Last Updated on June 8, 2023 by Georgie Smith
When it comes time to choose an incubator there is one golden rule to chicken-raising to keep in mind – Chicken Math!
So, what is chicken math? Well, it is a well-known phenomenon amongst chicken owners. You start out planning to have six chickens. Somehow that turns into 10 chickens. The next thing you know you have so many chickens you can’t even count them.
Chicken Math!
What does this mean when it comes to purchasing an incubator? Get the biggest one you can afford because, inevitably, chicken math will come into play and you’ll wish you could hatch more.
But, there are also a few other things to consider.
Including extra options like egg-turners, visibility, and durability in addition to size.
Here’s the rundown of our favorite incubators for beginners, intermediate, and pro-level chicken raisers. Once you’ve chosen an incubator, be sure to also read our guide on how to incubate chicken eggs for your homestead.
Accounts
Free Trial
Projects
SSL
Storage
7 Egg Incubator
Easy to use
Color - Yellow/Black
Size - One Size
Brand Name - Brinsea
Weight - 3.49 pounds
Egg Incubator Combo Kit
Easy to clean
Weight - 5.84 pounds
Easy to use
Voltage - 12 Volts
Temperature Control
Cabinet Incubator 1502
Easy to Use
Weight - 145 pounds
GQF Manufacturing
Part Number - 1502
Package Quantity - 1
Our Favorite Chicken Incubators for Beginners and Small Hatches
These first incubators are small, and you can see everything that is going on inside the hatch.
They are a great choice for first-time incubators, for classroom and educational purposes, and for chicken lovers who have limited space and budget.
Brinsea Products Mini II Advance Automatic 7 Egg Incubator
Brinsea Products Mini II Advance Automatic 7 Egg Incubator, One Size, Yellow& Black, USAB16C
- Excellent visibility
- Fully digital menu-driven controls
- Programmable automatic egg turning
- Count down to hatch day with auto stop
- Robust hygienic ABS plastics construction for easy cleaning
Brinsea’s Mini II Advance Automatic Incubator holds up to 7 hen eggs (or 14 quail eggs with the other disk, sold separately).
This incubator has an external opening for topping off the water reservoirs. This keeps the temperature inside constant since there is little to no need for opening the incubator.
There is a room temperature alarm to control humidity. But there still isn’t any way to control or determine humidity levels inside the incubator without an additional hygrometer.
Overall, the Mini Advance II is very easy to use. The display shows the temperature in C or F, the number of days until hatch, and the turning status. You can use the microcontroller to adjust the turning rate and angle, the temperature, and the number of days to hatch. You can also set alarms for high and low temperature alerts. Then, two days prior to the hatch, the automatic turner halts in preparation for the chicks to emerge.
The clear ABS plastic of the incubator cabinet makes it very easy to see all the eggs. The plastic is easy to clean, resistant to scratching, and anti-microbial. Brinsea offers a 3-year warranty on the whole product.
If you would like an incubator that allows you to monitor humidity, take a look at the Brinsea Mini Advance EX below.
Brinsea Products Fully Automatic Egg Incubator with Humidity Control for Hatching 7 Chicken Eggs or 12 Smaller Eggs—Mini Advance EX
Brinsea Products Fully Automatic Egg Incubator with Humidity Control for Hatching 7 Chicken Eggs or 12 Smaller Eggs
- Excellent visibility
- Fully digital menu-driven controls and display of temperature and humidity
- Automatic humidity control in % RH (Relative Humidity) with external humidity pump
- Programmable automatic egg turning
- Robust hygienic ABS plastics construction for easy cleaning
While users with the Mini Advance II seem to hatch well enough without a humidity controller, the Mini Advance EX gives peace of mind to breeders of valuable eggs. It has all the easy-to-use features of the other incubators plus an external humidity pump and automatic humidity control.
The microcontroller and digital display make it possible to set %RH, program the ideal temperature range, and the turning rate and angle. The turning rate can be set to suit parrot eggs as well as hen eggs. And the Mini Advance EX comes with both a hen-size egg disk and a pheasant or quail-size egg disk.
Magicfly Digital Mini Fully Automatic Egg Incubator 9-12 Eggs Poultry Hatcher for Chickens Ducks Goose Birds
Magicfly Digital Mini Fully Automatic Egg Incubator 9-12 Eggs Poultry Hatcher for Chickens Ducks Goose Birds
- Brand new and good quality unit for incubating Eggs
- Simple style, made of durable healthy PP+ABS material
- Digital Fully Automatic Egg Incubator – Fits 9-12 Eggs according to the egg size.(Usually, it can fit 9 chick eggs)
- Automatic egg turner, (note: It is invisible to see the turner work, but it did turn and work, And you don’t need to turn the eggs manually.) It can hatch chickens, ducks, fowl, geese, etc.
- Automatic temperature control ensures the machine is in an optimistic environment, Rohs, CE, C-tick Approved
Companies like Brinsea consider products like the Magicfly Egg Incubator to be unsafe knock-off products. (You can actually see which ones they list if you visit the Brinsea website.) But the Magicfly incubator has achieved both CE and C-tick certifications and it complies with ROHS standards.
What does that all mean? CE means that the device is safe enough to be sold in the European Union. C-tick means it complies with electromagnetic interference rules in Australia. ROHS means its components do not contain hazardous components like lead. None of this is the same as UL-listed, for example, but it’s a start.
We saw two main complaints about this particular incubator. One is that it’s made of transparent but not clear plastic. The view of the eggs is quite hazy. And two, it comes with instructions that are very difficult to decipher.
The incubator holds up to 8 to 12 eggs and has an automatic egg turner and automatic temperature control. The rails of the turner are adjustable to accommodate various egg sizes. The plastic bottom of the incubator lifts out and reveals a shallow reservoir that can hold water to provide humidity. You’ll need to check that each day.
Feedback on this incubator is generally positive, but it seems designed for children, hobbyists, or first-time breeders who are curious. Serious breeders may desire a different model.
Our Favorite Incubators for Mid-Level Chicken Hatching Needs
Is that chicken math starting to kick in? Well, consider moving up to a slightly larger incubator.
These bigger units typically don’t offer the great ‘viewing’ experience the smaller ones do, but you can hatch a lot more eggs at a time.
We highly recommend you purchase these larger units with an egg-turner feature because the more you are hatching, the harder it is to keep up with all that twice-daily egg-turning.
HovaBator Genesis 1588 Deluxe Egg Incubator Combo Kit
HovaBator Genesis 1588 Deluxe Egg Incubator Combo Kit
- New and Improved Genesis 1588
- Includes a built-in thermometer hygrometer digital display
- Digital display of current temperature and humidity
- Kit includes an incubator, auto turner, and egg candler
- IncuTurn Automatic Egg Turner Rolls eggs just like in nature
GQF 1588 Genesis Hova-Bator Incubator
GQF is another recognized name in incubation products. Their 1588 Genesis Hova-Bator is a mix of high-tech and sensible construction to keep costs down. While the body is made of heat-conserving (and inexpensive) Styrofoam, the microprocessor inside keeps the temperature exactly as it should be.
1588 can hold up to 50 hen eggs at a time and keep their environment at a cozy 99.9 F. There is a reservoir underneath that needs to be filled to maintain the proper humidity levels. While you can view the eggs through the transparent plastic top, you can’t view the water level that way. But you can view the humidity level and temperature on the LCD display embedded in the lid.
This incubator does not come with an egg turner, but you can purchase one separately or get the Deluxe Combo Kit below. The 1588 incubating unit measures 18.5 by 18.5 by 9.5 inches in size. It’s TUV-listed for electrical safety.
While the HovaBator Genesis 1588 is a top seller, it may not be ideal for hobbyists who are raising only a handful of chicks at a time, or for serious breeders who need a more durable unit.
The GQF HovaBator Genesis 1855 Deluxe Combo Kit includes the incubator reviewed above plus an automatic egg turner and an egg candler. The IncuTurn egg turner imitates nature by rolling eggs gently 6 times per day to turn them. Two days before hatch time, simply remove the egg turner in preparation for the chicks’ arrival.
The IncuBright Egg Candler has 6 cool-to-the-touch LED lights to provide a clear view inside your eggs. The edge of the light is covered in soft rubber to protect the eggs from damage and to create a better light seal.
Brinsea Products USAG47C Ovation 56 EX fully automatic egg incubator with humidity control
Sale
Brinsea Products USAG47C Ovation 56 EX Fully Automatic Egg Incubator with Humidity Control, One Size
- Simple and highly accurate digital control system with display of temperature, humidity, and turning status
- Fully automatic control of humidity with integrated humidity pump
- Programmable automatic egg turning; Automatic temperature control in °F or °C fully factory calibrated
- 56 chicken egg capacity but suitable for a wide range of egg sizes – large egg carriers available
- Robust hygienic ABS plastics construction for easy cleaning
If you want to hatch up to 56 eggs at once in a professional-grade machine, try the Brinsea Ovation 56 EX. It has automatic temperature and humidity controls plus automatic turning. Like the other Brinsea incubators, this one makes it easy to view your eggs and maintain sanitary conditions. It’s built of ABS plastic that resists bacteria and microbes and is easy to clean.
The display shows the status while the microprocessor lets you program the desired ranges of temperature and humidity, plus alarms, and egg-turning intervals. Those features make it possible to hatch not just hen eggs, but other kinds as well. You can purchase parts to suit smaller eggs. The Ovation 56 EX is covered by a 3-year warranty.
Our Favorite Incubators for Serious Chicken Farmers
Looking to hatch chicks for meat production, or to sell to friends and neighbors? Well, then a pro-level incubator that can hatch several hundred chicks at a time might be just the ticket.
Make sure you have the space, set-up, chicken-raising knowledge, and demand before investing in this quality, pro-level incubator.
Brinsea BGB Ova Easy 100 Advance Cabinet Incubator
Brinsea BGB OVA Easy 190 Advance Cabinet Incubators
- High-performance, flexible incubator with integral hatcher.
- Large capacity, e.g. 100 hens eggs (including 48 integral hatching trays)
- ‘Advance’ digital control system – temperature and humidity readout, turning interval options, periodic cooling option, incubation, and room temperature alarms, choice of degrees C and F
- Clear, double-glazed observation door. Energy-efficient, insulated cabinet
- Optional Accessory: External Humidity Pump – available over Amazon ANSI: B009AAHFCC; Additional / Replacement Universal Hatching Trays – ASIN B00F1ZSYJ8
If you have up to 100 hen eggs to incubate, you may appreciate the Ova Easy Advance Cabinet Incubator. It has an integral hatcher for 48 eggs at a time.
The digital control system manages temperature, humidity, and turning options. It has alarms for interior and external temperatures, and it can display in Celsius or Fahrenheit. The double-glazed glass door makes it easy to see inside.
GQF Digital Sportsman Cabinet Incubator 1502
Digital Sportsman Cabinet Incubator 1502
- This is a complete incubator and hatcher! In addition to having three automatically turned racks, it has a hatching tray at the bottom of the incubator.
- Offers an accurate digital thermostat with an LCD display of Temperature and Humidity.
- An onboard computer monitors systems and the environment every second to keep itself updated and to share this data with you.
- Electronic egg turning control.
- Total Capacity with plastic trays (Shown In Image, Not Included): 1368 Quail Eggs (set and hatch 250 per week), 354 pheasant eggs, 270 chicken eggs, 198 turkey or duck eggs, and 36-45 larger eggs such as goose, peafowl, and emu.
Farmers don’t have time to hatch small batches—they need a big incubator, preferably with a hatching function. The GQF Digital Sportsman can handle up to 270 chicken eggs at a time and has a hatching tray at the bottom.
This incubator has a computer that monitors the environment once a second and shows the current conditions on the LCD display. Both the temperature and humidity is automatically controlled.
The incubator turns the eggs automatically in the top three racks. You can set a new rack to incubate each week, then move the 18-day-old eggs to the bottom rack for hatching while the newer eggs keep incubating.
Accessories for incubating and hatching eggs
If you want to check the progress of the embryos, some have had success with this LED candling light.
Magicfly Bright Cool LED Light Egg Candler Tester
Magicfly Bright Cool LED Light Egg Candler Tester, Power by Power Supply Only
- Brand new, Power by Power Supply, (not support charging)
- Fast Safe Extremely easy, High Lumens Egg Candler Cool light!
- Long Electric Cable with American Plug, Very Durable with easy on and off button
- FUNCTION: This candle Light will let you see the fertilized eggs by showing a dark spot and veins at the beginning, The candlelight was very helpful and was really fun to watch the growth of the fertilized eggs. You can check about once or twice a week to make sure that they were still growing.
- The light candler tester is not just for someone who wants to incubate eggs, it is also suitable for kids and students to learn the incubating process. Suitable for school funny class or school laboratory.
Magicfly’s Bright Cool LED Egg Candler has soft rubber adapters to protect the eggs while you look at the embryos inside. The adapters form a light seal so that the maximum amount of light enters the egg. The light from the candler comes from LED bulbs that are cool to the touch and non-threatening to the eggs. The light requires electricity to operate but comes with a long power cord.
IncuTherm™ Digital Thermometer Hygrometer with Min/Max Memory from Incubator Warehouse
IncuTherm Digital Thermometer Hygrometer with Min/Max Memory
- Thermometer and hygrometer measures temperature and humidity
- Memory storage of high and low temp and humidity readings
- Large and easy-to-read digital display
- Celsius or Fahrenheit
- Battery (included!)
If you need to measure temperature and humidity, this IncuTherm Digital Thermometer and Hygrometer is a popular product with an easy-to-read display. It keeps track of highs and lows so you can check the history of how your new incubator did during the night. It comes with a battery so it’s ready to use, and it’s covered by a 1-year guarantee.
Hatching & Brooding Your Own Chicks: Chickens, Turkeys, Ducks, Geese, Guinea Fowl by Gail Damerow
Hatching & Brooding Your Own Chicks: Chickens, Turkeys, Ducks, Geese, Guinea Fowl
- Storey Publishing
- Damerow, Gail (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 240 Pages – 01/15/2013 (Publication Date) – Storey Publishing, LLC (Publisher)
If you’re new to raising chickens or other fowl, this is the book you want to turn to for advice. She covers selecting breeds, incubating, hatching, and brooding. The book gives good detailed information on embryo development and more, without being overwhelming. Get it in paperback or Kindle formats.
BrinseaEcoGlow Brooder for Chicks or Ducklings
Once your chicks hatch and you’re ready to move them from the incubator, they need a warm environment. The EcoGlow Brooder from Brinsea is durable and light on your electric bill. It has three temperature settings (based on three different heights) to keep chicks happy and healthy.
The brooder provides radiant heat in a safe way. Chicks can brush up against it, or shelter under it. It can be placed in a number of different ways to suit your home for them and their needs. The power cord is ten feet long so you can place the brooder where you need it to be without worrying about extension cables.
The surface is resistant to damage, anti-microbial, and easy to clean. Since it only consumes 18W of electricity, it doesn’t cost nearly as much to run as traditional heat lamps.
