Farm Anybody have/use egg incubators?

BigFootsCousin

BigFootsCousin

Molon Labe!
My wife and I are thinking about getting a chicken egg incubator. There are so many different kinds/brands, it's crazy trying to sift through them all.

We're wanting to hatch small amounts, not more than 24 or so at a time. My wife just wants to play around with some of our many different barnyard breeds, and maybe Heinz 57 a bit to see what we get.

What kind of incubators do you guys use and recommend?

Also, is there that much of an advantage to having one that turns the eggs?

Oh, almost forgot! Game bird eggs.......I'm looking for a supplier of those as well. My wife is not interested in them, but chuker, quail, pheasants are pretty kewl. I want to build some pens for them and learn about them, and jump in and start raising some!

BFC
 
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Publius

TB Fanatic
Do you have any stores near you that sell the stuff like a tractor supply. They sell these and just follow the instructions. The eegs should not have been refrigerated and don't wash them, take a pencil and put an X on one side of each egg and you need to turn these eggs once in the morning and again in the evening and if you stay up late, turn one more before you go to bed, repeate this process for 23 days. you will also need to add a little water to keep the humidity up where it need to be. They do make egg turners for them but you don't need one and the clock motors that make them work often burn out.


Edit Add: had to go look at the name of the brand, and its "Hova Bator", these are the cheepest and will hold up to 50 eggs at a time.
 
naturallysweet

naturallysweet

Has No Life - Lives on TB
The Genesis Hovabator is basically a plug-n-play model. Sure, there are cheaper incubators. But the Little Giants are well known for cooking and freezing eggs. While the Hovabator will self regulate it's own temperature.
 
Cardinal

Cardinal

Chickministrator
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I second the hovabator suggestion; I have one. And save yourself some hassle, get the egg turner. I have had mine set up going on 10 years now, no problems. Play with the humidity a bit if you want to hatch mainly pullets.
 
naturallysweet

naturallysweet

Has No Life - Lives on TB
LC said:
Cardinal, play with the humidity how/which way if you want pullets? Thanks
Click to expand...
chicken eggs aren't like alligators, the temp won't change the sex of the eggs. You will average 50% of each. Although there is some evidence that one sex can survive better than the other in adverse conditions.
 
Cardinal

Cardinal

Chickministrator
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There is a lot of debate on the chicken forums about this, but most chicken farmers around here swear that lower temps will get you pullets. I have also read that the hen determines the sex of the chik, opposite of humans.
I think it might just be a matter of one sex is hardier than the others and can survive cooler temps so more of them hatch.
I haven't tried messing with the temp or humidity, I just eat the roos.
 
duchess47

duchess47

Has No Life - Lives on TB
I had two incubators for years and constantly fought keeping correct temp, humidity with a success rate of 0 to 100% depending on the time of year. Then I discovered my cochin hens will set on anything with 100% success, including guinea eggs which are 28 days instead of 21. And she takes perfect care of them so no heat lamps and brooder boxes required. I have a separate small hutch for her when I set her on eggs.
 
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Publius

TB Fanatic
Talk about sexing! I been told for years that eggs that are more pointed at the ends will likely produce Roo's and the more rounded ones Hen's.
I have given this a try and yes I did end up with more hen's than Roo's, just grabbing and hatching eggs without any thought you will likely come close to a 50/50 mix of both.

Now if you want some meat just let it go and just hatch eggs and cull at about five and six months, but do leave yourself at lest three Roo's and I found three Roo's will fight less than two will.
 
Freeholder

Freeholder

This too shall pass.
Murray McMurray is a little on the expensive side. There are a lot of hatcheries out there, and most of the bigger ones sell at least some equipment as well as poultry. There are also other animal supply places. I get most of my supplies from the local feed store (you may have a Grange Co-op in your area). I'm experimenting with -- on my third batch of eggs -- one of the styrofoam Little Giant incubators. 0% hatch the first try, 5 chicks out of 18 eggs on the second try. Third try should start hatching Easter weekend, so we'll see. I think I'm going to have to try the Genesis incubator, though -- we are definitely having trouble keeping consistent temperatures. I've got a couple of Silkie hens, and three Silkie crosses, who are here to hatch out eggs for me, but I wanted to see if I could do anything with the incubator, since I don't have to wait for a hen to go broody with that.

I'm planning to start raising good-quality Buckeyes, and bantam Rhode Island Reds, hoping to sell a few chicks locally; also I'm going to want to raise enough Buckeyes to put in the freezer for our own use. So I'll probably need to hatch more eggs than just a handful of broody hens can manage.

Kathleen
 
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Publius

TB Fanatic
If your on the west coast there are few to pick from as I only found two after doing some search and both are in California and the one at link has the better prices. The Hova-Bator incubator there are many selling them on the net and a good asking price is from $50 to $60 plus shipping.

Heres the link to the Hatchery: http://www.belthatchery.com
 
F

Faroe

Un-spun
Good experiences here from McMurray's.
I probably won't be ordering this year - lots of chickens now, and too much to do.

Really wanted a duck breed, and wanted to try the Silver-grey Dorking chicken.
Maybe next year.
 
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