What kind of incubator?

[lorihadams]

I have discovered that I have some fertile eggs, mutts, but still fertile. I am contiplating getting an incubator and trying to hatch some with the kids. What kind of incubator should I get that won't cost me an arm and a leg? If this is successful I definitely want to get some eggs from some pure bred chickens and try to hatch them to expand my flock. I found one small incubator for $20 but it only holds 3 chicken eggs at a time. Any input?

 

[DrakeMaiden]

If you are at all serious, I would recommend spending a minimum of $130, and buying the Brinsea 20 ECO model .

If you just want to try your hand at it and are not attached to your results, why not build your own incubator? I think there is a post on BYC by MissPrissy that has all the details.

My honest opinion? An incubator that only holds 3 eggs probably will not hold a stable temperature very well. It would be better to hatch more eggs at once in a larger incubator.

 

[miss_thenorth]

Funny you should post this, as I am looking for an incubator also. I think I have pretty much decided on the Brower TH 120 top hatch.

The hovabators have a really good recommendation, but I dont like that it is styrofoam, and also, if you want a fan, it's more money than a still air. And if you want an egg turner, that's $ on top too. The brower top hatch, will do I think 48 chicken eggs, and 120 quail eggs, It has a fan and an egg turner built in. Since I am doing quail eggs, I really don't want to hand turn 120 eggs three times a day.

From what I've read, the negatives of the Brower are--it's noisy, there is a flashing light(?), and you need to use it in a room where there are not alot of heat fluctuations--so the temp stays constant. On the plus side, you can clean it out in your dishwasher. In Canada, I have only found it at Performance Poultry, at ~$209.00.

 

[miss_thenorth]

OK, Drake, How come I have not found that one in my search. Now have to look into that one

 

[Wifezilla]

What kind of incubator should I get that won't cost me an arm and a leg?

Just make a gopherbator!

http://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=7562-The_GopherBator

Mine started inside a cigar humidor, but I had so much trouble I transfered the guts in to a red cooler and mine ended up just like this one.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Hey, miss_thenorth! I only found it by asking on BYC. The turner is extra on the Brinsea too, but you can manually turn the whole incubator w/o opening it.

I think all incubators will warn about keeping them in a room with minimal heat fluctuations. I guess no one who designs them heats with wood. LOL The Brinsea recommends not letting the room temp drop below 58 degrees F (not sure what that is in C off the top of my head).

Shipping is kind of high on Brinsea, so make sure you check that out.

Good luck.

 

[miss_thenorth]

Hey, miss_thenorth! I only found it by asking on BYC. The turner is extra on the Brinsea too, but you can manually turn the whole incubator w/o opening it.

I think all incubators will warn about keeping them in a room with minimal heat fluctuations. I guess no one who designs them heats with wood. LOL The Brinsea recommends not letting the room temp drop below 58 degrees F (not sure what that is in C off the top of my head).

Shipping is kind of high on Brinsea, so make sure you check that out.

Good luck.

Lol, I know some temps in fahrenheit. My house thermostat reads in F. Where I have trouble is around 0 C=32 F, below my zero--my mind gets kinda fuzzy, cuz my outdoor thermometer reads in celcius. It's soo confusing!!!

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Yeah, I don't know why we stick with the antiquated F system. It makes it confusing to go anywhere else in the world. I forget the conversion formula . . . is it degrees F - 32 +4 = degrees C or something? Wait . . . Tc = (5/9)*(Tf-32) . . . not an equation easy to do in one's head, in my estimation.

But back OT, the Brinsea cannot be washed in a dishwasher, but it would probably be easy enough to hand wash/sanitize.