat source is that can tend to cook them if your incandescent bulb is too high in wattage.
To purchase them, small incubators can start at about $100 wearing homemade incubator can often be free just with what you have around the house. Best of luck.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

https://www.egg-hatching.com/product-page/rcom-10-pro-plus

 

[ChickenCurt]

One more thing, a chicken will hatch in 21 days, on the 22nd day I would start candle in the egg to see if anything is growing, if so, help them hatch. If they are too long in an egg you can get deformities and death.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

I have a an RCom 20 Max, and RCom King Suro, and a RCom King Suro Eco. I wish I didn't ever waste my time and money on the cheap ones, especially the Styrofoam ones that killed tons and tons of chicks...