Advice for my Brinsea Octagon 20 Manual turning

[meesh480]

Hello All! I just joined this site and I am excited to connect with other people who love chickens as much as I do. I am going to be setting some eggs in a few days with my new incubator but this is my first time hatching eggs and I'm nervous. I live in the desert so I know humidity is hard to control. Has anyone used a manual turn Brinsea? how much water to use when first setting eggs?

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Hi

I have the octagon 20 but have the auto turn cradle with it but this makes no difference to the actual incubator as the whole incubator is turned with the eggs set in it.
Have you got the Eco or the advance? If you have the Eco I would recommend you get a hygrometer to measure your humidity. Set the incubator for at least 24 hours before setting any eggs. Fill one channel with water let it settle to see what your humidity is reading. My Brinsea holds humidty very well but then again I'm not on the desert! If you need to get your humidty higher you can add clean cloths so half is in the channel of water so it can wick the water up the cloth. Surface area creates humidty and not the depth of water. I like 45% day 1-18 and then 65% at lockdown. The average humidty is what you are aiming for, small term changes shouldn't be a problem as long as the average has been ok and your air sacs have grown large enough for the chick to pip I to safely.

Good luck with your hatch and enjoy BYC

 

[meesh480]

Thank for the advice! I do have the eco and did purchase a hygrometer. With one channel full of water, my humidity is at 40% but the temp on the hygrometer is reading 98.2. The glass temp that came with the Brinsea is right about 99.6. Do you think I should trust what the Brinsea is reading or adjust the temp?

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

I personally would trust the Brinsea thermometer. You could always add another one that you know is right just to double check.