Breeds » Chickens
Incubator revolution
By the team at Dominion Incubators

Tuesday, 23 June 2009

Some grand-fathers still reminisce about  the smokey, smelly egg incubators  hundreds of rural kiwis used between 1930 and 1950, often with surprising success, because  of their  complexity.  

Innovative incubator design.
Innovative incubator design.
Daily trimming of the kerosene wick was essential to keep down the ever present fire hazard,  and rolling all the eggs over at least 3 times daily  was a real chore.

After every kerosene top-up and wick trimming, the  temperature control screw  over the chimney had to be readjusted  again, and the water dish topped up. 

Then around 1950 the  N.Z. Insurance Council successfully campaigned to  get rid of kerosene incubators because of  their  connection with house and shed fires. Within 10 years, long after the big commercial incubators had gone electric, the first domestic size electric incubators appeared, with zero fire risk potential.  

N.Z.  has remained  up front  with innovative incubator design, just like in other agricultural  sectors,  and now enjoys  some of the world’s most ‘user friendly’  equipment.

The Electronic Thermostats, monitored by   non-toxic  Black Spirit Thermometers, seldom need  adjusting, with some  Digital Thermostats  displaying  temperature to Decimal One of a degree,  readable  two metres distant. 

Auto-turning systems roll the eggs over hourly,  21/7,  and  can handle  by simply moving  some rods, any egg size from Goose to  Quail. 

Some also have a separate Hatcher Tray just above the Water Dish ,  which allows  a hatching day every week like the commercial hatcheries,  eliminating the need to set eggs more than 7 days old. Some will even  handle a mixture of egg sizes  together.