Which Incubator to buy?

[claudiab]

Make sure you have the incubator in the cradle correctly. It may LOOK like it is, but might not be. I did that once, the cradle had the incubator turned WAY over...so, once I fixed it everything was OK...didn't even break an egg! It was like the cradle end was out of the cog. Good thing I saw it before it turned the eggs upside down (don't know it that's possible)! lol Now I LOOK at the ends of the cradle, and make sure everything is put together correctly, before putting eggs in the incubator!

 

[TattooedMama]

Not yet! I had planned to move eggs over from the LG, but I'm on day 10 with those and they are doing great. All 22 of the shipped polish eggs had moving embryos last night. I got a new shipment of eggs in yesterday that will be going in the Brinsea tonight. It's going to be a nightmare though because every single air cell is mess!

Mine is supposed to be here Monday and I am super excited. I did bid on some eggs on Ebay from Autumn Farm Orpingtons and that ends tomorrow so on the off-chance I win the eggs would be here after the bator; if not I figured I would run out and buy a cheap bator if I had to. It's only 6 LF Chocolate Orpington eggs and the last 3 batches sold around $80 total with shipping (their website its $125). This bid is already at $74 (+$17 s&h= OUCH

) and it ends in the morning. I may try to see if I can get it if its only for a few more bucks. These Chocolates are expensive but top of the line. Waiting to hear back from Papa Brooder as well on his hatch to see if his Roo is split to chocolate or black. I'm just afraid if I don't win it they won't put more up for a month since they do that sometimes. The chocolates are what I am most excited to get in the Brinsea ASAP, a chocolate hen is also what my son requested to replace his hen the dogs ate. I'm pretty excited about getting some Fancy Chick BBS orps too. I can't wait for my new toy to get here and get this show on the road!!

 

[GregClark38]

Does yours have the celsius or fahrenheit reading? Are you still happy with it?

 

[GregClark38]

I did a lot of looking myself before chirstmas this past year and settled on a Chinese incubator. I spent days looking and each time I started to settle in on anything I would find less then favorable reviews. There was a review on YouTube of a guy who works at an animal sanctuary and said this was hands down the best incubator he had ever owned. 100% hatches every time. That pretty much sealed the deal for me. The price was great too. I got mine through an E-bay vendor but here is a link to see it.
http://incubator.china-direct-buy.c...matic_Mini_Egg_Incubator_For_Family_Type.html

It has all the bells and whistles you would want. holds 48 eggs and has a turner that turns the eggs every 2 hours and a count down timer that lets you know the next time it is going to turn the eggs. The turner of course is removable. It has alarms for temperature and humidity if they go out of range and they are adjustable but mine arrived spot on. There is a fan and channels below a plastic grid that holds different amounts of water. There are filler ports from the sides of the tub. It is all plastic so it is easy to clean. The top is semi clear so you can peek in. It would have been nice if it was a little easier to see in but it does offer you a glimpse of what's going on. I did have to get the bubbly shelf liner the one that has tiny holes in it cause the plastic grid on its own is too slippery when they start hatching and there is all that liquid and gue. I got 1 case of spradle leg on my first hatch but the perforated shelf liner solved future problems.
First hatch I had 3 fertile eggs and all went great, hatched on day 21
2nd hatch only one fertile egg and hatched beautiful on day 21
3rd hatch this time I had 9 fertile eggs and all but one has hatched. I got one Texas hold out... It's still hanging out in the egg........ need to do some research to find out what to do for this little guy.
two hatched on day 20 most day 21 and I got one struggling to get out on day 22.
I believe this has more to do with my hens maybe starting to sit on my eggs a bit before I gathered them and incubated them. Not sure. We were busy that week getting ready for a vacation. Anyway I am an complete newbie in this world and thought I would let you know about this great little incubator.

Does yours have the celsius or fahrenheit reading? Are you still happy with it?

 

[TattooedMama]

Does yours have the celsius or fahrenheit reading? Are you still happy with it?

Just a warning I did read some negative reviews about these chinese incubators- people were saying it eventually melted their outlet!!

 

[Sydney Acres]

Quote:
That's a pretty serious warning. The money you save with a Chinese machine might help pay the deductible on your fire insurance!! Not worth the risk -- in my opinion.

 

[jjaazzy]

I love it! I would definitely buy another one. And yes it does both but I just left it the way it came in cel. and 37.7 equals 100 and I just left it at that. This incubator is amazing and so easy to use. It holds perfect temps. Since it is basically a plastic tub it is easier on the unit to put it in a small room. I use a powder room. But due to hatched chicks in two separate brooder tubs I had to move the inc. out into the living room. It worked great and did an amazing job finishing up a new broody hen disaster. It is also a breeze to clean. No crazy scrubbing just a touch of bleach swish it out done. One thing I did was get a shelf liner for the plastic mesh bottom for lock down...I used a bubbly perforated liner from dollar store but found it cheaper in grocery store. It helped them get on their feet faster. I didn't do this with first batch and had one with a leg problem but I was able to fit it. Also hatch was spot on 21 days. Yes I couldn't ask for anything more love it. Made this new person look and feel like a pro.

 

[winteree]

Was it the incubator you think or did you have other problems?

idk those egg's where shipped in 40F weather from 8 states away all but one had a detached air cell and my incubator didn't have a thermostat so the temps where all over the place so it could have been me it could have been the shipping all i know is that none of the egg's showed any development and I'm out 40 bucks and no chicks to show for it so i had to settle for no name breeds at the feed store

 

[winteree]

if these duck egg's don't hatch i'll go ahead and look into buying a incubator but i just don't have the money right now

 

[GregClark38]

That's a pretty serious warning. The money you save with a Chinese machine might help pay the deductible on your fire insurance!! Not worth the risk -- in my opinion.

Thanks so much, I'm all new to this. Good advice.