THE Brinsea Octagon 20 Eco Thread; Hatches, etc. (PICS)

[jmc]

For ALL things concerning this 'breed' of bator.

Other Brinsea bators could be spoken of in other threads, lest this thread become way OT and confusing, cuz I think this will be quite a large thread!!!

This is the 'background thread' to this one:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=579047

And away we go!!!

 

[jonsccm]

After a few hatches I tend to follow the glass thermometer that it came with. The bulb is right under the fan so it shows the average temp being blown around in there. Other thermometers seem to be affected by all sorts of variables. If the glass one is holding steady and you have checked it with other thermometers before you put eggs in then trust it. It will be fine.
To the one that got water in the base. I would recommend taking it apart and cleaning it. There is a metal counterbalance bar in there that will rust and be nasty also course a nasty breeding ground for bacteria. Pull out the 4 screws and clean the all the pieces. Let the foam insulation pieces completely dry before you put it back together.
The base can also start collecting water if you over fill the chanals or use paper towels draping out of the chanals to up the humidity while the incubator is on the turner or being turned manually.

 

[hennible]

I've read resting the shipped egg before incubating can be beneficial if your eggs have detached or saddle shaped air cells... Good luck

 

[scflock]

I'm sure my question has been answered already somewhere in this 98 page discussion but after reading 10+ pages of post after post, I'm a little overloaded with info.

I don't have any incubating experience whatsoever and have never incubated anything ever, so thanks for any feedback. I just bought the Brinsea Octagon 20 eco last week and have finally stabilize the temperature to approx. 99.5F. This evening I'm going to put in 20 eggs. I've been doing a lot of reading and researching, seems the more I know the more questions I have. Again, could just be info. overload at this point.

My question:
Regarding the water, the manual says at the beginning to fill one of the channels 3/4 full. (mentioned very briefly).
Do I continue to maintain this channel 3/4 full the entire 18 days or is this a "one-time" fill only? Another words, if I see that the water in the channel has dried up or lowered on day 15th, do I refill it up to the 3/4 mark again?

I understand that the last 2-3 days after day 18, I need to fill both channels with water to maintain humidity for the chicks. (open for feedback on this too).

Thanks again and great feedback on this forum!

Phoenix~

Depending on your humidity in your area, you will have to refill that channel every 3-5 days. You really need to get a hygrometer if you want to accurately measure humidity, that way you can tell what works and what doesn't. In the winter, with my furnace running, it takes filling both channels just to maintain 40% humidity, in the spring and summer I can get by with just one. Depth of water doesn't affect the humidity, it's the surface area, so your humidity will remain constant until the well is dry. I would recommend topping off every 3 days until you see how quickly the water is evaporating. After day 18, I have to add a paper towel to the bottom, after filling both wells, just to get enough moisture to maintain 65% humidity

 

[scflock]

I'm at work and don't have time to read all pages... lol I'm thinking about buying one of these, because I've been having terrible hatches with a Hova bator. . The consensus is, everyone LOVEs theirs, right? Enable me!!

You will never regret buying a Brinsea. There is no comparison between the two. I don't regret spending the extra money one bit. Consider yourself enabled

 

[scflock]

I have the eco myself and I have the same temp fluctuation issues. Mine will swing a half a degree or so while turning. Also I see a change in the bator temp when the temp in my house changes. When it's 67 in the house, it will drop to 99.0 and when the house is up around 73 it goes up to 100 in the bator. I am constantly fiddling with the red screw to keep it close to 99.5. Why won't this little bator just hold steady???????

I have better hatches near 100.0 than I do at 99.0. You will drive yourself crazy chasing minute adjustments. Like WV said, the average temp is the goal, and those minor swings as the heating element pulses are not a big deal at all. If your average is between 99.5 and 100.0, I wouldn't touch it

 

[UrbanMamaHen]

Just to report back on the first staggered hatch I've done. Great outcome - 100% hatch rate for both sets of eggs in my mini advance, three eggs each set hatching a week a part. The second set of eggs took a day longer to hatch, I think due to the higher humidity because I filled both sides of the water reservoir for the first set and didn't drain it out after the first set of chicks hatched. Also, it probably was due to me opening the incubator multiple times to take the chicks out and to remove the shells. Oh, and I added new eggs and staggered again.

This is both good and bad. It's good because I could incubate continuously, and it is bad because I don't have to wait until a hatch finish before starting another one! Thanks to all who said staggering hatches causes no ill effects.

 

[andalusn]

I usually follow the directions and fill one side with water until lock down and then at day 18 fill both. The hatches have all been in my book successful while not 100% egg hatch but I don't expect that. I do play with the slide opening some but for the most part just let it rock away until hatch time. My biggest challenge is the old fashioned thermometer. I just can't get a clear read on it ( mine is non digital) so I am really considering buying another ECO and stepping up to the digital and while I am at it adding the humidity pump. As for the quality of the product I really like it.

 

[rarely bored]

wishingbee... what is the Brinsea thermometer reading at? If the heat changes are due to the position then all our Brinseas do that, and it hasn't affected our hatch rates, so methinks you are fine. When I began incubating I used a different thermometer, but the fluctuations in the electronic thermometer drove me crazy, so I don't use it anymore.

 

[yinepu]

wishingbee
spread the eggs out into two rows with space between them.. I think the problem you are seeing and what is confusing the incubator is the heat sink created by the warm eggs
if you spread them out the problem should fix itself