Brinsea Mini Advance Incubator

[bantiesrule]

You should be able to fit a dozen serama eggs in there without any problem, even more. They are such itty-bitty things. I think I had 15 OEGB in mine, I really don't remember but I'm sure it was at least a dozen. I just have the mini, not the advanced so I don't have the turning trays and just turn them by hand. I would think the 12 egg disc would work though.

 

[Chook Chick]

I need some advice/answers please.

I have a Brinsea Advance Mini coming next week. I've read the posts in this thread as well. I also read the User Manual for the BAM.

My question is: How do you know what the humidity level is?

I ordered a hygrometer too, but when the Mini is closed up, how do you read the humidity level?

Thanks for replies in advance!

 

[Maah]

I ordered a separate hygrometer too. I found a pretty small one that fits inside. If you have 7 eggs in there to start, there really isn't any room for the hygrometer with the eggs on the turner. What I would do (though I was incubating silkie eggs & they're smaller) is wait for the turner to spin, then quick slide the hygrometer in between the eggs. After 1/2 hour or so I would read it, then take it back out before it spun again. I did that every day or two for the first week. After the first week, if I have a quitter/dud egg, I take that out and put the hygrometer in that space. The brinsea mini advance tends to hold humidity pretty well (for me at least).

Most people just tend to trust the brinsea... but I like having a general idea of the readings.

 

[TeePants]

We are using a Brinsea Mini Advance, and it's in lockdown with our two remaining Ancona duck eggs. They pipped and I think they've started zipping but thier water level was getting low. I panicked and lifted the edge of the bator just enough to get a couple wads of warm, wet paper towels in- will they be ok? We are in south LA and the humidity outside is like 69%, and that is with 50 degree temps - our house is significantly warmer inside and hopefully as humid.

This is our first time hatching so I hope we didn't make a serious miscall here!

 

[Maah]

We are using a Brinsea Mini Advance, and it's in lockdown with our two remaining Ancona duck eggs. They pipped and I think they've started zipping but thier water level was getting low. I panicked and lifted the edge of the bator just enough to get a couple wads of warm, wet paper towels in- will they be ok? We are in south LA and the humidity outside is like 69%, and that is with 50 degree temps - our house is significantly warmer inside and hopefully as humid.

This is our first time hatching so I hope we didn't make a serious miscall here!

Do you see any moisture building up around the edge, or by the automatic turner. That is usually a good indicator to me about how high the humidity is. If you see moisture built up, especially is it's reaching up the turner mechanism on the side, that's usually pretty decent.

Also, if you have a syringe (like a turkey flavor injector or whatever)... there are small holes in the dome that you can add a couple warm drops of water through. There is one fairly decent size vent hole on the back towards the top, and (I think) two tiny holes along the bottom lip. I used one of those holes to add a few drops of water during my last hatch.

However, if you still have water in the reservior, I'd say you should be good. The humidity doesn't matter if the water level is low, it's the surface area that creates it. A low level of water in the Brinsea reservior will create the same amount of humidity as a higher level.

Let us know how your hatch goes!! Good luck... & pictures if you can.

 

[TeePants]

Oh! I didn't know that, okay. We do have a few syringes lying around; if I have to I will try getting a few drops in that way. There is still water on both sides of the reservoir and there is water vapor on the edges/turning mechanism. I'm probably just being paranoid lol. I have been told ducks take longer to hatch anyway?

I know they should be peeping a lot but these two are so quiet! They must be resting every time I check on them, because they seem to make progress when I'm not around!

 

[Maah]

Oh! I didn't know that, okay. We do have a few syringes lying around; if I have to I will try getting a few drops in that way. There is still water on both sides of the reservoir and there is water vapor on the edges/turning mechanism. I'm probably just being paranoid lol. I have been told ducks take longer to bath anyway?

I've never hatched ducks before... I'm only going off my experience hatching chickens with the mini advance.

When I had moisture building up to the top of the "mechanism tower" (I guess you could call it that), the humidity was actually pretty high.

I say if you have water vapor on the edges/turning mechanism & still in the reservior, you have plenty of humidity built up in there. You shouldn't need to add any with the syringe especially since they humidity will automatically increase as they start hatching. You need to be careful with the humidity being too high, or it can cause downing when they pip (this is what I know for chickens... lol, like I said, I've never hatched or even owned ducks).

I love the Brinsea incubator though... they try hard to take the guess work out of it.

 

[BantyChickenLuv]

Right now, out of the 7 eggs I set, all 7 are developing strong. It's day 14 now. Obviously the incubator is doing its job correctly, however I too am worried about the humidity for next week when I set my Serama eggs that I ordered. Also, is it weird that I have not had to add water at all during the whole hatch? The eggs are developing strong, but I'm a bit worried about that.

 

[Chook Chick]

I ordered a separate hygrometer too. I found a pretty small one that fits inside. If you have 7 eggs in there to start, there really isn't any room for the hygrometer with the eggs on the turner. What I would do (though I was incubating silkie eggs & they're smaller) is wait for the turner to spin, then quick slide the hygrometer in between the eggs. After 1/2 hour or so I would read it, then take it back out before it spun again. I did that every day or two for the first week. After the first week, if I have a quitter/dud egg, I take that out and put the hygrometer in that space. The brinsea mini advance tends to hold humidity pretty well (for me at least).

Most people just tend to trust the brinsea... but I like having a general idea of the readings.

I know the Brinsea Advance Mini has a very good reputation. We are so dry here in Colorado Springs....always. I think I may have bought the wrong hygrometer as it has a probe on the end of a
cord that's attached to a digital device; the readout gives tempurature and humidity level. It looked great but now that I see how the Brinsea is I don't think I'll be able to use it. Where did you get yours? That sound perfect....the Brinsea doesn't say anything about checking the humidity, it just talks about filling the water chambers (as you know).

I just want everything to go well.....

 

[Maah]

I know the Brinsea Advance Mini has a very good reputation. We are so dry here in Colorado Springs....always. I think I may have bought the wrong hygrometer as it has a probe on the end of a
cord that's attached to a digital device; the readout gives tempurature and humidity level. It looked great but now that I see how the Brinsea is I don't think I'll be able to use it. Where did you get yours? That sound perfect....the Brinsea doesn't say anything about checking the humidity, it just talks about filling the water chambers (as you know).

I just want everything to go well.....

I just have a small mini digital one in there. Here is one like it on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B00153KVYG/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new