What brand of incubators do y'all recommend?

My father and I wanted to expand our chicks and turkeys out through an incubator year before last and granted we did so successfully, but the incubator after about 3 months gave out and the eggs died. I rarely buy lemons, but this this one was junk. The link is the kind we had.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/48-Egg-Incubator-Digital-Auto-Turner-Chicken-Poultry-Bird-Quail-Clear-Hatcher/282468768596?epid=705869101&hash=item41c4735b54:g:UzAAAOSw-K9ZEZbW

What what is a reasonably priced incubator that is one we can depend on hopefully for atleast a few years? Or is it simply better just to invest in the proper parts and make one myself?

I agree, tried 3 of those incubators and they are junk. Don't waste your money on them.
Last year I went with a cabinet style from link below. It has worked excellent. Although built in China the guy behind these worked for the Canadian government hatching whooping cranes back from extinction. He knows his stuff and had them designed to his specs.
I have the SVC-180

http://www.svendirect.com/egg-incubators-1/

Not sure if he ships to USA, if so with exchange in $500 range

Yes, I think it depends on your finances/diy abilities.

I used a cheap foam incubator without a turner (but the turner is good to have) for a couple years, and it was still working when I stopped, but I had started to supplement the crude temperature control with a more precise control I bought on line. It had an ac input and output regulated by temp That i plugged the incubator into, so I just turned the incubator thermostat so it was always on and then used the other thermostat as the actual control. I think that thermostat was about 20 bucks, but it had a really nice lighted digital readout.

It may be possible you could salvage your bad unit just with a thermostat like that if it was satisfactory otherwise.

I did make my own cabinet eventually with super insulated foam blocks  glued together and multiple racks but the real issue becomes the egg turner,  I used racks that tilted as a unit- first to one side then to the other by hand, but it left a lot to be desired. I think I would buy my next one from craigslist. I'm really getting tired of reinventing the wheel.

Yeah the incubators you listed are nice, but well out of my finances at the moment. If in the future I may invest in a more expensive incubator, but perhaps either trying a co-op foam incubator or just building one may be my best bet for the moment.

Brinsea incubators are some of the best according to our breeder.

They have models for just about all pocketbooks and needs up to commercial breeding.

There are a few others out there but every breeder I know uses the Brinsea brand products.

Redhawk

I will second the recommendation for Brinsea incubators.  I have used them to hatch both quail and guinea eggs.  

Kevin Goheen wrote:My father and I wanted to expand our chicks and turkeys out through an incubator year before last and granted we did so successfully, but the incubator after about 3 months gave out and the eggs died. I rarely buy lemons, but this this one was junk. The link is the kind we had.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/48-Egg-Incubator-Digital-Auto-Turner-Chicken-Poultry-Bird-Quail-Clear-Hatcher/282468768596?epid=705869101&hash=item41c4735b54:g:UzAAAOSw-K9ZEZbW

What what is a reasonably priced incubator that is one we can depend on hopefully for atleast a few years? Or is it simply better just to invest in the proper parts and make one myself?

Hello.
Incubator it's only box with right climate. You can make it yourself. How persent of chikens from eggs did you have with your incubator?

I hatch 1000 eggs a year, I have a Brinsea an R-Com and a Sportsman cabinet style...
the Brinsea? Is an eco 20 octagon shaped incubator... my opinion? I HATE it, it’s miserable to clean because the lower portion is filled with foam and a metal bar for weight that rusts and who knows what bacteria grows in  that warm dark area with foam to live in... temp needs to be adjusted via a screw with no hash marks to gauge how much the temp will be adjusted, the temp or humidity levels are not shown you have to put a hygrometer in the incubator to check the humidity, and they attach a regular mercury thermometer to the underside of the cover so you have to totally remove the cover to check that thermometer   ... humidity is a Nightmare to control... one thing I do like is how this auto turner works, the entire incubator is rotated side to side and  since it’s best to hatch shipped eggs in an upright position this one works well for that, BUT the cradle to set the incubator in the Turner has narrow pegs to set the incubator i and I have bumped it off more then once..  otherwise I too had heard all of the “great” things about Brinsea and in my opinion it’s barely worth the effort to punt it out the patio doors... I basically use it as a brooder since the plastic top is easy to see through...

my R-Com is the R-Com 20 digital FABULOUS!! EASY TO CLEAN!! Easy to see, digital temp and humidity settings... easy to recalibrate if needed... the Turner is a side to side .. the “floor” under the eggs basically moves back and forth to roll the eggs... I do add a new piece of the rubbery cupboard liner under the eggs just sonthe turn a little better but it’s me over thinking it, it has always worked great!!you can’t hatch in an upright position though and although I’m not totally convinced hatching upright is better, I prefer an accurate clean incubator to one I can hatch in  upright if push comes to shove...
My Sportsman... once again I heard people sing their praises... my opinion... ahh not bad... but ... the door is on the narrow end making it “deep” if you ever piled the “back” of a Sportsman off you will be STUNNED how gross it is back there... I added hinges and the same clips they have on the front to the back so I can clean from both sides which was a DRASTIC improvement... it’s a good incubator if you want a bigger model but for the money you can convert a refrigerator for less money if you have the time and skills(which aren’t many) but patience getting the air circulation right to maintain temp is very important...
STYROFOAM incubators work fine once... sometimes twice, some eggs are harder to hatch then others... I never realized how big of a deal humidity was... ALWAYS keep 1-2 extra thermometers and hygrometers on hand to double check temp and humidity... but CLEANLINESS is huge and with the styrofoam ones that’s hard... some brands make a liner but if the air is circulating it’s still blowing everything around in there... DONT bother with any incubator that the air doesn’t circulate it’s just not accurate enough in al areas I the incubator... and I did find when I started with a styrofoam one(dont we all?) That I used painters tape all of the way around to help maintain temp and it was easy to remove to add water etc...
Craigslist often has incubators for sale,  just ask the seller to have it turned on before you get there, bring a couple ercury type  thermometers with you, even the $.96 ones from Walmart,  put them in, give it 5 mins and make sure your temp is up just over 99 degrees...a couple will let you make sure you don’t have a thermometer problem.... and  plugging it in when you arrive won’t let the interior come to temperature and will affect the reading...
just my $0.02... the book Brooding and Hatching your own chicks is also worth every cent with all kidnds of things that you never thought of that come up...
Good luck
P.S. NEVER rush to take your eggs out... I have had eggs hatch as late as day 24, especially shipped eggs... if you don’t need the incubator room for something else, leave them in there... if they don’t hatch they won’t get any more rotten and you just might be surprised