The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Connor on January 02, 2014, 08:59:16 pm
-
I used to have a manual incubator but then i sold it on so now i am looking a fully automatic one £60-80
The question is does the make matter my old one was brinsea but they are too dear i have looked at this one??
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-12-Eggs-Incubator-Fully-Automatic-LED-Hatching-Egg-Chicken-Duck-Poultry-/400493237866?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Poultry&hash=item5d3f41d66a (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-12-Eggs-Incubator-Fully-Automatic-LED-Hatching-Egg-Chicken-Duck-Poultry-/400493237866?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Poultry&hash=item5d3f41d66a)
-
I bought a second hand Rcom Suro with fully automatic turning and humidity control off eBay for £120 including P&P. Definitely worth every penny. There are nearly always second hand R com Suros on eBay, usually bidding, starting at around £50 so you might be able to get one for £60-£80.
-
You definitely get what you pay for with incubators. Brinsea are top quality but Rcom are also good and can be found cheaper second hand. I would steer clear of cheapo no-make stuff.
-
The turning cradle motor packed up on our Suro20 and we had all sorts of problems with hatches because it won't hold a consistent internal temperature in an ambient temperature below 20 degrees as there is virtually no insulation value in the casing. The humidity pump failed as well. We use it as a hatcher only now. Spares are silly prices and I can't trust it for incubation anyway. In a power cut all the heat is lost in minutes.
My advice would be to get a Brinsea unit. I haven't heard a bad word said about them and their spares backup and assistance is first class (I contacted them last week). As Hughesy says, you get what you pay for and I wish we had spent a little more and bought one instead of the Suro.
-
Chrismahon once I realised I needed to operate the Suro inside a polystyrene box all the issues you mentioned went away. I haven't used the humidity pump I prefer to run it dry until pipping time.
-
We arrived at about the same solution as you Hughesy -run the Suro in an insulated box. We do that when we use it as a hatcher but have now gone back to semi-autos for incubation. They have well insulated bases and just simple water troughs. They hold their heat well. Sufficient for us as we are retired so can turn them 3 times a day. Access is good as well for candling. Very good hatching results indeed.
-
We use the suro too. Hatched 5 out of 6 runner ducks last year. 6th died in shell. Managed 50% with guinea fowl.
Lower rate with chickens but they weren't our eggs, so unsure of the quality. Possibly too many eggs too.
0 out of 2 for geese - I don't think it could cope with the large eggs.
No problems with reliability so far and we use it in a heated room, so lack of insulation not a problem. Only a hobby too, so not that critical.
That said, having read the earlier comments, will probably buy a brinsea if this packs up.
-
We bought one off ebay, can't recall the make but Suro rings a bell. Never worked properly and had to jump through hoops to get a refund in the end. I would recomend spending the extra on a Brinsea personally.