Questions on incubators

[TeeJ]

It's going to be awhile before I give this a try, but do I understand it correctly that I'm supposed to put water in the bottom and will have to keep opening the unit to do so until 'lockdown' at 3 days prior to hatch??? Not sure I like that idea, but will do if that's what it takes

There are a couple of holes (with plugs) in the top you can use to add water (or regulate the humidity by leaving them unplugged) if you don't want top open the lid. I open mine for a couple of seconds every morning until lockdown and it seems to hear back up in a minute or so...

 

[Peanut]

It's going to be awhile before I give this a try, but do I understand it correctly that I'm supposed to put water in the bottom and will have to keep opening the unit to do so until 'lockdown' at 3 days prior to hatch??? Not sure I like that idea, but will do if that's what it takes

My incubator is by farm innovations, basically the same unit you bought. I've hatched several batches with it. I messed up the humidity with the first batch, badly written instructions. After that it worked as advertised.

Just don't pull a "me" and forget about them, lol. I was cutting hay one morning, came to the house for lunch. I kept hearing a bird in the house. So I'm walking around with my sandwich looking for a bird, wondering how it got in the house... I felt dumb when I found it. My chicks had started hatching and I'd forgotten them lolol. (I had several fields of hay to cut, my mind was elsewhere)

 

[TeeJ]

My incubator is by farm innovations, basically the same unit you bought. I've hatched several batches with it. I messed up the humidity with the first batch, badly written instructions. After that it worked as advertised.

Just don't pull a "me" and forget about them, lol. I was cutting hay one morning, came to the house for lunch. I kept hearing a bird in the house. So I'm walking around with my sandwich looking for a bird, wondering how it got in the house... I felt dumb when I found it. My chicks had started hatching and I'd forgotten them lolol. (I had several fields of hay to cut, my mind was elsewhere)

That's hilarious, that's what happened with my 1st hatching of quail. I'd even forgotten to remove the egg rolling mechanism. I was worried about it crushing the hatchlings, so I ran my shower on hot and put a space heater on high until my bathroom was as hot and humid as the incubator so I could open it up without hurting the unhatched eggs. It must have worked, because I had 39 of of 50 eggs hatch even after they were shipped cross country and stuck in the post office over a long weekend!

 

[JustMe]

My incubator is by farm innovations, basically the same unit you bought. I've hatched several batches with it. I messed up the humidity with the first batch, badly written instructions. After that it worked as advertised.

Just don't pull a "me" and forget about them, lol. I was cutting hay one morning, came to the house for lunch. I kept hearing a bird in the house. So I'm walking around with my sandwich looking for a bird, wondering how it got in the house... I felt dumb when I found it. My chicks had started hatching and I'd forgotten them lolol. (I had several fields of hay to cut, my mind was elsewhere)

Actually that's what I'm afraid of doing........atleast you came inside for lunch.


Now comes the question........have either you or @TeeJ tried hatching ducks, geese or turkeys????

 

[TeeJ]

Actually that's what I'm afraid of doing........atleast you came inside for lunch.


Now comes the question........have either you or @TeeJ tried hatching ducks, geese or turkeys????

Sorry, chickens and quail have been it for me - but I can't assume the process or results should be any different with any other fowl.

 

[Peanut]

Only chickens for me, can't help with the others.

 

[Tim Horton]

Sweetie has an older model in the ....Sportsman 1200.... series of cabinet machines...
Last time she used it there was a bunch of work needed to install 2 new thermostats and limit switches.. That was not hard, the hard part was coordinating the controls as one set was the high limit set and the other the normal operation set... Once all tuned in, it worked as well as it ever had for her.. I think it holds about 100 chicken eggs.. ??

If she wanted or needed another one.. I would buy her another ...Sportsman.. This machine is roughly still about the same physical size as there 1200 series, but completely digital... I have no idea the price today, but I'm going to say if you want the results, pay for the equipment to achieve that...

This model comes highly recommended by my red neck cousin who for many years was the president of the Georgia state Chicken Fighters organization.. He hatched and raised prize winning birds that were recognized all over the world.. At one time he routinely ran 3 of these machines full time...