Brinsea Octagon 20 --Works for hatches well?

[bantyshanty]

I'm thinking of getting a Brinsea Octagon Advance
In addition to the Mini Advance & Hovabator Genesis I already have.
I've been using my tiny Brinsea as the incubator, the Hovabator for lockdown & hatch, and I've gotten to 100% hatch rates 3 times now this way.

Maybe that's b/c I'm hatching only 6 at a time? lol. I want to hatch more now.

I cannot hatch more thatn one bantam in the Brinsea Mini, b/c the first chick always tries to run circles and tips the second egg... no good as a hatcher for me.

Do any Octagon owners out theere in the BYC-o-sphere use the 'bator as the hatcher with a full or near full load?
Does it have an egg holder/turner that you remove & put down a non-skid mat? Do you use egg cartons & is there extra room for the peeps to walk?

Also, who recommends the Octagon 20 Eco over the Advance?
Is there a good way to insert a very readable thermometer and hygrometer, unlike the Mini?

Is the hand turning simple?

The mini Eco requires removing the dome lid to turn, which disturbs temp & humidity, and this doesn't, right?

That's all the questions I can think of.

Brinsea the site has their Octo 20 Advance for $300 (ouch!)
And Octo 20 Eco for $99 (not Ouch)

 

[Sweetfolly]

Wow, you have a lot of questions! I'll do my best to help!

I have two Brinsea Ocatgon 20 Ecos and one auto-turning cradle. I'm using one as an incubator, and one as a hatcher so that I can do staggered hatches.

- I would not reccommend using the Octagon 20 as a hatcher with a full load - it gets a bit tight in there. I hatched 4 ducklings in mine this week, and the first three out managed to flip the other egg out of the carton it was sitting in and were nibbling at it! I dunno though - that was probably a result of having too much room, as opposed to too little.

- The eggs are held in by universal metal dividers - you just put them as far apart as they need to be to hold your eggs in - they can accommodate any size egg from Goose to quail. You remove the dividers at hatch time, and I personally hatch in an egg carton. I think I could hatch about a dozen bantams in there and they'd still have a bit of room to stumble around and learn to use their legs. (I have 8 Bantam Cochin eggs in lockdown right now, and there's plenty of room around the egg carton for them to flop down and explore.)

- I don't see the need for all the fancy features of the Advance, which is why I went with the Eco and an auto-turning cradle. I finally gave in and bought the Brinsea Spot Check thermometer last week (about $28 after shipping, and it's extremely accurate), and it has a probe that is easily inserted through the ventilation hole at the top of the 'bator. I stuck it in to verify my temperature (since my last batch of ducklings hatched a bit early), and now that I'm happy with the temperature, I don't keep a thermometer in there, because the Brinsea holds a rock-steady temp. - I just stick the probe in there and check the temperature once a week or so. I have a little reptile hygrometer that I wedged at the very front of the 'bator with an extra divider, so that I can read it easily.

- Hand turning is super-simple, if you have the time to do it three to seven times a day. Otherwise, the auto-turning cradle is worth the extra investment! If you do hand turn, you just turn the whole 'bator, you don't have to remove the lid, so the temperature and the humidity aren't affected.

Okay, I think that's it!

 

[Mahonri]

Last hatch, 100% at lockdown hatched in the Brinsesa.

 

[bantyshanty]

Wow! I think you answered all my questions perfectly, Annarie, thanks . I think I'll invest in 1 Octo 20 Eco for now, maybe another down the road. I do love Brinsea. My Mini has improved my hatch rates amazingly!

 

[prncssprplfrog]

Okay- Annarie~
We've talked about this before- but I have 18 eggs (mostly bantams) in my Octo 20 now. Do we think that might be too much for lock down?



My home-made incubator isn't the greatest...I locked down my BCM eggs in there & I'm having humidity issues- had to help 2 out, another seems to be drying out.



I might be able to get my hands on another incubator for lockdown...but not sure...

SO- I should take the dividers out- even with my eggs that have busted or wonkie air cells?

 

[Sweetfolly]

Quote:
I think you'll be okay with 18 - they're just going to be a little tight in there. You may end up making the call to open the 'bator quick and take the fluffy ones out while the hatch is still in progress.

I'm not sure because I've just never hatched that many in the Octagon 20 all at once before! I don't know if I could handle 18 chicks at once!

The only trouble with not taking the dividers out is that the little ones flop around and can trip on them or get wedged in them - I'm not sure, because I'm not at home with the incubators right now, but I think you could fit and egg carton and a half (cut one egg carton down the middle to get those extra 6 cups) all in the tray and hatch your 18 eggs in there. There won't be any room around the cartons for them to walk around then, and they'll be flopping all over one another - but, that shouldn't hurt anything, the little buggers are amazingly resilient. I just can't stand watching it - I have to leave the room once they hatch and they're all wobbly and trying to learn how their legs work, because I want to pick them up and help them so bad!

 

[prncssprplfrog]

I'm the same way- I know you take care of your sisters, but wait til you have kids! I've got one pipped still & I'm trying my hardest not to intervene.... I did pay a bit for these eggs, but it just pipped 7 hours ago. The membrane near the pip looks all papery-and I worry that I'll have another glued in there- as the last two were. They are doing fine now as well. So- 4 out of 8 shipped BCM eggs, when I ordered 6 isn't too bad!


I think I will candle them before lockdown & see how the air cells look. I may just lay them down with the dividers out and see what happens. I know that I have 2 clears so far, just waiting until day 14 to take them & any other quitter's out.