New Incubator

The children and I have been talking about hatching eggs this year. The last couple of year we seem to have missed out as we've not had any broody hens at the right time. 

So getting an incubator would solve that problem and allow us to hatch as and when we wanted. I know it's far easier to use broodies when you can. Broody hens are, and I think always will be, the easiest way to hatch out chicks, but they're not without they're problems and egg numbers can be limited.




Using a broody can be unpredictable, I've had hens break eggs, go off being broody and even kill chicks once hatched. Then on the flip side I've had some great and reliable hens as well, ones that would go broody and I know they'd hatch and look after their chicks brilliantly.

There's a lot of incubators on the market so it was really hard choosing which one to get. In the end I asked on both twitter and on some Facebook forums to see what opinions people had of what was on the market.

There was many comments and recommendations but one brand kept cropping up - Brinsea. They seem to have a great reputation, with good customer service. We looked at the different models and my eldest daughter and I decided to go for one that would fit 2 dozen eggs in. That way we could hatch more and allow for eggs not being fertile or if we wanted to hatch a batch of meat birds to feed up for the freezer.

This 28 egg model seemed to have some great features and reviews as well as being just within budget. When it turned up I have to say I was impressed with the build quality and the thickness of the plastic. I'm looking forward to getting some hatching eggs in there soon and trying it out.

We're thinking about maybe starting with some Indian Game to start producing our own meat birds rather than buying in day old Ross Cobbs that can be temperamental. Or maybe some good laying hens to replace out ex commercial chickens that have gone off lay.

Do you use an incubator?

What hens would you recommend to us and why? We don't mind having multiple flocks of birds for the right reasons!