# Egg incubator advice



## happybleats

We have been looking to get an egg incubator that can hold anything between a small chicken egg to a large duck or turkey egg...we have looked at both the table top styrofoam kind to the cabinet type...

help us decided what to get !!! too many choices..too many reviews UGH...we want to make the best purchase for our money


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## ksalvagno

How many eggs are you looking to hatch? At one time?


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## happybleats

Im not sure...we want to sell chicks so 50 or more at least I think..??? I really like the cabinet type ...


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## NyGoatMom

I would go cabinet...I have 4 tabletops and they are hard to regulate and take a lot of babysitting...I know you are too busy for that! I am too, so I lost quite a few this year...If I had the cash, I'd go for a cabinet style that regulates temp/humidity...save you a fortune and a big headache down the road!


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## happybleats

Thats what Im thinking...I read a lot about the table tops and how even the house temps mess them up....And in Texas you cant tell what the weather will be from one minute to the next lol..But man they nearly $600!!!..It would take a lot of chick sells to earn that back lol


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## NyGoatMom

yup, I know....but if the room temp goes up or down just a few degrees....the tabletops go off too. If you need to get one of those, I would plan on checking it every 2-3 hours all day/night....seriously, it's annoying...I lost 100.00 worth of turkey poult eggs from ONE time not checking overnight!The temp dropped from 99 (forced air fan)to 97 and they all died.


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## DDFN

happybleats said:


> We have been looking to get an egg incubator that can hold anything between a small chicken egg to a large duck or turkey egg...we have looked at both the table top styrofoam kind to the cabinet type...
> 
> help us decided what to get !!! too many choices..too many reviews UGH...we want to make the best purchase for our money


My husband is the egg incubator person in our house  but he would say the cabinet type. The basic foam ones you can find at TSC or the coop is fine for quails but not chickens, ducks or turkeys. My husband had a massive learning lesson when he changed from raising quail to trying to hatch ducks and learned that those foam table tops had too high an error rate in temp fluctuations.

Hope this helps.


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## happybleats

Thanks Guys...its one of those things you already know the answer..but hope there is a better one LOL..cheaper any how...lol
We want to hatch out turkey ducks and chicken..Our hens are not having luck ...either they eggs go bad (of so gross bad!!) or the snakes are getting them....might have to just buckle up and fork out the dough :mecry::worried:


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## DDFN

Have you tried to candle some of their eggs to be sure they are not getting infected by some variable that is leading to them not hatching? That way if its that then you won't waste a bunch of money to still end up with non-hatching eggs in a big expensive fancy box :shrug:


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## happybleats

No peeking yet...guess that wouldnt hurt : )


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## mjs500doo

I love our cabinet. Worth every penny.


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## happybleats

I think we decided to get a cabinet ....on a good note...our turkey hen hatch a chick  one tried to hatch but didint make it ; ( so....out of 80+ eggs , we have one chick so far..LOL..the other hens are still laying and we are still stuffing them under her..


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## happybleats

Got my incubator today!!! We decided on the Classic GQF Model 1202A Sportsman Cabinet Style Egg Incubator : ) My turkey hen has hatched out 6 babies so far...I would like to see more this season...: ) and ducks and chickens ...We are pretty excited..., Now we just need our chickens to increase their laying lol...Turkeys are still laying but slowing down.so this season is going to be short...but we will practice so we are ready for next season for sure...


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## mjs500doo

EXCELLENT choice!


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## happybleats

Ok I have a question or two or three lol, for those who use this cabnet or simular...we put in a sampling of eggs to try our incubator out..a few chicken, duck and turkey..

its getting close for the "wick" thing and the instruction is very vague on how to go about this...

we recieved a card board "hatching tray?" and are suppose to slide it on the bottle ..ok..so where do we put the wick and do we remove eggs that are beginning to hatch to the card board hatching try?? they sent nothing but a small two page leaflet to hep us lol, will opening and closing the doors mess with temps and humidy?...Also chicken hatch at about 21 days where duck and turkey at 28 days..will this mess things up putting the wick in for the chicken eggs? We didnt think this through when we put the egg mix in...I know our hatch rate for this run could be low.but we want to learn how to use this for successful hatching...Yesterday was given 6 beautiful, I mean outstanding Blue Giant roos...Oh my..they are so soft...so now I want hens to lay for me to breed some of these amazing birds...they are so pretty...we figure we would keep one or two of these roos and butcher the others..but when we saw them lol..hubby said ..wow..I hate to butcher these guys..they are handsome birds lol..so we shall see..but any who....any advice on a successful hatch is appreciated..THANKS!!


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## enchantedgoats

we have the tabletop kind with a fan and automatic turner, it holds 48 eggs. we had great luck with it twice and the third time somebody forgot to put water in it and we lost the all but 2 of the batch. we werent out much so we will try again next spring. we have hatched chickens turkeys and peafowl in this incubator. sure the cabinet kind is nice, but thats alot of chicks to pay for it.


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## happybleats

Yes it is a lot of chicks to pay for it....but thankfully there is a market..I already have people waiting for us to get it right lol


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## enchantedgoats

sounds like you have made the right choice. after we lost the batch we gave our broody banty hen all the eggs she could handle and wow is she a proud mama of a dozen black chicks. they are a banty buff orp. cross. last year she hatched barred rocks that soon outgrew her but the one rooster was a mamas boy about three times her size by the time we sold him!LOL


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## happybleats

lol..we have little mil de fleur who broods better than any hen I have had..lol..she hatched out 7 of her and her sisters eggs and then a few larger ones successfully...we had one broody turkey hen that gave us 6 hatchlings...and one chicken who gave us four mix mutts...lol...Hopeing the incubator does better for us...plus we deal with snakes eating our eggs..so hopefully we can beat them to it lol..


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## enchantedgoats

ooh snakes!!! I hate snakes!! One reason I like new hampshire only garter snakes, saw one yesterday and about jumped out of my skin!!


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## happybleats

lol our problem snake are bull snakes..and they are too big for my comfort..not my favorite reptile at all lol..


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## happybleats

YAHOOOO..hatching day today...woke up to chirp chirp chirp!!! two have hatch so far....kids are so excited(me too lol)...we have about 18 total in the hatching tray...we have ducks and turkeys to move to the hatching try in a few days..then more chicken...this is our trial run...However Turkeys are slowing on their egg production so wont have many more to stick in there til spring...Ducks are still laying like mad : ) and chicken of course...so we should have a steady streem of eggs to hatch...


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## ksalvagno

Cool! Congrats!


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## happybleats

2 wont pay for the incubator but its a start lol


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## happybleats

7 more hatched  that nine!! Hope they all live lol...they look wet but are dry..I read this could be too high of humidity??


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## ksalvagno

Halfway there!


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## happybleats

16 total so far!! and another peeping


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## OwnedByTheGoats

Cool.  Isn't it fun? I hatched mine about 2 weeks ago for my first time. I hardly got any sleep. I woke everyone up to tell them that one hatched at 4:00 in the morning. Haha. Fell asleep at 12:00, woke up at 4:00, and eventually fell asleep... outside... it was an exhausting matter of days. Are you butchering or selling, or keeping? I'm butchering mine, I think. Might sell.

The wetness after beng dried goes away after a while, nothing to worry about.


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## happybleats

a little of both..roosters will go in the freezer and any over stock hens lol...we hope to sell alot lol


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## happybleats

18 chicks hatched healthy and happy...12 still to either hatch by today to they are duds : ) so 1 1/2 dozen out of 2 1/2 dozen..not bad : ) 

and one of our ducks (khacki Campbells) just hatched 8 of her own chicks : ) so cute!!


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## nchen7

pictures pictures???


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## happybleats

Ill take some pix : )


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## ksalvagno

So what was the final total on those chicks?


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## happybleats

19 out of 30 ...not too shabby for our first time  plus 8 baby ducks hatched my their mommy!


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## mjs500doo

happybleats said:


> 19 out of 30 ...not too shabby for our first time  plus 8 baby ducks hatched my their mommy!


First time and off season, I'd say successful hatch!!


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## Scottyhorse

Great hatch!


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## happybleats

Thanks...My kids are pretty excited...I thought even my hubby was going to trample the kids when our son came in to tell us a mama duck hatch some babies..lol..we caught mom and babies and put them away safe...until they grow a bit bigger..( our dogs and cats never touch our birds..but Im afraid the tiny ones will look too tempting..)

sorry it took a while to get pix..and not very good ones either lol.Been making soap and lotion today!! my hands feel too soft lol...

18 chicks
8 ducklings
9 kittens..eyes finally opened...any one need a few kittens???


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## ksalvagno

Too cute!


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## nchen7

cuteness overload!!!!!


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## Scottyhorse

So adorable... Pack em all up and send them to me! lol


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## happybleats

> Pack em all up and send them to me! lol


You got it!!! send me your address lol...


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## goatgirl16

Aw I was way excited this year we always use incubator but had lots of problems with it this yr then we had 3 chickens and 2 ducks do all our hatching for us lol they are great brooders and still sitting!


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## happybleats

We found aother duck...poor baby wa wandering by herself in the back yard...guess mom left it in the nest and it hatched later??? healthy and now with mom..


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## goatgirl16

happybleats said:


> We found aother duck...poor baby wa wandering by herself in the back yard...guess mom left it in the nest and it hatched later??? healthy and now with mom..


Yes I have seen that happen not often though I try to make sure there is good and water right by nest so they don't have to go far for first few days


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## happybleats

Yep found another today..BUT its not from the same duck..lol..we have another brooder tucked under a trailer...we are keeping a close eye on things..Hubby makes fun, said I spent all that money on a incubator and then the hens hatch out their own eggs lol...BUT come spring when the turkeys are laying full time..we will be hatching eggs!! We have a batchof turkey, duck and more chicken in there right now..this is our trial stage lol


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## happybleats

we sold all our hatched chicks and ducks and have new one hatching now..all spoken for..Turkey eggs still have not hatched, may not be viable this time of year but we tried lol..next laying season we will be ready!! 

this could be a good hobby after all : )


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## erica4481

Those little kittens are sooo cute


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## happybleats

lol..they are cute! but Im am ready to have no more kittens lol..


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## erica4481

I can't seem to talk my husband into letting me have a kitty I managed to get him on board with all the other critters but he won't budge on a cat...lol we are expecting our first litter of mini dachshund puppies in December and I can't wait


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## happybleats

lol.I love weenie dogs!...I have a chiweenie and a weenie poo lol..but no more doggies here either...we have too many! Our cats are barn cats and do a great job...but our lay male decided her wasnt lazy any more and he keeps our cats bred!! We are getting ready to fix him and hopefully the problem lol..once we find homes for allt he kittens we will fix the couple we will keep and then be done!! I hope


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