I just hatched my 1st batch of Marans eggs in this Brinsea Mini Advance. So I thought I'd post a review while my experience is fresh. I ordered local eggs from a breeder, 7 full sized eggs, and some of the eggs were so wide that the dividers kept the eggs from turning properly. I was able to switch the eggs around to make them fit better and turning went well. The controls and temp settings were easy to use and the unit was well thought out except for 1 major flaw. The interior is not tall enough for full size chicks to stand up, nor is there enough room for hatching more than about 4 chicks without opening the lid during lockdown to remove partly wet chicks. Once those eggs break open and 7 eggshells mixed with chicks hatching and trying to stumble around in tight quarters and no extra floor space I had chicks crawling over the tops of pipped eggs rolling them all around. The chicks all got piled up on top of each other with a newer hatched one on the bottom of the pile wedged in with nowhere to turn, it was just awful. We ended up doing the unthinkable, opening the unit to remove chicks while others were already pipped and hatching. Several times we had to open it up to take out egg shells and then chicks to make room. Then the stress over losing the humidity. We ended up having to break open the last 2 eggs that must have been shrink wrapped in membrane that was too dry to allow the chick to get out. One was weak but OK so far but one was fully formed but dead. It appeared that the pip hole was pushed over to the bottom of the incubator and the eggs and chicks were so wedged in there that the chick just couldn't get out. I suggest this incubator would be nice for small eggs only since the full size Marans chicks could not stand up. And if one was going to do full sized eggs maybe 3 or 4 would be maximum for the space. To clean the incubator after the hatch I used the Brinsea solution that is expensive but kills lots of bacteria etc. It comes in concentrate and smells pleasant. I had to take the fan motor cover off to clean well with q-tips being careful not to get any moisture down in there, but it was easy to take apart and clean-up went well. If I had it to do over I would buy the larger Brinsea Octogon type and then only put the 7 eggs in it. I'd be happy to answer any questions for fellow chicken enthusiasts, just drop me an email. [email protected]
Well since this post all 7 from Brisnea hatched...so apparently removing them to make room for others didn't affect my hatch rate. There are 4 eggs from LG that I moved over to the Brisnea. Two of those have pipped but not hatched yet. :yiipchick
