Another question about the Octagon 20 ECO

[gritsar]

I plan to buy a Brinsea Octagon 20 ECO next month. Wish I could buy one right now, as they are $30 off, but alas I can't.
My question: They say it holds up to 24 chickens eggs. I don't plan to incubate more than say 12 eggs at a time (or is it better to have a full bator?).
Is there room enough in one of them when the chicks start to hatch? It looks awful cramped. How long would you have to wait before you could start to take chicks out and move them to the brooder? Don't you have to wait until the entire clutch hatches before opening it?
Okay, that's way more than one question. Sorry.

 

[pascopol]

Quote:
I got mine about 6 weeks ago for $99. I can put 32 Bantam eggs in my ECO.

I kept moving my eggs to the hatcher, not cause of space, but I was doing staggered hatches.

Now I have about 15 expensive and precious eggs in my ECO which I am going to hatch without moving.

I would leave chicks in it until hatch is complete, especially if you hatch only 12 or so.

There is a thread on BYC somebody recently had 100% hatch on SHIPPED EGGS in ECO.

INCREDIBLE!

 

[IggiMom]

Where oh where did you get it for $30 off?

Pray tell.

 

[Ruditchka]

It is on sale right now for $30 off on the brinsea web-site... Reg $129, now $99....

 

[keesmom]

They're back on sale again!

-Cindy in MA

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Here they are:
http://www.brinsea.com/detail.aspx?ID=224
$30 off regular price.

 

[IggiMom]

Thank you.

With the Brinsea Eco, how can you tell what the humidity is? Do you get a hygrometer to put inside it?

 

[sben451]

Yes, you can put a hygrometer in the Eco. I put one of the Springfield thermometer/hygrometers from WalMart in my Eco. I used a small strip of double stick tape made for outdoor use and stuck it underneath the top so that it was easy to read from the outside. It worked just fine. I bought eggs from "Okiehen" here on BYC and got a 100% hatch rate--24 eggs/24 cute, healthy chicks. I love my Brinsea--so easy to use.

 

[Keisha]

Quote:
With only 12 eggs there should be enough room when the chicks start to hatch, you should be fine.
I have 24 bantam eggs in my Eco now, and they are due to hatch in 10 days. If it starts to get a little crowded in there and the chicks are dryed off well, I was just planning on opening it up for 30 secs or so and grabbing the chicks out. I dont think that would hurt the other eggs to much. When I open up it up now to add water, the temp only goes down about .2 degrees and 1 or 2 % humidity.

You should definitly go for this bator when you can afford it.

Quote:
Yep you can buy a hydrometer, though you dont "need" one they are a good thing to have.