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

[babymakes6]

I'm on day 20 now- shouldn't I be seeing pips by now? Yesterday I thought I heard a chirp or two, but today jus the fan. I thought I'd wake up to at least a few pips- anything wrong? Should I open and check?

No-just leave them alone!

I can very seldom hear anything in mine, it is pretty tight and even when there are a bunch of chicks in it, I don't always hear them.

 

[chick4chix]

Thanks babymakes6! Waiting is the hardest part - I've been looking through the window of the incubator with a flashlight and a magnifying glass- trying to see SOMETHING move- haha! Nothing yet. Tomorrow is supposed to be hatch day (day 21). Have any of yours taken longer than 21 days? This is my first incubator hatch

 

[babymakes6]

Yes, but not often, thankfully!
When I first started hatching, I got 2 dozen eggs shipped from someone. I had made a styrofoam incubator and put them in it. We were away for a few days right before hatch, and when we got home my thermometer/hygrometer said it had fluctuated between 82 and 119 degrees!!! I had one little Rhode Island Red pullet hatch on day 23, but the rest died, obviously! I named her "Miracle."

 

[Hawkeye95]

Second chick ever to hatch in my incubator! (silkie)

Question, does anyone do staggered hatches in their brinsea and if so... how do you go about it? I don't have a separate incubator to hatch in.

 

[ibcanchasr]

I will keep reading to see how your hatch turns out.... I was considering buying this incubator so I am very interested.

 

[immyjay54]

I have a couple of dozen eggs ordered right now and should be coming in next week. I will be setting up my Brinsea 20 Eco again. Gee, I thought I was done for this year but just happen to get hands on some of the top rhode island red lines so just couldn't pass them up. lol I only incubate in my Brinsea. I hatch in my Hova Bator because of the size. I don't like hatching in the Brinsea. I love it for incubating though.
Jim

 

[zekii]

Well not sure if this is normal for a Oct20 Eco, but my temps were pretty stable, I was running in the 99 to 99.5F range until day 15, since then my temps have started creeping upwards towards the 100 to 100.5F range and have stayed there.
I've been cranking the temp control back gradually from day 15 but that doesn't seem to cause the temps to drop any. I am thinking I reached the point at day 15 where the eggs are now controlling the temps..14 live duck eggs must give off a good amount of heat ? Any ideas?

 

[Hawkeye95]

Well not sure if this is normal for a Oct20 Eco, but my temps were pretty stable, I was running in the 99 to 99.5F range until day 15, since then my temps have started creeping upwards towards the 100 to 100.5F range and have stayed there.
I've been cranking the temp control back gradually from day 15 but that doesn't seem to cause the temps to drop any. I am thinking I reached the point at day 15 where the eggs are now controlling the temps..14 live duck eggs must give off a good amount of heat ? Any ideas?

no idea, but I've noticed a trend like that too! It seems that for days I will slowly back off the heat and it won't budge under 99.8-100. I'm not happy about it, but don't know what else to do. I pay close attention to my temps, so that's a great question. Perhaps all the warm bodies are generating their own heat. If you have broodies, which none of mine are right now, but just a couple of weeks ago, I did. I took a digital thermometer scanner and scanned the eggs under my broody and they were all right around 100.2-100.4! I was shocked. And they hatched.

How is that for being obsessive about temperatures??? LOL

 

[yinepu]

Well not sure if this is normal for a Oct20 Eco, but my temps were pretty stable, I was running in the 99 to 99.5F range until day 15, since then my temps have started creeping upwards towards the 100 to 100.5F range and have stayed there.
I've been cranking the temp control back gradually from day 15 but that doesn't seem to cause the temps to drop any. I am thinking I reached the point at day 15 where the eggs are now controlling the temps..14 live duck eggs must give off a good amount of heat ? Any ideas?

as the embryos grow they do generate a certain amount of heat.. not enough to keep them warm and make it through incubation to hatch though

One of the things I hate about Brinseas is the pitiful thermostats they use.. even when we were having a heatwave here they would continue to heat instead of shutting the heat function off.. I ended up having to direct a fan blowing directly onto the Brinseas that i had running at the time. One went to the dump because it continued to try to cook the eggs at a completely unacceptable level

in a perfectly functioning incubator the heat should shut off when the thermostat recognizes that the temp has hit the max level.

Just be sure to continue to monitor the temps since Brinseas can also stop heating just as quickly.. since you adjusted the temperature you may come in to find later on that the temp has dropped and you now have cold eggs

 

[yinepu]

no idea, but I've noticed a trend like that too! It seems that for days I will slowly back off the heat and it won't budge under 99.8-100. I'm not happy about it, but don't know what else to do. I pay close attention to my temps, so that's a great question. Perhaps all the warm bodies are generating their own heat. If you have broodies, which none of mine are right now, but just a couple of weeks ago, I did. I took a digital thermometer scanner and scanned the eggs under my broody and they were all right around 100.2-100.4! I was shocked. And they hatched.

How is that for being obsessive about temperatures??? LOL

you may also find that the temperature under the hen at the bottom of the nest is cooler than the area directly under her at skin and feather level. That's one of the reasons why hens turn their eggs about 96 times a day.. it keeps the temperatures more consistent inside the eggs since the bottom (touching the ground) would naturally be cooler than skin and feather level