Brinsea Octagon 20 Most eggs??

[bittychicks]

I have the Brinsea Octagon 20 and so far the most I've tried in there was 33 eggs 2 were LF eggs and 31 were bantam eggs. I am looking at hatching eggs to buy online and want to know how many regular size/big eggs you've ever fit. What is the best way? Put the top ones in egg cartons with holes cut out or somehow stack them?

 

[Chicken-Farmer]

Problem with over filling the incubator is during the hatch your chicks will not have enough room to move around. I have had the Octagon 20 for 10 years with many great hatches. Every time I get the itch to stack a couple more eggs inside I have to remind myself about hatching time. As it is 60 quail eggs leave very little room once all the shells and chicks start piling up. When we have hatched chicken eggs the same was true. There is no easy solution. If you want to set more eggs get a bigger incubator or a spare incubator to hatch in.

Chicken-Farmer

 

[Fred's Hens]

Lots of folks "over load" the 20 during incubation period, but move the eggs to a hatcher 3 days before the great event.
I built a simple hatcher out of a polystyrene foam box. Less than $30 it in it. The 20 is a good incubator, but cleaning it isn't easy. Plus, it has so little head room and no good way to clean all the fuzz out of the top end.

For all those reasons, a dedicated hatcher is ideal.

 

[bittychicks]

Yea I was thinking of moving them into the hovabator for the actual hatch. I was just curious how exactly to stack them. Do they roll around when you stack, or are they in there so tight there is little movement?

 

[Fred's Hens]

My friends are stackers. How they do it? I do not know. I always felt the eggs weren't secure enough to suit me.
I use the egg carton method so they eggs do not "shock" as they get tilted back and forth. By trimming the egg cartons carefully, I can put 24 eggs in securely.

 

[imtrying]

Lots of folks "over load" the 20 during incubation period, but move the eggs to a hatcher 3 days before the great event.
I built a simple hatcher out of a polystyrene foam box. Less than $30 it in it. The 20 is a good incubator, but cleaning it isn't easy. Plus, it has so little head room and no good way to clean all the fuzz out of the top end.

For all those reasons, a dedicated hatcher is ideal.

x2.

i never have issues incubating eggs with the 20. works awesomely. that said, i do not like hatching in it. there's just not enough room. and cleaning the top is....a job if not nearly impossible in a practical way.

one could easy argue that it's actually not a good incubator for those reasons. but it keeps temp and humidity perfectly.

 

[bittychicks]

x2.

i never have issues incubating eggs with the 20. works awesomely. that said, i do not like hatching in it. there's just not enough room. and cleaning the top is....a job if not nearly impossible in a practical way.

one could easy argue that it's actually not a good incubator for those reasons. but it keeps temp and humidity perfectly.

My last hatch I had thirty chicks successfully hatch in it. The fuzz that comes off them was everywhere. I thought because its plastic it should be easy to clean. That was not the case it took me nearly two hours by the time I got everything apart. But I guess that's the compromise for it keeping the temp and humidity so well.

 

[Fred's Hens]

The incubator function of the machine is often hard to match.
The hatching features of the machine? Well, I agree with others. Not so much.

If you have a hatcher, you could literally run 50 or 60 staggered eggs through the Brinsea, removing them to the hatcher, hatch 3 days later, clean up a day or two, and then more eggs from the Brinsea moved into the hatcher, etc. The merry-go-round go on and on.

At some point, I'd prefer to stop and clean it, however, but if all goes well, it wouldn't be that hard to run staggered hatches through it over a 5 week period. It is being done, that I know.

 

[Ariel188]

I just ordered the Octagon 20 advance and all the talk about it being a nightmare to clean is a little unsettling. Are there instructions on what is best to use, etc? Thank you.

 

[Patsonline]

I have the Brinsea Octagon 20 and so far the most I've tried in there was 33 eggs 2 were LF eggs and 31 were bantam eggs. I am looking at hatching eggs to buy online and want to know how many regular size/big eggs you've ever fit. What is the best way? Put the top ones in egg cartons with holes cut out or somehow stack them?

Maybe this seems a little obvious .... why not buy a bigger incubator? Personally i have used the octagon 20 for 7 years and find it a very reliable machine .. so much so i just use it for very valuable eggs i may have purchased from overseas. That success i put down to using the machine as it was intended to be used by the manufacturer.