Incubators are a necessity if you do not have a broody hen. Which one do you need though? With choices from $30 to $3,000, it can be an overwhelming decision. Find useful reviews here from real people without any sales pitches or bots.

Incubators

  • Honestly the Hovabator Genesis is great for its price point. It fits a lot of eggs, temperature is even throughout, its easy to clean. —Alexandra H.

  • It is not great. It has a huge temperature swing from corner to corner. Hot spots and cold spots.

    —-Alexandra H

    We have the 4250, it works ok. IT would be nice if there was a larger reservoir externally for water.-Kenya K.

    Not much luck, more quitters than hatched.-Christopher W.

  • I have 100% hatch rates every time for everything that was fertilized. The only thing I see complaints for is the egg turner on the next round after you've had one hatch. Once your hatch is complete you have to hold the +/- buttons together to reset the incubator after every hatch and then it has no issues automatically turning for the next round.—-Sami W.

  • I’ve hatched 3 batches from it using the dry hatch method with good success.—Temple P.

    I have had 3 and I am not a fan.-Lauren M.

    I had very poor luck, especially with shipped eggs. Sherrie C

    They are worthless in humid environments. It is not possible to keep humidity below 55. -AK Chicken and Quail

    It’s Good but a year in and it started having huge temp inaccuracy always use a Govee. —K. Joy

  • I have used with dry hatch method 3 times with good success. Temple P.

  • They have worked perfectly! I do not like that to clean them you have to take the top screws out to get to the motor area but all in all they have been great. —Karma H.

  • I just bought the Brinsea 56. The lid is hard to get on but otherwise it’s good. It sure is nice to have the automatic humidity control! —Karma H.

    I got a brinsea ovation 56 Ex. Great for incubating. It went psycho on me once and flooded its self with water. Still don't know why that happened. I have used it for hatching but did not get great hatch rates. So now it is strictly for incubating. -AK Chicken and Quail

  • I could not for the life of me control the humidity so they are just there as warmers for chicks if needed.-KArma H.

    WE have an older model, only used a few times and seems ok. -Kenya K.

  • I have had great success. Erika D.

    IT’s Awesome!!-Michelle P.

    I love it! Allison S.

    For inexpensive I love Malticoopx

    Temp n humidity are accurate with my two Govee hydrometers/ thermometers I’ve used mine for about a yr and it’s still consistent.-K. Joy

  • That thing is the bomb! Lauren M.

    Works Well with lots of room. We are looking to replace the solid door with plexiglass to see inside without opening.—Kenya K.

    Success rate is better than the foam one. I have found the chicks dried out before could get out of the shell. - Christopher W.

    I am currently running 4 GQF 1502 incubators with an extra GQF 1202 for backup or extra capacity if needed. The 1202 was my original and is still an outstanding incubator. They are all set and forget. I do use therm pro thermometer/hydrometers in each one. I incubate year round in an insulated building. No HVAC. I use the automatic water system and the only thing I change is adding the wicks during the winter time due to low humidity. I am in SC so no need for them during the summer. I love the ease of operation and the excellent customer service when I did have questions. No spikes in temperatures or humidity like I had with the smaller, tabletop incubators I had when I first started out. My hatch rates are typically 85% and up as long as the eggs are good. If I needed another incubator, I would definitely get a GQF.- Brian M.

  • Blue starter incubator - There is no brand name on this one. It was our first inexpensive Amazon purchase. You have to add water every 2 days and we haven't had a lot of success with it. We're trying to determine whether the issue is with us, the eggs or the incubator.—Kenya K.

  • I really like this incubator. Sherrie C.

  • After a ton of research I went with the Surehatch 370. I have had nothing but great results. -Laura C.

  • I have a couple rcom 50 for hatching. Hands down the best incubator. Built great, super easy to clean, great features. Holds temp and humidity the best. Great hatch rates with both chickens and Quail.-AK Chicken and Quail

  • We have a few Meef Incubators off Amazon. Newbie quail hatchers here. We've done 15 hatches. Our average hatch on home eggs is 75%, 40% on shipped eggs (travelling no less than 2500 miles, mind you).

    The humidity pump option is definitely worth it. Tried both. Maintaining humidity was a nightmare without pump. I cut up a new sponge and used that in the moat to help pump not work so hard to maintain humidity.

    Shipping Styrofoam is enough insulation to maintain a 99.5 internal temp in a 65-75 degree room.

    During lockdown, forgetting to remove the egg turner piece has not resulted in any negative impact (we feared shelf liner getting or chicks getting caught).

    We haven't noticed a difference in hatch rate single or double stacking eggs.

    We like the raised lip of the bottom piece to help (albeit slightly) jumping chicks from scattering as easily as the NR360.

    Display temp and humidity pretty close to the ThermPro gauges inside.

    Cleaning is pretty painless. Storage is easy.

    For the price, we think it's a decent starer incubator, Reminder this is coming from someone who never incubated anything before (human children don't count, right? 😛)-Homestead Matters

  • I use hatching time incubators ct60 and a ct120 i love mine my hatch rates so far have been holding at 75-80%- Double L Quail Farm