Brinsea Octagon 20 Eco. Good, bad, ugly?

[TonkaTrucker]

Hello! I'm looking at buying the Brinsea Octagon 20 Eco (Manual).

Our friend always let's us use her Brinsea Ovation 28, but we want to have our own incubator for the amount we hatch. Unfortunately! Her's is too far out of our price range.

I'm curious to how well the item works, if the humidity and temperature work accurately and consistently. I have no problem manually rotating 3x a day.

I figure if the brand is good for one, it'll be good for the other, but I've had that theory burst too many times :b

Thank you all!

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

What is manual? Is it the temperature and humidity? Or the turner too?
If its just the temperature and humidity it should be fine. Get 2 thermometers and calibrate them and you'll be good to go.
If it's the turner too, are you prepared at least to turn the eggs twice a day or more everyday/ every hatch?

 

[HeatherKellyB]

Have you looked at the Nuture Right 360? It's sold at TSC and is affordable. It's a wonderful option that has a huge following. Many of us have that incubator and love it! I know you're not asking for suggestions so I apologize if I'm overstepping.

The only thing that I love more about the Brinsea is that the lid is easier to put on, although @MGG tells me there are options out there to help with aligning the NR360 lid. The Brinsea also has a cooling feature which is nice for incubating waterfowl. Of course it's not difficult at all to do your own cooling in the NR360.

 

[TonkaTrucker]

What is manual? Is it the temperature and humidity? Or the turner too?
If its just the temperature and humidity it should be fine. Get 2 thermometers and calibrate them and you'll be good to go.
If it's the turner too, are you prepared at least to turn the eggs twice a day or more everyday/ every hatch?

Thanks for responding! I can turn morning, lunch, and evening. I fortunate to work on property.

From my reading, just the turning is manual. It says in the description:

" A flashing indicator shows that the incubation temperature is being controlled steadily and temperature is monitored with a purpose made liquid in glass Thermometer."

and,

"Air is circulated by a long life computer grade fan which, coupled with the unique grill with optimized air diffuser leads to extremely even temperature. Fresh air is controlled with a vent slider and humidity is provided by water in two reservoirs in the base."

So I believe humidity and temperature are controlled by the machine. Unless I'm reading it wrong...

 

[TonkaTrucker]

Have you looked at the Nuture Right 360? It's sold at TSC and is affordable. It's a wonderful option that has a huge following. Many of us have that incubator and love it! I know you're not asking for suggestions so I apologize if I'm overstepping

Definitely not overstepping! I love all advice. I live in Canada, so we unfortunately don't have tractor supply, but I will look up that incubator! Thank you!

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

I don't know, I wouldn't trust an incubator I can't change the temperature on...

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

https://www.chewy.com/brinsea-maxi-ii-eco-manual-30-bird/dp/264765?utm_id=401427327&msclkid=afe85dad6c8516b13f5e3d3fda25cd73&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Shopping-Product Targets-Hard Goods-SSP-DDG&utm_term=4584688614926622&utm_content=All Products
One of my incubators is this ^.
I have to use a tiny screw driver to change the temperature if I need too. It comes with water reservoirs to add water, but you have to monitor it and add water when you need it. ( I guess you have to anyway in any incubator, ) It doesn't come with a digital thermometer, but a glass one. (That is NOT accurate by the way)
You also have to turn the eggs manually.
I like this incubator, especially for hatching my turkey eggs, but I don't love it.
I've mostly been using this incubator for a hatcher at lockdown.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

It's always advised to have an alternate calibrated thermometer and hydrometer in the incubator. You just never know when it will read incorrectly and ruin the entire hatch or worse, result in hatchlings that have deformities

 

[TonkaTrucker]

https://www.chewy.com/brinsea-maxi-ii-eco-manual-30-bird/dp/264765?utm_id=401427327&msclkid=afe85dad6c8516b13f5e3d3fda25cd73&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Shopping-Product Targets-Hard Goods-SSP-DDG&utm_term=4584688614926622&utm_content=All Products
One of my incubators is this ^.
I have to use a tiny screw driver to change the temperature if I need too. It comes with water reservoirs to add water, but you have to monitor it and add water when you need it. ( I guess you have to anyway in any incubator, ) It doesn't come with a digital thermometer, but a glass one. (That is NOT accurate by the way)
You also have to turn the eggs manually.
I like this incubator, especially for hatching my turkey eggs, but I don't love it.
I've mostly been using this incubator for a hatcher at lockdown.

Thank you for your response! The idea of not being able to adjust temperature concerns me as well.

Is Chewy a reputable site to buy from? The prices there are way cheaper than on the sites I've been searching.

 

[HeatherKellyB]

https://www.chewy.com/brinsea-maxi-ii-eco-manual-30-bird/dp/264765?utm_id=401427327&msclkid=afe85dad6c8516b13f5e3d3fda25cd73&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Shopping-Product Targets-Hard Goods-SSP-DDG&utm_term=4584688614926622&utm_content=All Products
One of my incubators is this ^.
I have to use a tiny screw driver to change the temperature if I need too. It comes with water reservoirs to add water, but you have to monitor it and add water when you need it. ( I guess you have to anyway in any incubator, ) It doesn't come with a digital thermometer, but a glass one. (That is NOT accurate by the way)
You also have to turn the eggs manually.
I like this incubator, especially for hatching my turkey eggs, but I don't love it.
I've mostly been using this incubator for a hatcher at lockdown.

My Brinsea is the Maxi II Advance. I need to look into the type of thermometer. I always have at least one alternate calibrated thermometer/hydrometer, but I typically keep an eye on all of them. There is no hydrometer on the Brinsea I have so it's crucial that I have one.

@BirdsBeesTrees is another very experienced hatcher that is full of information and a very reliable source