Brinsea Mini Advance and humidity

[sixbabychicks14]

Oh I forgot, we had one egg that was a yolker! 7 in all.

 

[Mahen100]

Congrats, Six, on your new hatch! Hope you don't mind my joining in. Bella, I share your angst over the humidity levels in my new Mini Advance. The room's humidity here has been between 43 and 46% since I began. We are well ventilated. I am a few days behind you, entering day 6 (digital readout on the Mini changed to Day 15 as I type.) I set four shipped eggs and three from a local source. I weighed eggs as I set them, and weighed them at day 5 again. Each had lost a average of two grams at that point. I remember seeing a simple formula to calculate a percentage, and read another post suggesting an average of .65% weight loss per egg per day would result in the total of around 13% weight loss for a good hatch. If I re-locate those calcualations, I will post them here. I have added water in one center pot kept to keep it about 1/4th full, and am considering reducing that to zero. Of the seven eggs, the largest has lost the least weight so far, and the one that has lost the most has a few pinhead sized "leak" spots on its blunt end, possibly damaged in shipping. I'll weigh again on day 8, to decide if going dry for a bit is indicated or not, and candle to see if the egg with pin prick spots is alive. Any comments or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks to everyone sharing experineces and offering suggestions here. It has been a helpful read.

 

[Melabella]

I am a few days behind you, entering day 6 (digital readout on the Mini changed to Day 15 as I type.)

I thought the digital readout on my mini advance stuck at Day 8 for 2 days. Also,, on the mini advance it starts out at 21 and counts down, but everyone mentions their days the opposite way. Lockout is always referred to as Days 20 and 21, but for me it will be day 2 and 1. Was this something I was supposed to program myself? I am a total new comer and afraid my first batch here will fail miserably. Nothing in the directions said I should be reading humidity, or is that something I should have done on my own initiative?

thanks for any info,
MB

 

[3riverschick]

So that's what was going on!

I have two BMA and just love them. Did as the instructions suggested and the last 2 seasons have filled both wells to the top the last several days. My were those chicks soppin' wet when they hatched! I was wondering if chicks were always that wet at hatch.

And the domes all fogged up too. I had to remove the broken shells to give them more room and lessen the humidity. I did find out it doesn't hurt on hatch days to quickly lift the dome and remove the shells. I just had to make sure when I put the dome back down again quickly, I didn't trap any toes or down in the side of the ring.

The temp and humidity shot right back up very quickly. one of the great things about this model. Thanks for the info!

From now on I'll use your recommendations!

Best,
Karen in western PA, USA

 

[Tumbleweed Farm]

Hi there! The hatch went pretty good. Two hatched out just fine by themselves but the other 5 needed help. We lost one that never pipped, but had died that morning in his shell. Weird, but he was moving lots that morning. After all had hatched, i candled it and there was no movement at all and it was around 6am Easter morning, so..I went ahead and pipped it and he was fully formed but hadn't absorbed his yolk. I felt terrible. But we have 5 busy puff butts to monopolize all my time! Thanks for asking! I will try to post a picture this evening for everyone to see. Thanks!

Are the ones you assisted doing well? 5 is an awful lot to assist out of 7. Post pics and it sounds like the assisted are doing fine. I don't ever assist, but that's me. I hope to become a breeder someday--lots to learn and way down the line. Breeders never assist.

 

[Mahen100]

... Also,, on the mini advance it starts out at 21 and counts down, but everyone mentions their days the opposite way. Lockout is always referred to as Days 20 and 21, but for me it will be day 2 and 1. Was this something I was supposed to program myself? I am a total new comer and afraid my first batch here will fail miserably. Nothing in the directions said I should be reading humidity, or is that something I should have done on my own initiative?

thanks for any info,
MB

LOL Melabella on a long 8th day! I had to email Brinsea with a question in their instructions on the "cool down" feature starting at "day 7." They have their baters count down from Day 21, but give instructions to start cool-down on day seven. I asked them is that the Mini readout COUNTDOWN day on top of the mini...or the seventh day of the incubation process which would read DAY 14 on the mini readout. (nope, its not what the readout will show, its the 7th day of the incubation process.) It is confusing, and I am new at this as well, though I see lots of expert help here. I am learning with you as we go.

 

[Tumbleweed Farm]

So that's what was going on!

I have two BMA and just love them. Did as the instructions suggested and the last 2 seasons have filled both wells to the top the last several days. My were those chicks soppin' wet when they hatched! I was wondering if chicks were always that wet at hatch.

And the domes all fogged up too. I had to remove the broken shells to give them more room and lessen the humidity. I did find out it doesn't hurt on hatch days to quickly lift the dome and remove the shells. I just had to make sure when I put the dome back down again quickly, I didn't trap any toes or down in the side of the ring.

The temp and humidity shot right back up very quickly. one of the great things about this model. Thanks for the info!

From now on I'll use your recommendations!

Best,
Karen in western PA, USA

Karen, I drowned a few chicks when I first got my BMAs--as you noted the humidity holds well and also recovers from opening very quickly. They take very little water at lockdown. I've never had a shrink wrapped chick. I open mine to get newly hatched out, the shells, etc. Hatching chicks ups the humidity to gawd awful levels. I have also purposely opened the lid for a minute or 2 for fresh air (with pips and zips). You should not run into a problem opening these incubators--I never have and like I said, no shrink wraps--ever.

 

[Mahen100]

...... I drowned a few chicks when I first got my BMAs--as you noted the humidity holds well and also recovers from opening very quickly. They take very little water at lockdown. I've never had a shrink wrapped chick. I open mine to get newly hatched out, the shells, etc. Hatching chicks ups the humidity to gawd awful levels. I have also purposely opened the lid for a minute or 2 for fresh air (with pips and zips). You should not run into a problem opening these incubators--I never have and like I said, no shrink wraps--ever.

Thanks for sharing your experiences with the BMA! This helps and reassures me that I am on the right track.

Thanks Again,

Betty
Mahen100

 

[Tumbleweed Farm]

Quote: You are very welcome!

 

[Tumbleweed Farm]

And, welcome to BYC.