Duck Incubators – Incubator Reviews

ReptiPro 6000

ReptiPro-6000

The ReptiPro 6000 is our favorite incubator!

This incubator gets our highest rating for a number of reasons, mainly the combination of style and function that is lacking in most other incubator models.

First, it is simply a good looking incubator. It is made of a durable molded plastic that is easy to clean and maintain. It also has a large viewing window that lets you see the entire inside of the incubator at any given time with a quick glance. With the silver finish and blue accent lights, it is an incubator you wouldn’t be ashamed to sit on your counter and show off to visitors. The clear shelves just help give it that little extra something.

Next, it is dead simple to use. Although we found that it required a little bit of setup regarding humidity, once we found our sweet spot, it was ready to go. The water tray in the bottom provides grooves that you can fill with water to raise your humidity. We started with it half full, and found that we only needed about 4 rows filled to get the humidity that we wanted. The temperature was easy to adjust with the touch of a button, either up or down.

While this was originally intended as a reptile incubator, it both heats and cools. It can hold temps as low as 40 degrees F up to 140 degrees F, making it ideal for all types of egg incubation, both bird and reptile. For bird egg incubation, there are also egg turners for the ReptiPro 6000 available. It can hold up to 2 turners for a capacity of 32 chicken/duck/goose eggs. It also comes with small cups to hold smaller eggs such as quail or pheasant.

Overall, the ReptiPro 6000 gets high marks for performance, style, value, and durability, making it our recommended choice for most breeders.

GQF MFG Digital Sportsman Incubator 1502

This incubator is a great versatile unit. With an included hatching tray and all digital controls, this unit really captures what “value” is all about. GQF offers a full line of cabinet incubators that, although they have a lower price point, are not inferior to the more expensive models.

However, when purchasing, make sure that you get the set of 6 plastic egg trays to go along with it- you’re going to need them, and they are worth the extra money.

The only real issue that we have seen occur with these is some damage from shipping to the edges of the incubators. The manufacturer will usually either help determine if it needs to be repaired, or will give you a partial credit to help compensate. Perhaps a little better packaging, especially on the corners, could help to make sure these get where they want to be scratch-free.

GQF MFG Digital Hatcher Incubator 1550

While this is intended to be a hatcher used in a larger incubation setup, it also has another lesser known purpose- it is an ideal cabinet incubator for reptile eggs! The manufacturers have recognized this need and have modified their original design of the hatcher so that it now incubates at temperatures as low as 60 degrees F! Now, the room that you are incubating in needs to be atleast 10 degrees cooler than your desired incubation temp, but this is definitely a move in the right direction.

This versatility, combined with the durability of this unit is what earns it the high star rating. These things just flat out work and keep going, and come with a year warranty from the manufacturer. It is quick and easy to get parts since the manufacturer is located here in the US, but it is unlikely you would need anything beyond some accessories. There are many accessories available to make this a more user-friendly incubator/hatcher. You can get water reserve systems to help maintain your humidity, full plexi doors for better visibility, and casters to help move it around more easily.

Overall, this incubator/hatcher has a lot to offer for a wide variety of breeders, whether they be reptile breeders or large scale poultry or game bird breeders.

Brinsea Octagon 20 Advance

We love this incubator! The design is clever, and the digital controls are easy to use. With a capacity of about 20 chicken eggs, this suits the needs of most small or hobby breeders. It also comes with adjustable dividers, so it is easy to incubate different types of eggs without having to buy any additional equipment.

While the features are solid, we do question the durability of the turning base. It seems like if something is going to break on this incubator, that would possibly be it (this is just conjecture- ours did not break). That being said, we do like the design of the turner, and think that it is very clever to have the entire incubator turn instead of deciding how to turn the eggs inside. Even without the turning cradle, you can manually turn the entire incubator just by rocking it back and forth on to the different sides of the incubator. So if your base were to break, you would not be at a complete loss.

With simple controls, and unique design and concept, we give this incubator full marks for creativity and ingenuity. Plus, we had no issues with the operation of the unit during testing- everything went exactly as we planned, and it was easy to setup and maintain.

R-Com 20 Incubator

This incubator certainly has quite a bit going for it. Even though it has a relatively high price tag for the number of eggs that it incubates, the features here just don’t stop. This is a very cool, very innovative incubator.

Let’s start with one thing that I absolutely love in incubators- adjustable trays. This incubator includes a universal tray, which allows you to incubate various sized eggs at the same time by changing the spacing of the dividers. I am prone to incubating strange eggs, and like to be able to seamlessly move between them without having to buy different components or trays specifically for that egg type. There are lots of situations that would warrant you incubating a different egg size than you typically do, and to be able to do that with ease earns super brownie points in my book.

The R-Com 20 also has buttons and lights that excite me. There are buttons for adjusting temp, buttons for adjusting humidity, a setting button and a turning button. There are lights indicating the heat is working, the egg turner is working, the humidity pump is working, and a light that lets you know if you are out of water. There is so much information and functionality in this one little control panel that you can see what is going on at a glance and quickly make any desired changes to your incubation environment. It even saves your settings in the result of a power outage, so when it comes back on, everything is just how you want it to be, not at some strange factory default.

I also like the overall size and design of this incubator. It gives great visibility of all of the eggs with the large viewing window. It is not incredibly big or bulky, and fits easily on my countertop. With a weight of about 10 lbs, it is light enough to move and store as needed, but heavy enough to feel stable and grounded when in position. The R-Com 20 incubator is durable, and popular with high-end bird breeders, or those that want the best for their chicks.

GQF MFG Hova-Bator 1588 “The Genesis”

The best of the best of the styrofoam incubators!

Although this has the shortcomings consistent with being made of styrofoam such as difficulty in cleaning and storage, it is by no means an inferior incubator! The 1588 can be set as low as 60 degrees F, making it possible to incubate either reptiles or birds, and the versatility doesn’t stop there.

Unlike the other Hova-Bator models, the 1588 features all digital temp controls as well as a automatic shut off to prevent “burn up” of eggs. It also has a read out of the humidity inside the incubator, making it easy to see all your necessary information in one place. It also has the large picture window, giving you great visibility of all your eggs.

As far as the styrofoam incubators go, this one is our recommended choice. It is worth the extra money (over the other Hova-Bator models) for the features that it provides.

GQF MFG Digital Professional Cabinet Incubator 1500

We are big fans of the overall value that the GQF Cabinet Incubators have to offer, and this one is no exception. Unlike the 1502 which has the integrated hatching tray, this one is intended to be part of an incubation system that includes a separate hatcher. Ideally, you would have up to 3 of these incubators and one hatching unit per setup, allowing you to incubate and hatch up to 810 medium sized eggs each month. Since it does not have the hatching tray, it also allows you a little more space inside the unit if you are incubating larger eggs, like turkey. If you sold all of these hatchlings at $3.50/each, you would recoup all of your expense in the entire setup (4 machines) with just one month of incubation.

All the GQF Cabinet Incubators are the same size and use many of the same components. This means that the accessories will work with any of the units as well. There is a full plexiglass door available that gives you good visibility of all of your eggs, casters that make it easier to move around (let’s face it, at 95 lbs empty, these guys are a bit of a beast), and a water reserve system that can help regulate your humidity. All of these are add-ons, and the machine functions perfectly fine without them. However, it is nice to have options to “pimp” your incubator as time goes on.

We have found few problems with this incubator- everything really just does what it is supposed to do. They can incur some damage due to shipping, so it is important to fully inspect your incubator upon receipt (as you should do with all shipments anyway) to ensure everything is working properly.

GQF MFG Classic Sportsman Cabinet Incubator 1202

This cabinet incubator gets top marks for simplicity and durability. While it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles that many of the more expensive cabinet incubators offer, the value for money on this incubator is off the charts. It still includes everything you need- automatic turning trays, integrated hatching tray, and thermometer.

Due to the simplicity of design, there are very few things that can go wrong with this incubator. There are no errors in digital controls to deal with, and replacement parts for anything that did go out is pretty inexpensive to replace (a new wafer will run you a whopping $7 or so).

So while this just can’t rate high in features, the quality, durability, and value of this incubator puts it above most of the other cabinet incubator options available on the market today.

R-Com Mini Incubator

The R-Com Mini is a small, 3 egg incubator. This incubator is ideal for schools, or breeders who only have a few eggs at a time, such as for parrot egg incubation. Many people choose to use small incubators because they are working on a breeding project and want to have good control over the hatch.

This little guy comes ready to go and packed with features. With auto egg-turning, preset options for different birds, and an LCD display, this incubator shows that good things can come in small packages. I like the material. It feels durable and strong, although not very heavy, unless filled with water (not that you should move it when it is filled with water- bad idea!).

Category: Duck Incubators