Anyone with knowledge on brinsea...

[AmyLynn2374]

You guys are so funny! I woke up to the temp being exactly 100. & again, I'm thinking..."should I TRY to make it a tad lower" but my instincts are telling me "don't mess with it, crazy lady!!!". I'm glad to hear one of you did a little better with the temp higher. I'm glad I went with brinsea. I had to order it online. My local feed shop only sells little giant still air. So I guess I made the right choice. New question: there is barely any water left in the well but humidity is 45-50%. I've been reading, thanks to article's you guys have posted, that the dry end might be better. Should I leave it alone for now?

If it's holding that percentage w/little-no water I would definitely leave it. Even moisture loving SC runs his around 40% last I knew

 

[RubyNala97]

That's where I ordered from as well! The chicks are beautiful and healthy, I only wish one of my blue black splash would have hatched, but there were only 3 of them, one had a detached air cell, one was a very early quitter and the other had a saddle air cell, they were the only ones with air cell issues. So I ended up with all buff and white, which are beautiful. Let me know how yours are doing, did your air cells look good? Which colors did you get? They were definitely packaged well, and I only had one detached air cell, so that's not bad.
I ran my humidity at about 45% the first week and adjusted from there. It would change depending on the day and how dry the air was in the house. I lowered it after the first week and ended up between 35 and 40% and my air cells ended up looking great, just keep an eye on them! they will tell you where you need to be. I had read a great tip on here for lowering humidity in the Eco, I washed a small cap (like a toothpaste sized cap) and used that in the water well instead of filling the entire side. There were a few days that the humidity would have been 50% with one half filled, which I think would have definitely been too high.
Distraction definitely helps with egg obsession I think just having a baby or toddler around can distract you from just about anything. Just wait, though, those last three days are killer. I think I reached egg stalker status by day 20

thank you for that tip. I'm going to leave it for now and when I need to add more water, I'm going to try the toothpaste cap, like you suggested. It's been rainy here, I'm sure the outside humidity affects what goes on in the incubator. So, how many silkie eggs did you order? I ordered a half dozen, but they shipped 7. I ordered all white...I know, I'm boring. It's my first time incubating & my first time having chickens! So I wanted to start simple. The eggs arrived in 24 hours and I had a hard time finding the air cells. I couldn't find them. So I left them alone. I let them sit 12 hours, pointy end down in a carton with wholes cut out in the bottom. Then I cut out each little carton holder, so I could fit them in the brinsea mini. I didn't turn for the first 24 hours. Second 24 & third, I'm just tilting the eggs from one side to the other. Tomorrow I'm taking out the cartons and laying the eggs down and I will turn 3xday. I will candle on day 7 to check air cells. I actually checked one egg today and saw a good air cell! I'm trying to leave them alone as much as possible. Can you send or post a pic of your silkie chics?

 

[4chickns]

thank you for that tip. I'm going to leave it for now and when I need to add more water, I'm going to try the toothpaste cap, like you suggested. It's been rainy here, I'm sure the outside humidity affects what goes on in the incubator. So, how many silkie eggs did you order? I ordered a half dozen, but they shipped 7. I ordered all white...I know, I'm boring. It's my first time incubating & my first time having chickens! So I wanted to start simple. The eggs arrived in 24 hours and I had a hard time finding the air cells. I couldn't find them. So I left them alone. I let them sit 12 hours, pointy end down in a carton with wholes cut out in the bottom. Then I cut out each little carton holder, so I could fit them in the brinsea mini. I didn't turn for the first 24 hours. Second 24 & third, I'm just tilting the eggs from one side to the other. Tomorrow I'm taking out the cartons and laying the eggs down and I will turn 3xday. I will candle on day 7 to check air cells. I actually checked one egg today and saw a good air cell! I'm trying to leave them alone as much as possible. Can you send or post a pic of your silkie chics?

I had ordered a dozen, and hatched 7, so about average for shipped eggs I guess. These are two of them, I'll hopefully get some better pictures later and post them. They're adorable, though. We've had silkies for 6 years and we absolutely love them. My three boys also loved seeing them hatch, the Brinsea is the best for that!

 

[RubyNala97]

...

I had ordered a dozen, and hatched 7, so about average for shipped eggs I guess. These are two of them, I'll hopefully get some better pictures later and post them. They're adorable, though. We've had silkies for 6 years and we absolutely love them. My three boys also loved seeing them hatch, the Brinsea is the best for that!

[/OMG!!! Thank you so much for the pics!!! So adorable!! I have 3 boys too! I just showed them the pic & they both said "awwww" simultaneously. That's another reason I picked that incubator too, so we can watch the whole hatch. I'm trying to show them how nature is cooler then the TV/Internet/video games! Lol

 

[RubyNala97]

That's where I ordered from as well! The chicks are beautiful and healthy, I only wish one of my blue black splash would have hatched, but there were only 3 of them, one had a detached air cell, one was a very early quitter and the other had a saddle air cell, they were the only ones with air cell issues. So I ended up with all buff and white, which are beautiful. Let me know how yours are doing, did your air cells look good? Which colors did you get? They were definitely packaged well, and I only had one detached air cell, so that's not bad.
I ran my humidity at about 45% the first week and adjusted from there. It would change depending on the day and how dry the air was in the house. I lowered it after the first week and ended up between 35 and 40% and my air cells ended up looking great, just keep an eye on them! they will tell you where you need to be. I had read a great tip on here for lowering humidity in the Eco, I washed a small cap (like a toothpaste sized cap) and used that in the water well instead of filling the entire side. There were a few days that the humidity would have been 50% with one half filled, which I think would have definitely been too high.
Distraction definitely helps with egg obsession I think just having a baby or toddler around can distract you from just about anything. Just wait, though, those last three days are killer. I think I reached egg stalker status by day 20

The humidity was staying way to high with just one side filled (50%). So I dried it out and did the toothpaste cap and it's running 35%! Thank you for the tip!!

 

[4chickns]

The humidity was staying way to high with just one side filled (50%). So I dried it out and did the toothpaste cap and it's running 35%! Thank you for the tip!!

I'm glad that worked for you too! I filled it using one of the baby medicine syringes and would add a few extra drops in the well, which would keep me at about 40%, depending on the day. I had rainy days when I didn't need any water in there at all. Keep me posted on their development!

 

[RubyNala97]

I'm glad that worked for you too! I filled it using one of the baby medicine syringes and would add a few extra drops in the well, which would keep me at about 40%, depending on the day. I had rainy days when I didn't need any water in there at all. Keep me posted on their development!

I will, thanks again for the help! Today is day 4 and I took them out of the little carton stands I made to fit in the mini Eco. I did a quick candling. This is only my second time ever candling. I candle the day they came in and couldn't see anything! Today I saw all the air cells! They all looked good except for one, which had kinda a wacky shape (kinda like a saddle). So I'm happy with that. And I saw red veins in one. The whole process is so exciting! I can't wait to mark the cells on day 7! Hopefully I'll have a silkie chick or 2 (or more!!) in a couple weeks! Oh yeah and I used the kids medicine dropped too! Moms must think alike!

 

[scflock]

If it's holding that percentage w/little-no water I would definitely leave it. Even moisture loving SC runs his around 40% last I knew

Yep. I add as much water as it takes to maintain 40-42%. In the winter, thats both wells in the Octo 20. In the summer thats just a little water in one trough. I don't add anything until the humidity drops below 40% with the air vent wide open