We are thinking about getting an incubator for spring hatching. Can I pick all your collective brains for info and experience. Brands? How to? Where is best place to buy, when to start, where to get eggs etc.... Thanks!!
incubators
What price range?
hmmm.....started looking online and they seem to go anywhere from 40 to 600 dollars. Maybe 200 max??? Not sure how good a one I can get for that. Seems the automatic egg turner is a must along with the fan. I would want to spend enough that I would actually get eggs to hatch. It doesn't make sense to spend 200 and get no chicks out of it when you could spend 300 and have a great incubator that always does great hatching. Hope that makes sense. So I guess I need to know what I would need to spend to get a good one and then I will have to decide whether or not I can afford it.
A LOT of things can go wrong during the incubation process. It is full of excitement and a great deal of disappointment as well. I say that because no matter how much you spend on a bator or eggs, you are not guaranteed a great hatch.
The most important thing to remember is the room temperature must be stable as it can really cause havoc in the bator if the temp varies continuously. For instance we heat solely with wood during the cold months....therefore my house temps flux a lot. On the upside of that when we had the power outage for several days and I had over 40 eggs in the bator slowly dieing I managed to keep several of the eggs alive by placing the bator wrapped in a blanket next to the woodstove.
The turners are great but I know more than one person who had theirs burn out and guess what... the eggs all died because by the time they realized the turner wasn't working anymore it was too late. Personally I prefer to turn them by hand.
I have several bators I made myself and I've had 3 "store" bought. I got silkies to replace the bators....lol. I figure the hens will be more reliable than me and it won't be near as disappointing trying to figure out did I do something wrong...
Although I do plan for my son (who is homeschooled) to have an assignment hatching eggs/keeping a log etc.
When buying eggs typically the closer you are to the person the better chance for the eggs to arrive viable. The air sac must be intact etc.. They get jostled a lot even though they may not be broken on the outside the inside can be "scrambled".
You want to remember that buying eggs is a gamble so don't spend a fortune unless you are prepared to possibly get nothing for it. Personally I bought a LOT of eggs on ebay and eggbid and some off of private dealers on backyardchickens.com.
Some clutches had really good hatches (the best were from a breeder in my same state....less distance to be thrown about, and less weather variance during shipping) and several clutches hatched absolutely NOTHING. Although my BLRW eggs came all the way from Texas...lol. Ya just never know .
I am hoping to be able to trade for eggs in the spring. That way if I have disappointing hatches I am not out money as well. Just slightly heartbroken....lol.
If you want specific breeds I would start by searching your area first by state then break it down to local and see if you can find breeders that will deal with you locally it would be great. Example there is a man within driving distance to me that has welsummers and he will let me come pick up eggs from him... he doesn't sell chicks darnit...lol.
I only post the above because you are asking about affording it. Either way you toss it incubating is a gamble. Personally my recommendation is don't spend more than you can afford to lose just in case it all goes wrong.
Julie
Wow, sounds like really good advice. We have looked all over the internet for hatcheries close to us in CA, but there doesn't seem to be many. We are only about an hour from Sacramento, so if anyone knows any, that would be great. And turning them by hand??? Wow, don't they have to be turned 2-3 times per day? I homeschool my kids, but we are constantly out and about at classes etc and then I work three to 11 at night at the hospital, so I don't think I could turn them by hand reliably. As for having a hen do it??? hmmmmmm Do they take just any old eggs you put in there? I guess some would and some wouldn't just like us moms. I guess I will have to wait to see if any of them go broody when they start laying in a few months. When you get the eggs in the mail, do you have to put them in an incubator or under a hen immediately? Can you order eggs like chicks, one of a variety, (i.e. one welsummer, one sussex, one brahma, etc?) We have a really eclectic flock and my kids and I have already picked out what chicks we want in the spring (we each get to pick out 3). But we all want something different. I'm glad I have a bunch of time to try and figure all this out LOL. Those picures of those new chicks and ducks really make me want to order chicks now though!!! Patience has never been one of my better virtues.
I have a Brinsea Octagon 40 but have had just as much success with a much cheaper Hova Bator.
I would check into buying a used one
You can find them at swaps and in the papers for sale
In my experience I wouldn't trade the automatic turner for anything
I spent YEARS turning by hand
Never again
Automatic thermostat with a back up wafer-a must
fan-a must
but my incubator cost 500 bucks
I had good luck when just starting out with a round metal one
kinda looks like a 1/4 barrel
I liked it much better than the styrofoam
I then moved on to a cabinet incubator with a fan
the trays were kinda cool cause it had a pull thing that when you pulled it ,it rolled the eggs
It was wood and I sanded and refinished it
rewired everything
used it for years
I bought all my incubators at auctions and swaps
Untill I got sick of turning
I have a GQF now
The money I paid was well worth it to me
I also have a GQF Hatcher
But at 3 auctions this year I've seen GQF's (used) selling between 2-3 hundred
Patience isn't one of my virtues either which is a big problem for me when it comes to incubating.
I am gone from home 8am till 7pm then I homeschool my son in the evening. When incubating I turn eggs before I leave for work. This year I had my daughter turn the eggs when she got home from school but she's living at college now...lol. Then I would turn when I got home from work and again before I went to bed.
I think you'd have better luck finding private breeders near you vs hatcheries if that is the way you want to go. It's great if you are really lucky and find a breeder who has everything you want .....lol. When you get eggs they need to "settle" for atleast 10 hrs before they go in the incubator. Ideally I don't want to put eggs in that are over 7-10 days old.
Most ppl I bought eggs from added extras.... they do that because there is a lot that can go wrong and 100% hatches are uncommon. Example one of the ppl I bought silkie eggs from sent 30 eggs. 21 of those eggs hatched. Only one person I bought from sent the exact amt of eggs I paid for 6 eggs. Only 2 of those eggs were even showing fertile and only 1 was a successful hatch. Then if you wanted a pullet well you just wasted yourself weeks on end and have a cockerel to cull...lol.
If you have a determined breed and sex you must have you're far better off to buy sexed chicks.....atleast in my opinon.
http://www.belthatchery.com/
http://www.darkeggs.com/public/index.php
http://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewforum.php?id=19
you could post your "wants" here and you might meet the breeder of your dreams in your area !!
Julie
Where do you find out about swap meets and auctions? I haven't seen anything listed at our local feed store. They really concentrate on horses and horse stuff though. We don't have a really great Chicken supply around here. They'll order anything we want, but on hand supplies are pitiful. I would love to find some local breeders, but don't even know where to start since I can't find them on the internet. Thanks for all your great ideas. Suz
If you check out the last link I posted you should be able to find someone who has what you want. They also have a forum regarding swaps and auctions/shows etc...
Julie
rotfl, ya know jab it took me being up all night painting to realize ur a fellow byc member. i've noticed people posting a few times here a link to byc but it never dawned on me till now that i've seen you there,lol. help i need sleep BAD, hehe. anyways glad to see a fellow chicken fancier here from there. who else is here from there?
go to the last link posted for byc above and go to there "where am i where are you forum"(think that's the name of it). if i remember right there are lots of people from ca there and ya might find someone close to ya. also there is a section that lists swaps and meets too.
time for silkie to get some sleep now that i have finished painting.....
LOL.... yep thats me !!!! Once upon a time I had a different name for every site I joined...lol. These days I do well to remember the name my mother gave me period !!!
Julie =0)
if you are still intrested in a incubator i think a good one to try would be the r-com7 but it only holds 3 eggs or the r-com20 which holds 20 eggs
lol, i try to keep the same one but it's are hard one to keep. woops i forgot to add my bators i use, sorry.
i got 4 of the foam still air bators, 2 are hovas and 2 are little giant. my fav is my hova's they have been the best to use without problem hatches. i believe i have different models i'd have to check. i have a gqf(hova) turner i had to modify it to fit was a tad to big for it was made for a newer model. if ya need model # i can look on them and tell ya what i like and don't like about each how they have done for me. i bought them for about $42 each new at the feedstore. i couldn't afford a larger one like i wanted so i got them as i could to get what i have.
the turner holds 42 eggs for chicken and has other cup holders that i use for quail eggs. turners are the bomb!!! i bought it at the store also and can't remember the price now but the quail cups i bought seperate. when i started i had turned all quail by hand. now imagine when i did button quails tiny eggs like 100 at a time and about 200 at a time coturnix quail all at the same time in 2 of the bators, it surley was not fun at all turning 4 times a day, lol. i still have to turn but only half the time now. so if nothing else an auto turner you will definately want to have. it is sooo much easier. i've had mine for over a year and never a problem with it.
i try to do it so i incubate in 2 and hatcher 2 of them. i can have speratic hatches to hatch when i need chicks for others and do mine for when i need them. rather than messing with the bator ones and mess up the others i mark on eggs date 18 for them. on that date they get taken out put accross the room in the hatcher already set up with extra water and reg. it is so much easier and always frees up one to clean incase needed later. my only prob i have had with any of them is mainly humidity because of my a/c it throws it off alot so i have flux the temp and humidity on days i have it on. i have had hatches on shipped eggs anywhere from 8-100% overall in my bators with usually 80 or higher. i love my bators, they have taught me and my 5 kid's so much it has been an awesome experience to see and watch as the babies grow and hatch, however my best hatches have been my broody hatches nothing beats mother nature!!!
eggs are a risk weather from at home or shipped but ya have better hatches from home because they don't go through all the moveing. i have gotten them in as far as cal, wa and tx and got better hatches of mostly 80 % or higher than i did from just in ohio at 8%(bad pack job by breeder). shipped ones go through so much especially being harshly handled by the usps. i no longer mark eggs they get through better with better hatches if i don't. i just put perishable, fragile and do not leave in sun. when i did put hatching eggs ect on the boxes they got damaged, had egg leaking from them ect like the post office played soccer with them. to me from what i have learned or heard all bators are good as long as it is in your price range and ya know how to use it with the exception of the chick-a-bator it is horrible. they are only good for lamps and a total waste of money, usually never a hatch. good hatches depends on what the person hatching knows and does, so much depends on you. shipped eggs is in how much havoc the eggs go through during shipping and if the breeder knows how good to pack. i have gotten eggs local and got 0 hatch rate because i messed it up and humidity was to high, it drowned the chicks just before pip.
when buying eggs don't spend anymore than you are willing to loose hatching is always a gamble and always ask questions and ask to see pics of the breeders. it seams the higher priced ones i always get lower hatches. i buy or trade from others because everyone here raises brown egg layers. mine are considered exotic chickens here which i find funny. so to get the breeds i want since i don't have breeders i have to get the eggs or chicks shipped in. i get them at back yard chickens, ebay, eggbid, a local trade site for my area, or pennswoods.net sometimes. i have never had a prob with ebay eggs it's where i recommend best to get them just make sure you check feedback first and know the sellers rep. byc i also recommend i have gotten lots of great cuties from several awesome members there, you can get almost any breed there as well.
i hatch year round also. hope some of my experiences may help ya out.
silkie
THANK YOU! That was awesome info!