maize Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 I'm looking for an incubator capable of holding about a dozen chicken eggs. Something with an automatic turner and good temperature and humidity control. Any recommendations? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted January 15, 2019 Author Share Posted January 15, 2019 Bumping in hopes someone has a recommendation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 Does cost matter? I'd recommend the Brinsea - sometimes you can pick one up semi-locally for less than $200. Brinsea makes this separate humidifying control thingie (scientific, right?) but it's so expensive. Truth is I never had much of a problem with my Brinsea. Now - I did buy the Little Giant long ago and had a particularly horrible hatch in August 2014, memorable because I had to kill shrink-wrapped chicks after coming home from giving birth. I got rid of that 'bator and swore never again. If you aren't squeamish about killing the occasional almost-hatched chick or having them drown in their shells sometimes, then the Little Giant can serve its purpose - you'll get to see chicks hatch. I sold my Brinsea after last season. No matter how cool hatching is, I end up with half roosters and some unhatched eggs (last season it was uber expensive black copper marans with thick shells.) This season I'm hoping for hens that will set. But hatching is SO neat that sometimes it's worth the emotional turmoil - especially candling! The best hatch I've had is out of Brinseas - I've used both the tiny classroom (Mini Eco Advance) and the Brinsea Octagon without the turner. I thought the Octagon was the better of the two imo, but I had eggs in a classroom for the Mini Advance and an inexperienced hatcher, so ymmv. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausmumof3 Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 We have an IM but I think they are just an Australian thing. It’s taken a fair bit of fine tuning to get it right but we got 9 out of 12 last time so definitely getting there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausmumof3 Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 And yes be prepared for some trauma. I have never had to dispense with any but did assisted hatch on a couple and it is so flopping scary. And some don’t make it. And some hatch and don’t make it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tree Frog Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 Many years ago, we were able to go through our county extension office to get incubators and eggs. Iirc, they also took any chicks we didn't want to keep. This was a great option to us at the time, but I don't know if it's still available (or even available in all states.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmrich Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 Hatching eggs was one of the best things we did in my classroom and in our homeschool. We had the Brinsea. It worked great. We hatched ducks. So much fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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