Hova-Bator Genesis Model 1588 Incubator Review plus tips and tricks to hatching chicken eggs part 1
Вставка
- Опубліковано 5 вер 2024
- Learn the tips and tricks to using our favorite incubator, the Hova-Bator 1588. At the cost of under $200 you can get a reliable incubator and egg Turner that we hope you love as much as we have.
Later join us for part 2 and watch the eggs we place in the incubator hatch plus see what our hatch rate was.
We hope this video is helpful.
Hova Bator had not sponsored us for this video. Our goal is to share our experience with our viewers in order to help other homesteader enthusiasts out there.
Tips for hatching chicks with the hova incubator
Our rating of the Hova Bator
pros
setup is simple
maintains consistent temperature if you set it to 99.5 it will not fluctuate unless you open the incubator.
does not require a lot of maintenance
fairly easy to clean
we like it so much we bought a second one so we can hatch out ducks and chickens at the same time.
cons
you need to open the incubator in order to add water- this causes the temperature to drop briefly and releases humidity. In our opinion it would improve the quality if there was a way to add water without opening the incubator.
We had to replace the control unit after using the unit about a half dozen times. The company we purchased it from fortunately replaced the unit under warranty. After installing the new control unit the incubator has worked great for about 6 years with no issues.
the Hova bator egg turner can hold 42 chicken eggs.
Choosing eggs:
choose the freshest cleanest eggs you collect to place in your incubator for hatching
do not place any eggs with abnormalities such as mottled eggs, cracks, soft shells, wrinkles, calcium deposits or pimpled eggs in your incubator for hatching. Do not use eggs that are older than 7 days or have been refrigerated.
If some of your eggs have debri on them it's ok to buff the debri off with a dry cloth or soft kitchen scrubby. Your goal is to leave the protective coating on the egg called bloom intact
Preparing your incubator
find a place in your house that is free of drafts and NOT in direct sunlight
place water trough in bottom of incubator
fill trough #1 which is highlighted in yellow with cool tap water. This should keep your incubator between 45 and 55% humidity. Which is the goal for Setting. And 55-65 % for hatching. If your humidity is too high yours chicks may suffocate before getting our of their shells and your incubator may fog up. If its to low they can get stuck in their shells.
Place plastic incubator floor on top of liner.
The instructions tell you to preheat the incubator we like to put the eggs in first so they slowly warm up with the incubator. If this is your first time using the incubator we recommend following the instructions just to be sure the incubator is working correctly and will hold a consistent temperature
The hova bator comes set to 100 degrees. We like to lower it to 99.5. Push the minus twice to change the temperature
Plug in and allow it to heat up your to set temperature of 99.5 for chicken eggs.
Add water to trough #1 about twice a week to keep humidity between 45 and 55%.
two days before hatch fill up both trough #1 and trough #2 in order to bring the humidity level up to the target range of 55-65% (for chicken eggs this would be on day 19.
If you are using the automatic egg turner this would be the time you remove the turner and place the eggs on the incubator floor.
Now get excited because in two days (day 21) your chicks are going to start hatching out!
We have found that it often takes about 48 hours from the time our first chick hatches until the last one makes its way out of its shell. After 48 hours if you don't hear peeping it is safe to say no other chicks are going to hatch. You can choose to open the eggs up and investigate or simply throw them away.
Try not to open the incubator more than a few times during hatching. Continuously dropping the temperature and humidity in the incubator is hard on the chicks still hatching and can cause them to become trapped inside their shells.
After 20 days (with this group of eggs that will be march 16) I always write these dates on my calendar so I don't forget. Having chicks hatch in the egg turner is a NO BUENO!
we will remove the eggs from the turner and place them on the incubator floor. At the same time we will also add water to Tray #2 to bring the incubators humidity level up to the 55-65% range.
On March 18 the first baby chick should be hatching. Keep in mind that it is possible for the first chick to hatch a day early. This has happened to us on several occasions.
Please like and subscribe if you would like to join us to watch our baby chicks hatch on March 18th.
If you have any questions you can email us at badgefamilyhomestead@gmail.com or leave a comment in the comment section.
I love your shirt
I am still using my 1588 models that I bought in 2004 . I could not tell you how many chickens , ducks , quail and even emu eggs I have hatched with it . They were kept loaded and running march - September almost every year since bought . I also used the listerine wash on eggs . I helps you hatch rate . 4 of these kept the incubation system going at a good rate .
The best table top incubator ever made .
Ty great review
Hello, I am an elementary school librarian and I am planning to hatch some eggs in an incubator, for the very first time. My extension agent just brought me a Hova-Mator 1588 Incubator and when I searched youtube, your video came up. I have watched it and it was most helpful. I do have a couple of questions that I hope you can advise me on.
First, to add water, am I assuming correctly that I will need to take the tray of eggs out, then add the water, then put the eggs back in? Second, as this incubator will be at school, I am concerned about the weekends. I'm thinking I will put them in the incubator, so that day 18 will be on a Monday. I want to make sure there is no chance they will hatch on the weekend. Would you do it that way? Third, what would you do, in regards to the water/humidity for the weekend?
Thank you, so much for your help. (I have also emailed you, if you'd prefer to reply that way.)
Hi Lori, what fun! I responded through email.
@@BadgeFamilyHomestead These are good questions. Could you please post the answers? Thank you
@@user-rm9kh9zy4f absolutely!
1- leave eggs in the incubator and carefully poor water in between the eggs. It’s too risky taking them out every time.
2- Your timing should work out great! 18th day landing on a Monday. There is usually a leader chick that hatched out 12-24 hours before the rest start.
3- add water on Friday before you leave and they should be just fine over the weekend. Check the humidity first thing on Monday.
Is the egg turner included with the incubator or do you need to purchase that separately? Thank you
It depends, typically it’s sold separately unless indicated otherwise.