Would like to get a small incubator

[makinguscrazie]

We are a small farm with mixed chickens. Ducks and geese. We have naturally hatched a few from our hens but would LOVE to hatch a few of each including the geese. However we don't know anything about incubators except they can be fairly inexpensive to ungodly expensive. We would like to stay on the cheap side of thins ( don't we all) . Anyway here I am asking for your help, thanks!
Shannon

 

[Banjosan]

I started with a $99 foam incubator from Agway. I had to turn the eggs myself and the humidity was hard to regulate but i got to be a pretty good hatcher with it. Warning I had to tweek it alot and I would often wake up in the middle of the night to see if it was working ok. I finally moved up and got a Brinsea Automatic. People say they are "set it and forget it" I got the egg turner option on year one and got the humidity pump on year 2 but it is a lot of money. Maybe about 400 once I was done adding the "features". Hope that gives you a start. There are also 'bators that are still air and ones with Fans. You can spend a lot or a little. I got mine through Amazon.

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

X2 on the above. It really does depend how much time you have to babysit the incubator. You can get the cheaper ones that come with an auto turner so that would be one less thing that needs doing. Humidity in my opinion is the most crucial thing in incubating. Needs to be an average so the chick can succesfully internally pip for its first breath of air. I too have the Brinsea fully auto with pump and it is well worth the money if you are going to hatching regular. I can't reccomend them enough.

You could always go down the route of making your own here is nice article on home made https://www.backyardchickens.com/chicken-coop-incubator.html

Wishing you the best of luck with your choice and happy hatching!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

We are a small farm with mixed chickens. Ducks and geese. We have naturally hatched a few from our hens but would LOVE to hatch a few of each including the geese. However we don't know anything about incubators except they can be fairly inexpensive to ungodly expensive. We would like to stay on the cheap side of thins ( don't we all) . Anyway here I am asking for your help, thanks!
Shannon

The more inexpensive ones are generally more work. If you have the ability to monitor and oversee the incubator and eggs then the foam bators might be fine for you. (I use a LG foam bator w/fan and egg turner). I wouldn't recommend a foam bator for someone who is away from the house a lot or doesn't have a room with a fairly steady temp to use it in as they are touchy to ambient temps and humidity.

On the other end of the line are your Brinseas. Expensive, highly recommended here and virtually "set it and forget it". These are nice for the busy people who aren't at home and the people who want as little work with the bator as they can get, ( and can afford them..lol).

In the middle are a ton of mid line bators. I think every line has it's users that have good rates and users that have bad. A lot of people judge their outcome based on the bator and there are a lot of factors.

I guess the question is what are you looking for in a bator? How much monitoring and adjusting are you able or willing to do? How many eggs would you like to be able to set at one time? Do you want to turn the eggs manually or with a turner?