Which Incubator to buy?

[winteree]

Heat Plate


R-com 20

wow that looks so high tech

i feel outdated with my stryrofoam incubator

 

[Sydney Acres]

Heat Plate


R-com 20

Thank you for posting these pictures.

I'm confused about the heat plate. Other than being something that is flat and hot, what is it for and how is it used and why? I've not heard of one before this thread.

 

[redneckchickens]

its used to keep the chicks warm instead of a lamp. set the height so it just touches their backs.

 

[TattooedMama]

Hi TattooedMama

If you are on a budget, I would encourage you to go for the Brinsea 20 Eco, even if it is a little more expensive than a styro-bator. If you get it as just the manual turn it will be around $175ish.

I built my own Coleman incubator and learned a lot. My hatch success was poor on shipped eggs so I moved on , but in retrospect I think that some of my failures with this unit was due to me being a novice and I think that if I went back it would perform better than the styro I have tried. The most important part was I did not have the incubator set up in a room with a stable temp and humidity.

I have tried a borrowed Hovabator and it did not perform in a satisfactory fashion with temp spikes and was really hard to clean to my satisfaction. The rough contour of any styrofoam will allow bacteria to settle and be protected so that in future hatches the 'bator will be pre-seeded with bacteria. Its a concern of mine.

On a budget, I ordered a Farm Innovators 4200 from Amazon. When I got it, the warranty was only for 30 days (the Amazon pdf showed 60 days). Think about it, it takes 21 days to hatch a batch so the company only thinks that the incubator will be reliable enough for them to replace for 1 hatch cycle. II called the number and left messages but never got a reply from the non-existent customer service rep. No way is this good enough for me, so I sent it back.

I settled on the Brinsea in desperation, even though it was above my budget and I am glad I did. My hubby gave me the turning cradle for Christmas, so its even easier. It is really and truly bare-bones but it holds a rock-solid temp throughout the entire incubator. I daisy-chained multiple temp sensors (that continuously sent temps to my computer for reference) in the little guy to prove it to myself. The original reference bulb thermometer you use verify temp was mis-marked. I contacted customer service and immediately got a response from a real person and they shipped out two replacements. Hand turning the whole unit was so easy--not anything like having to hand-turn the eggs individually. Very easy to take apart and thoroughly clean after the hatch, too.

The Brinsea holds 24 XL chicken eggs. I am currently on day 11 of a new hatch and candled last night. I wanted to see if I could squeeze in a couple of extras, so I had perched them between and atop the lower rows on one end and used small strips of egg-crate foam wedged between the lower rows and extending up to keep the eggs from falling over when the incubator turned. Both of those eggs are developing nicely so I will be inclined to add extras the next time around with the theory that you will always have a few duds that will make space for the extras.

The only downside with the Brinsea is that the headroom is pretty low. I ended up taking out the first group that hatched when I saw that there were no pipped eggs, then used the opportunity to top off the wells with water to continue the hatch.

If you consider the cost of shipped eggs, which including shipping have run me $45-$75/dozen then getting even one more chick to hatch per set will end up paying for a slightly more expensive incubator after a few hatches.

I have heard wonderful things about the Rcom and the Brinsea Advance models, but they are out of my league.

Thanks so much for this review!! I am entranced by the promise of the brinsea but am a bit iffy on the $350 pricetag for the advance (my honey thinks I am off my rocker!!). I was just looking at the eco last night and weighing the pros and cons of turning the eggs myself, or ordering the egg turner at a later point. I was trying to determine if the differences in the advance and eco(with turner addition) were worth the $100+ price difference. This gives me more insight into my decision. thanks again!!

 

[brandy00]

I'm also trying to decide on an incubator. I just finished my first hatch with a borrowed LG, and after hatching 8 of 20 eggs I have decided that's just not going to work. All the non hatchers developed perfectly then failed to pip due to humidity issues. I'm having a fit trying to decide which incubator to buy. I really want the Brinsea 20 advanced, but I'm having a hard time committing since the price is so high!

 

[blucoondawg]

I'm also trying to decide on an incubator. I just finished my first hatch with a borrowed LG, and after hatching 8 of 20 eggs I have decided that's just not going to work. All the non hatchers developed perfectly then failed to pip due to humidity issues. I'm having a fit trying to decide which incubator to buy. I really want the Brinsea 20 advanced, but I'm having a hard time committing since the price is so high!

maybe try a new hatch with different humidity method such add dry hatch you may see far different results

 

[brandy00]

maybe try a new hatch with different humidity method such add dry hatch you may see far different results

I might play with the LG and see if I can do better. I bought the fan for it yesterday. I still want a new bator but it would be nice to have the LG for a backup.

 

[Sydney Acres]

its used to keep the chicks warm instead of a lamp. set the height so it just touches their backs.

Oh, that I'm familiar with, in the brooder. For some reason, I thought it was something you used with the incubator, and couldn't figure out how!! Thanks for the clarification.

 

[TattooedMama]

I recently decided to hatch out chicks for the first time.  I borrowed a Little Giant Still Air Incubator with egg turner from a friend.  She had owned it for many years, and had always had good luck with it.  She told me, "Don't worry, it's easy, just read the instructions."  Bad advice!

The instructions are hugely inadequate for a novice, especially a first timer.  It said to turn it on and adjust the temp knob until it could maintain a steady temp for 6-8 hours, then to add water and put the eggs in.  It didn't say how much water, and it didn't say what temp the water should be.  It just said to add water to the "moisture rings."  So I filled the rings, luckily using warm water but obviously not warm enough.  The rings held a cup of water.  It did not say to determine if the incubator could hold a steady temp after adding the water, so I didn't.  It did not say to prewarm the eggs up slightly before putting them in a warm incubator, so I didn't.  I just put the huge amount of water in, put the eggs in, and closed the lid.  It specifically said the incubator should take 2-3 hours to warm up again with the eggs inside, and to not open the lid for the next 24 hours.  I removed one vent plug, as directed.

The humidity quickly went up to 65%, and the temp stayed between 94-96 that entire next day.  I wanted to adjust the knob, but the person I borrowed the incubator from said she has never adjusted the knob since she got it regulated, and that even minor adjustments can cause major temp changes, so I just waited for the temp to increase more.  I didn't know at the time that maintaining at this temp for a few days was a problem.  After one day I became worried and put the second vent plug back in.  That raised and maintained the temp at 97-98 degrees, and the humidity rose to 74%..

After 2 days, I decided that this would never work, so I quickly opened the incubator and removed all the water (which was not easy or convenient with this design).  That brought the humidity down to 21% and the temp up to 99 degrees within a few hours.  I found it difficult to add even small amounts of water without either removing the eggs or taking a chance that the water would splash on the eggs, so I added a wet paper towel to the incubator every day to maintain a humidity between 20-30%, which is what was needed to get the air sacs the proper size in these eggs.  I candled at 7 days, and all the eggs appeared clear, but I'm inexperienced at candling so I didn't throw them away.  I continued with the incubation and candling until day 18, when I had to decide whether or not to start lockdown.  Since I wasn't seeing anything when candling, I decided to open the oldest egg (the least likely to hatch) to see what was inside.  There was no development at all, still just yolk and albumin, the yolk was intact, and nothing smelled at all.  The albumin was watery, but that's expected after 10 days of storage and 18 days of incubation.  So I know my hygiene and egg selection is good.  I continued to open one egg after the other, in order of least hatchability to most hatchability, until they were all down the garbage disposal.   I know that the eggs were fertile, since almost all the eggs from the same birds under broody hens hatched perfectly.

So, huge lesson learned.  I was in a big hurry to get the eggs into the incubator to coordinate the incubator hatch with the broody hen hatches.   I wanted to add the incubator chicks to the broody clutches, so I needed them to be less than 12 hours apart.  I didn't get the incubator until the last minute, so I didn't have time to  read up on it or pre-test the humidity issue adequately before adding eggs, which I would have done even if the instruction didn't say to, if I'd had the time.  And I'd never used an incubator before, so had no idea that one cup of water was too much.  I don't know if the Little Giant Still Air Incubator is any good or not, but it definitely has inadequate instructions for a beginner.  It is only around $50, so the price is great.  But it is difficult to adjust the temp, and difficult to add water unless only holding a few eggs.  There may be other problems with it also, but my eggs didn't get far enough to recognize any other issues.  I will be buying my own incubator soon, and will definitely not be buying a Styrofoam model, or a model with just an unmarked stick as a temp control knob, or a model where it is difficult to add water.  And I will want to read the directions before I buy the machine, just to be sure that they make sense, and are specific enough to be useful.   Sometimes a more expensive model is the least expensive in the long run, because cheap is only a good deal if it isn't a waste of money.  I'm very glad I was able to borrow this model before buying an incubator, as I learned a lot.  And I'm very glad that the eggs that were lost were from my own hens, and not expensive eggs that were shipped in.

Oh no!! I'm sorry. Luckily my first experience with an incubator was in agriculture class in high school. I don't think I even read the directions but my teacher advised me how to use it. I wish I could remember what my hatch rate was but I don't recall having a lot of problems. I couldn't agree with you more that cheap isn't cheap in the long run if it doesn't provide good results. I'm thinking even on the cheap end a manual brinsea may be a good choice for me an just but an egg turner later. I would really hate to face the devastation of a poor hatch due to struggles with humidity and temparature consistency which seems to be what a lot if people point to as the biggest problem with many of the less expensive styrofoam models. Besides spending over $100 on eggs to have them not hatch well could have been more money toward a more reliable incubator. I hope you find a good incubator and have better luck next time!!

 

[Yiannisk]

maybe try a new hatch with different humidity method such add dry hatch you may see far different results

How much dry is dry hatch? because in my incubators if i do not use water dry is 10% and i think 10% is very dry!