Any reason I shouldn't buy a Hovabator?

Hi everyone,

I am looking at buying an electronic thermostat hovabator incubator with a fan and egg turner for approximately 327.00. This will hold 42 chicken eggs. I have reviewed the previous posts on here, and I get the idea that hovabators are not exactly considered king of the hill. Is there something else of a comparable size and price that would be a much better purchase?

go brinsea...I had hovabators and they sucked.

I can't recommend an alternative, but I believe there are some issues with consistent temperature in all areas inside the incubator.  I have never been happy with my pre-electronic Hovabator because of small hatches.  The Berryhill ad states, "Like all incubators, the 1588R requires a stable room temperature and should not be used in areas like sheds or barns".   A unstable environment has been the only location I've been able to use an incubator.  An incubator that cannot handle the morning solar heating or the afternoon's air conditioning blast is not going to work here.  The alternative environment here is our well house at 10 C, but that did not work well either..  I'm hoping to find something that is better equipped for conditions different than room temperature.

Save up or splurge and get a Brinsea. It will rock your world.

Brinsea all the way.

I know the more up to date Hovas have automatic digital temp and read out so they MAY be better than what I have used, and I could am make a nova perform beautifully, but the Brinseas leave them in the dust.

Thank you for the feedback everyone! I also have unstable room temperatures due to only having wood heat, so that would indeed be a concern. It sounds like I would be way better off saving up a little more money and going better quality up front, rather than be disappointed.

The brinsea by far outshines the hova. The hova is fine if all you plan is one hatch a year, but the brinsea is well worth saving the little bit extra for!!!

Even the new digital ones sucked. I had to get a new top as it was not calibrated right and was off by several degrees. The hatches were never consistent and it was terrible with waterfowl.

Even the mini eco that holds 7 duck sized eggs had 100% hatch in my sons kindergarten class. Was the best hatch I even had despite the teacher setting all the eggs upside down!

Hovabators are great. They may work better for some climates then others. I have always had great hatches in Hovabators ( I have used them for ~10 years), and have used still air and forced air. Now I say they may work better for some climates because in NS we have a very very humid climate.

Brinsea's are great but overpriced for use with poultry.... I have a Brinsea mini, it's a great product would I buy another I doubt it but still it's a great product. The capacity of a hova-bator with egg turner is 42, in order to get the same capacity in a brinsea product you would be looking at least 425 + tax, + shipping.

Though the best incubator anyone could get is an old Redwood one. Those things hatch anything! I am not letting go of mine. If you can ever find one pick it up you will never regret it.

This is all excellent info! I"m assuming that the Octagon 40 will hold approximately 40-50 eggs? Does anybody have experience with Arcom? I see advertisements for them in BC, but no indication of price.

The Octagon40 holds 48 regular eggs. I have the Octagon 40 Advance EX (all the bells and whistles except the humidity pump) and that thing is AWESOME. Absolutely worry free, I just top up the little water trough about every three days.

The R-coms, people on facebook are reporting major issues with them, and very poor company support, since it's based out of Japan or something. I've seen the promo materials and they read like a bad Japanese horror movie. I would say the price is comparable to Brinseas, maybe a little more expensive.

You won't regret a Brinsea! I recommend going through Clay Botkin - [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] - he is in B.C. and has been great at answering my questions.

Does anybody know anything about Janoel brand incubators? They are a US company, but I can find new ones for sale out of Toronto. They appear to have all the same options for a fraction of the price. Which makes me somewhat suspicious though.

You always get what you pay for.....

Plus brinsea offers excellent support and warrenty. Two years if you register right away. And clayton is awesome and super nice guy!

Invent your own! I've been doing it for years. Bator after bator, all of them failures. Until I invented the ultimate bator, the Waterbator! But since it is still being tweaked at the manufacturing level and all my patents aren't in place yet, I can't offer one for sale. However, you can make one yourself!

I think $300 for a Hovabator is a horrible price, no matter the bells and whistles. You can build a waterbator way cheaper. (do a search, pics are one here somewhere)

I believe RCom is from Korea.

I have used a 40, an 80 and a 190. All top notch!

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Aha! But does Sportsman make a model that holds 40-50 eggs? I think not! What are you trying to do here, Tara? Create another hatchaholic?  

LOL, yeah...the Sportsman is a bit much for me...I can't imagine hatching that many eggs...I would have to get more chickens to lay them...slippery slope indeed!

I have the brinsea 40 advance with all the bells and whistles and love it. I also have the biggest one, can't remember the number for it! LOL I love them!! I had the sportsman and liked it, but wanted one the updated with the humidity pump and such. I still have my sportsman hatcher though. I would definitely go with the brinsea 40 again. Also, if you go through clay botkin you can watch for sales if you have time to do that!! LOL

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HigginsRAT wrote:

Schipperkesue wrote:Aha!  But does Sportsman make a model that holds 40-50 eggs?  I think not!  

 

What you gonna do with 40 to 50 chicks...you need at least 100 to select out a decent trio??  

Tara

Aha there Miss faulty logic enabling girl! How is the original trio supposed to produce 100 eggs to hatch in two weeks? If you are hatching 100 required birds you will need to do them in batches!

And you may say...batches? Batches! We don't need no stinkin' batches!

Well, those of us with fewer birds/breeds certainly do! Nanny, nanny, boo, boo!  

I have a Brinsea 20 and it has always worked very well for me. I also lucked into and old sportsman (Bertha) for a VERY reasonable price. She chugs along great too.

In Australia the Rcoms are the incubators of choice. Everyone down there loves them but I have not had any experience with them.

Hmmm...the Brinsea's are on sale right now as well...120.00 off for the Octagon 40...  

Farmer Bob wrote:Hmmm...the Brinsea's are on sale right now as well...120.00 off for the Octagon 40...  

It's fate!

I have 3 Sportsmans and 5 Styro hovabators Love and use them all
Next one will be a Brinsea but will use the ones I have for now