Brinsea 20 ECO

[Jennie99]

I received my new incubator in by UPS today. It is a Brinsea 20 ECO. I assumed the temperature was preset for chicken eggs. However the mercury glass thermometer is reading 104 degrees. It's been plugged in for an hour now and the light is flashing that it is at temperature range. Is my thermometer off or will I have to adjust the temperature manually?

 

[loveourbirds]

it could be the incubator or the thermometer. try to scrounge up 3 or 4 thermometers from around the house. put them all in the same place out of any light. average the temperatures and take the one closest one to the average. or you could compare it to the one that came with the incubator and adjust the original however needed.

once you have one you trust, run a test batch of eggs. these can be from your own flock, or a trusted local source. with large fowl if they hatch before day 20 your temp is a little to hot. if they hatch after day 22 your temp is to cool. if you have a power outage it will delay your hatch also, so don't adjust if the power is out and the incubator cools off more than a couple degrees.

with bantams the days are 18 and 22 respectively.

if your first hatch fails don't get discouraged, it happens to most of us our first time around. typically it takes 3 hatches to really get the hang of it, and you will never stop learning. ive hatched a few thousand chicks this year alone and I still learn all the time. I also still run out and look in the incubators every morning and sometimes check them in the middle of the night.

when the time comes, and they start to hatch; do not help them out of the shell. it does more damage than you can imagine. the chicks don't absorb the yolk of the egg until they are ready to hatch, and after they have pipped through the shell. as the chick hatches the insides of the eggs slightly start to dry, the shell becomes real fragile and the chick will typically zip out in just a few hours. ive seen it take over 24 hours on a couple of cool hatches but over 30 they probably aren't going to make it. if they don't have the strength to get all the way out on their own, there is probably a much larger problem that you cant see. people have successfully helped them out after the hatch period, but there is usually a lot of bad feet. they are usually very weak and don't make it. I only help them hatch if its something very rare, or a highly needed bird. (rare breeder stock, or after an animal attack where a whole breed is lost)

 

[sumi]

I received my new incubator in by UPS today. It is a Brinsea 20 ECO. I assumed the temperature was preset for chicken eggs. However the mercury glass thermometer is reading 104 degrees. It's been plugged in for an hour now and the light is flashing that it is at temperature range. Is my thermometer off or will I have to adjust the temperature manually?

I bought a Brinsea 20 ECO a few months ago and I had to adjust the temperature slightly. Mine was not preset. The instructions booklet that came with the 'bator will tell you how to do it. The thermometer that came with mine is very accurate and I've had good hatches in it.

 

[loveourbirds]

I bought a Brinsea 20 ECO a few months ago and I had to adjust the temperature slightly. Mine was not preset. The instructions booklet that came with the 'bator will tell you how to do it. The thermometer that came with mine is very accurate and I've had good hatches in it.

I don't know if I have ever spoke to you, sorry if I haven't I'm not trying to be unsociable.

sumi is one of the few people I would send someone to if I don't know the answer on hatching or egg condition. also I have never used a brisnea incubator, so sumi will have much better advice on your model.

 

[pfmoore17]

I have had a Brinsea 20 Eco for a number of years and it has been an excellent machine.
The thermometer provide has been excellent and I had to calibrate my temperature when I received it.
I run mine @ 99.5. It hatches on day 21. I usually hatch Marans eggs. It's a rock solid performer. Only trouble I ever had was the fan died but they replaced it under warranty.

 

[Jennie99]

Thank you all for your replies. I am going to get a couple of more thermometers to check the temp and adjust as needed and then try a test hatch. This won't be my first incubator hatch as I've hatched chickens and quail before, but not in over 5 years. So it is a bit like starting over. Thanks again! I'll try and let you know how it goes.

 

[Jennie99]

Do you recommend a certain thermometer to use? I don't have any in the house except the wall thermostat.

 

[sumi]

I've used the thermometer that came with the incubator from the start. It is very accurate. Adjust the thermostat and check the temperature using that, then if you are unsure get any high quality thermometer you can buy. The price is usually a good indication of quality, i.e. the cheap ones are no good. Beer and wine maker's thermometers are quite good too. Last time I bought a thermometer I picked a shop with a large range of different ones and checked the temp reading on each. That gave me an idea of which were accurate. Some of the cheaper ones were several degrees off!

 

[loveourbirds]

most thermometers will list their variance on the back of the package. and as sumi said price usually reflects quality. I had several that had came with little giant incubators and turners, I just calibrated a few of them. you can pick these up for about a buck.

 

[speedy2020]

I got my few years ago. The temperature is off 2.5 deg F so I adjust to 100F. It is a solid incubator, but I don't like the turner. The motor is weak and stop working about 11 months. The company send me a new motor and I installed it myself. I guess.. the cost to send back for repair would be expensive.