There is something absolutely magical about placing some eggs in a warm incubator and waiting the approximately 3 weeks time for those cute, fluffy little noise-makers to emerge. It’s a wonderful experience for children of any age. It will certainly make an adult feel child like again. It’s reminiscent of the nostalgia of peering down the staircase to see if Santa has come by in the night to place a treasure or two under your tree!
Of course many people are put off by the price of an incubator alone, much lest the cost of constructing or buying housing for even a few chickens. It can feel overwhelming to see the price of anything nearing professional grade incubators. However there are plenty of inexpensive options available for the finding! I’ll list here 5 popular incubators that are available as of 9/17/24, for under $100. Some considerably less. Of course, as you know, often lower cost means lower quality, and in this case, certainly lower egg capacity. But for a beginner hatcher, these options can be a great jumping off point!
If you are considering hatching anything other than chicken eggs, that will affect your options as well. For instance, we use the “Little Giant” brand incubator, which is a low cost styrofoam incubator, well under the $100 mark. But we needed to add a separate automatic egg turner, plus add an additional set of quail size egg holders or “quail rails”. I still think the “Little Giant” is worth considering as a low cost option as a standalone without the egg turner, if you dont mind turning each egg multiple times a day by hand. See our blog post about the “Little Giant” incubator for quail hatching here: https://twinoaksfarmbrooksvillefl.in/hatching-coturnix-quail-eggs/
The style of egg turner in the first two options below isn’t really conducive for quail eggs, but the 3rd, 4th and 5th options would be a good alternative for small batch hatching of quail chicks.
Certainly one consideration is how many chicks you plan to hatch. Of course we all know better than to count our chickens before they hatch, but this is a serious factor. At Twin Oak Farms, our hatch rates are pretty consistently 65-75% of viable eggs. We’ve never had a hatch lower than 60%. So if you only have room for maximum of ten chickens, I would set no more than 14-15 eggs.
1. Chickcozy 25 Egg Incubator
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This is an attractive option with bright colors that would look good right in your home, on a countertop, a desk, or in your child’s room. It holds 25 eggs, but you can certainly start with less if 25 chicks sounds overwhelming! It really is a pretty nice little setup. It has easy controls for temperature and humidity. It has a convenient candling light on top for checking development of your eggs. The water tray system for humidity assures more even heat distribution as the main chamber remains closed while adding or removing water. Its open appearance will make it an excellent observatory for children as their excitement builds over the duration of the incubating period. Also it has an inner fan for air circulation. The design for this pretty little starter kit is on point, easy-to-clean and attractive
2. DevoPet 25 Egg Incubator
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This is another very highly attractive little setup and would also look great in your home, or child’s room. While it is not as open visually, the design still allows for a good viewing experience. It has an automatic egg turner and convenient candling light for checking egg development. The option to add or remove water by means of the external water bottle allows for humidity control without opening the main chamber, assuring even temperatures. It also has an air circulation system to I actually really like the look of this one, in that it has almost a mid-century modern space age aesthetic.
3. Kebonnix 12 Egg Incubator
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This small incubator, while perhaps less aesthetically pleasing with its somewhat industrial design, makes for a conveniently compact option. It allows for smaller, focused hatches allowing a backyard farmer the option to grow a small flock, keeping his chicken population lower. It occupies a very small footprint, so its a great option for more confined spaces, particularly a child’s room. Think bookshelf or bedstand convenience! It has digital readout and controls, with the option to add water externally for humidity control without opening the small chamber. Also, this incubator has a circulatory fan to prevent hot/cold spots. There is a built in candleing light to check egg development. One especially convenient function of this incubator is that the automatic egg turner stops for automatic “lockdown”, three days before hatch. This is a great function, as it helps in case you are forgetful like me!
You can also use this incubator as a quail egg incubator. Just put two eggs in the spot designed for a single chicken egg. Incubation time is a little shorter for quail, so you would want to adjust or remove the egg turning device and not wait for it to stop automatically.
4. TrioCottage 12 Egg Incubator
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This cute little incubator has a fun feel to it. Its design is sure to appeal to a child, yet it still has a sleek appearance that would not look out of place on a household countertop or desk. The incubator has a circulating air function to prevent hot/cold spots, and external water source to maintain proper humidity without having to open the warming chamber. This incubator specifically advertises itself as being able to hold 12 chicken eggs, or 24 quail eggs as well as being a serviceable option for various other types of poultry eggs. It has an open design allowing for 360 degree viewing. I think this would be a great option for households with children who want to participate and learn small farming methods with a hands on approach.
5. WRFEICBN 6 Egg Incubator
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This tiny incubator option would be a good fit for a child or even an adult who is interested in hatching some eggs for a small backyard hobby flock. It may be little, but it looks like a fun and easy learning tool for a budding youth farmer. It has an automatic egg rotating function, as well as an air circulation fan to prevent hot/cold spots. It holds up to 6 chicken eggs, and possibly about 12 quail eggs. It has a port for adding water to maintain proper humidity, as well as a built-in candling light for checking egg development.
Happy Hatching!
We wish you the best, and hope that these options have given you a good jumping off point for considering hatching your own chicken eggs and/or quail eggs.
