Calling all NEW Brinsea Eco owners!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[BlacksheepCardigans]

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I really don't think that's as much of an issue as it is for the styrofoam ones. If you're using a HovaBator or similar (or a homemade one) you've got this vast amount of air above the eggs. Every time you open it the incubator has to heat and humidify all that air. So figuring out how to run it without opening it becomes a priority.

The Brinseas only keep a little air over the eggs. You can open it five times a day if you want and the humidity and temp will recover within about ninety seconds. I've now done two hatches and opened the incubator at least twice a day in each, and my ambient RH right now is about 20%. I'd go get a paper towel, run it under hot water, open the incubator to scoop out hatched chicks and empty eggs, lay the wet paper towel over the open space created by removal of shells and chicks, and close the top. It would zoom up to 70% in under a minute. All my peeps hatched fast and slick, with good translucent membranes.

 

[speedy2020]

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I'm with you on this. I love the HovaBator Genesis. So far, I do not like the Brinsea Eco ONLY because I can not figure out how to add water without opening it.

Here what I use to fill the water for any type of incubator. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=427507

 

[CorgiHouse]

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So can someone answer a question about this that has been bugging me? I keep reading about how you shouldn't open the bator - if you do you lose heat and humidity, etc, etc........and howhorrible that is for the developing chicks. But when eggs are under a broody, she gets completely OFF the nest for a bit to go eat and drink. I'm sure those eggs lose heat and humidity too. And may remain that way for 30 minutes!

So why is so bad for us to allow that to happen occasionally - even every day? I would think that this also brings in a wave of fresh air which has got to be good for the eggs as well. I'm doing my first bator hatch right now, so I have no experience, but it just seems logical to me that if we try to mimic Mother Nature, we can't go wrong. And broody hens don't keep the temp and humidity exactly the same all the time.

*I'm not talking about the last 3 days or during hatching, either. That is a different story.

Thanks in advance to anyone that can explain this to me.

 

[PepsNick]

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So can someone answer a question about this that has been bugging me? I keep reading about how you shouldn't open the bator - if you do you lose heat and humidity, etc, etc........and howhorrible that is for the developing chicks. But when eggs are under a broody, she gets completely OFF the nest for a bit to go eat and drink. I'm sure those eggs lose heat and humidity too. And may remain that way for 30 minutes!

So why is so bad for us to allow that to happen occasionally - even every day? I would think that this also brings in a wave of fresh air which has got to be good for the eggs as well. I'm doing my first bator hatch right now, so I have no experience, but it just seems logical to me that if we try to mimic Mother Nature, we can't go wrong. And broody hens don't keep the temp and humidity exactly the same all the time.

*I'm not talking about the last 3 days or during hatching, either. That is a different story.

Thanks in advance to anyone that can explain this to me.

I wonder this too. Plus if you don't have the auto egg turner than you're opening it THREE times per day.

 

[enggass]

Good points... As far as opening to rotate(without turner), that is unnecessary with the Brinsea Eco. You simply rotate the entire bator...

 

[kathyinmo]

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Here what I use to fill the water for any type of incubator. https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=427507

You still have to open the Brinsea incubator to use that. I use an old picnic ketchup bottle, which is the same principle.

My point is, what I do NOT like about the Brinsea Eco .... how to add water withOUT opening the Brinsea. I guess I will just have to break down and buy the humidity pump.

 

[PepsNick]

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Oh. Good to know. Though I will be getting the turner.

 

[gryeyes]

Kathy, I already have a suggestion for you. (Although the humidity pump makes things SO much easier!!)

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Hypo without needle, tubing, snake the tube into the front vent opening and insert water through that. Squoosh water into the tube with the hypo, wait a bit, then remove the tube so the vent opening is clear again.

There ARE very small air vents in the bottom of the 'bator, in the corners, so it wouldn't totally block air, anyway, having that vent hole full of tubing for a while.

See if this will work for you.

 

[BlacksheepCardigans]

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Brinsea DOES sell an incubator that mimics a broody - http://brinsea.com/products/z6.htm

Seeing how it works may help to answer your question - see how the warmth and humidity are provided by actual physical contact with a membrane? When a broody sits on eggs, she's providing instant contact warmth and moisture so she can fix what's wrong (loss of heat or water) quickly.

When you open a big incubator and then close it, cooler air replaces what was inside. Warmth is provided to that air by two warmer items - the heating element or lightbulb and the eggs themselves. So the eggs actually lose some warmth even after the incubator is closed. Same deal with the humidity - water moves into the air from the trays AND it moves into the air from the eggs. It won't go back into the eggs until the air is more moist than the eggs are. That can take a long time when there's a lot of air compared to eggs.

A broody instantly puts both warmth and moisture back into her eggs, so their time of danger is actually shorter when she leaves to eat and drink than it would be in a big incubator opened for a few minutes.

The behavior of a broody - the fact that she touches the eggs directly, the fact that she turns them so often and tucks them in when they need to be tucked - solves the problems caused by her leaving.

 

[gryeyes]

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O. M. G. I don't think I've wanted anything as much as I want that incubator in a LONG time.

No frickin' way could I buy it, but daaaang. I want one.