That Quail Place Forum
Raising Gamebirds => Incubation => Topic started by: Britton Howe on June 14, 2006, 07:05:20 PM
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I just have to say thier awesome. finally after doing this for nearly 20 years. I'm having my best hatches ever on pheasants up until a month ago all I had ever used was those hova incs. I've hatched 2 batches of pheasants with a 81% hatch I've never gotten higher then 37% before on pheasants.
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I just have to say thier awesome. finally after doing this for nearly 20 years. I'm having my best hatches ever on pheasants up until a month ago all I had ever used was those hova incs. I've hatched 2 batches of pheasants with a 81% hatch I've never gotten higher then 37% before on pheasants.
Congratulations Britton Howe!
I have (2) two of the GQF 1502 Sportsmans. I am about to order my 3rd.
Steve
Pheasant Hollow Farm
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I have 2 sportsmans and 1 dickeys ,good incubators ,great hatches need to get one more this summer
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Sportman or Dickey, which is better ? Pro's/Cons ? I know more places carry GQF & I think Dickey is only avail direct.
I need one too, best place to get one ?
Haven't had much luck looking for used ?
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I would say they are both equal if I have a choice Iwould lean toward dickey only my.02
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I would say they are both equal if I have a choice Iwould lean toward dickey only my.02
What is the actual difference between the two? They look the same as far as I tell tell from the pictures on the internet.
Steve
Pheasant Hollow Farm
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One of the biggest differences between the GQF and the Dickey is the GQF takes the temp readings right in front of the heat coils, whereas the Dickey's take the temp readings in the middle of the incubation area. Also, the door latches on the Dickey's seem better. When I was looking at buying a cabinet style, I had the luxury of seeing them both side by side and running at the same time. Both are well build units, but the slight advantage goes to Dickey, IMO. The only thing I've noticed is that there seems to be a slight temperature variation within the incubation area. Top to bottom there is about a .75 degree difference. I don't know if this is something I'm doing wrong, or some flaw in thier design. I was going to do some experiments this spring, but ran out of time before I needed to put eggs in.
As an average, I get about a 80% hatch rate on the eggs I've ran through it. And I've hatched thousands of eggs in both of mine, as has my friend who also has 2 Dickies running.
Wally, anytime you want to see one in operation, you are more than welcome :-)
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Steve, Chris pretty well covered it, both are good units Ijust like dickey a little better
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Temperature differences in the chamber are due to air movement, either too much or too little. It is a tough thing to overcome. I know I've see a design for an incubator that has a fan at each level of trays, they called it laminar flow. It is also due to differences in temperature movement in and out of the chamber which is an air tight and insulation issue. It all comes down to balance.
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what is the difference in price? I want a cabinet in the future but I know very little about the dickey's to compare with GQF.
mike
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Temperature differences in the chamber are due to air movement, either too much or too little. It is a tough thing to overcome. I know I've see a design for an incubator that has a fan at each level of trays, they called it laminar flow. It is also due to differences in temperature movement in and out of the chamber which is an air tight and insulation issue. It all comes down to balance.
Yeah, that's what I thought the problem was. One of the experiments I want to try is to take some 120mm computer fans and mount them in various places throughout the incubator and see ifI can get a more constant temperature throughout the unit. I first started to notice a problem when I filled it for the first time all at once with 354 pheasant eggs. Put them in the hatcher on the 21st day, and hatch started on the 22nd day, and went as far out as the 28th day. Next batch I marked where they were in the turners, and noticed that the front top and front middle hatched before the bottom 2, and the back top and back middle hatched last.
Anyway, got some work to do to see if I can make the temp more consistent within the unit. Gives me something to do during the winter ;-)
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I was looking at those 120mm computer fans for in a hova-bator but they are bigger than I thought. It weighs more than my entire hova-bator.
mike
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I bought my first Sportman this year and WOW. I throw 100 eggs in each week for 6 weeks and have gotten 79% to 96% hatches with the fewest culls I ever had. No messing around with temperatures or humidity ( I have the automatic humidity system).
The ability to add trays of quail eggs at intervals and pop them in the hatching tray when ready, made this ideal for me.
I actually have a 1266 incubator but disabled the bottom tray and built a screened cover for it . It will do 960 quail eggs (8 trays of 120) with just the two racks.
I slide in a tray each week and move it into the hatcher when ready. I have a 1/2 degree difference from top rack to hatcher, with the thermometer being about 1/2 degree hotter than the top rack. So I run the thermometer at 100 degrees.
This works fine since the top two racks I am using have only a 1/4 degree difference in temperature, and the 1/2 degree at the hatcher doesn't seem to make any difference.
If you have been shuffling sponges and adding water, wrapping blankets and juggling temperatures with small incubators, get a cabinet incubator. I'll never go back.
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Another Dickies question on thermostats
Dual wafer or Electronic ? which is best, most reliable & accurate ?
They show a 3 tray with hatcher which would suit me best I think but are the trays used the same as GQF of different ?
Are GQF parts interchangeable or do you need to get them from Dickies ?
Thanks
Wally
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Additionally, I'd like to know if the Sportmans keep the humidity higher in the hatcher tray like its supposed to be.
thx
John
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John,
I was told that you need to mist the eggs in the hatcher tray with a clean spay bottle when you put them in and that will add enough to the humidity to get the hatch correct. I hope that helps.
Tom
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Another Dickies question on thermostats
Dual wafer or Electronic ? which is best, most reliable & accurate ?
They show a 3 tray with hatcher which would suit me best I think but are the trays used the same as GQF of different ?
Are GQF parts interchangeable or do you need to get them from Dickies ?
Thanks
Wally
Both of my incubators have the electronic thermostat with the wafer backup. They keep the temp pegged where you set it. My hatcher has the dual wafer thermostat, and it doesn't keep the temp dead on like the electronic. It goes from +/- 1 degree as the temp kicks on and off. Personally I like the electronic best.
As for parts, I believe that the turner parts are interchangeable between the two. But you'd have to confirm that with Dickey's. I know the 124 count plastic egg trays are designed for the GQF and fit perfectly in the Dickeys, so I'm assuming again that they're the same. Keep in mind Wally that the hatching tray in the bottom will only hold 1 trays worth of eggs, not an entire incubator full. And you will be boucing the humidity around in there between hatch and regular incubation time. I used to hatch and incubate in one for a couple of years and got about the same hatch rates as using a seperate hatcher. One thing I thought about doing was having my local metal shop design a wire top for the turner trays, and just run all my eggs at once and hatch them in the turner trays. But then I got the hatcher and that idea went the wayside. Hope this helps :-)
Chris
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I am pretty sure most parts are interchangeable. They are almost, if not, the exact same design. I read somewhere that the man that sold the plans for making one to both Dickey and GQF, or something like that.
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hey,
as far as the humidity goes - i think the older machines were set up better - the ones like the 1266 and the 1277 that were made for ratites origionally - these machines had 6 holes in the back - 3 top 3 bottom.
This is great in the models that are just hatchers because if you load one up full of eggs and you have maybe 500 chukar chicks for instance hatch at one time that is alot of wetness and that raises the humidity so you can open the back up and let me air in - the models now with only 2 holes do not allot enough airflow when doing only hatches.
But to sum up my opinion on them - they are both good machines that are going to give you good hatches on smaller eggs. When you go and start setting turkeys, ducks and what not things dont always go as good - yes i know great hatches ahave came out of these with bigger eggs but when i compare them to what i use they just dont do as well on bigger type eggs but are probibly 2 of the best incubators ever made for small time flock owners - i just wanted to say though that Nature Form does make a smaller incubator in the saffari serices that holds around 270 chicken eggs - these will do a better on bigger eggs but is not worth it when they sell for around $3k you better just stick with a gqf.
Kyle
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I'm also looking into getting a Dickey or a Sportsman incubator for next year but i'm looking into getting just the incubator with no hatcher in it because I have 3 Little Giants that I could use for a hatcher. Is there a advantage in not having the hatcher at the bottom of the incubator? Would you get better hatches without having it?
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I've heard that it's easier to maintain a certain temp. and humifity because there is less stuff inside the 'bator. But I think that's about all the advantages. Other than it costs a little less.
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I like our new 380 ova-bator by Brinsea, it runs like a charm and doesn't weigh a ton..Very steady on temps and humid.
We also use 2 Gqf picture window bators and a home made hatcher unit.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v185/hinkjc/Incubators/100_0663.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v185/hinkjc/Incubators/100_0666.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v185/hinkjc/Incubators/100_0895.jpg)
Charlie
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OOOh :laugh: .... lol. Very nice incubator. I like the Ova-Easies better than the Sportsmans. They are probably about the same on a performance standpoint but you have to agree that the Brinseas look better... :laugh: Your homemade one is very nice as well.
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Thanks on my home made unit. cost $75.00 to make. we can hatch about 160 chicken eggs in it.
I've only ever used the 1202 gqf and found it to work good.
The brinsea has a built in elect temp gauge that i find to be right on the money, which is a real plus!
Charlie
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Only $75? Maybe post some directions on how you made that and what you used...