Frustrated with Brinsea...

[ramonaegglady]

Got the Brinsea Mini Advance incubator. Two failed hatches. Used the factory settings for the first hatch. 7 eggs with 1 weak pip @ 28 days. Chick died during pipping. Did not conduct a post-mortem on the eggs. For the second hatch, made minor adjustments, and had no pips @ 30 days. With eggs still in incubator, conducted extensive research. Research led me to the possibility that adding water to the incubator could cause chicks to drown due to too much moisture. This time I conducted a post-mortem and found perfectly formed Black Copper Marans chicks, ready to pip, and shells filled with water. I am now watching weather humidity conditions and will try the third batch by only adding water to the incubator on day 18. Any other suggestions out there?

 

[wondertwinpower]

When you say the eggs were filled with water - do you mean there was no air sack at all? I'm trying to picture what you discovered.

 

[suebee]

Got the Brinsea Mini Advance incubator.  Two failed hatches.  Used the factory settings for the first hatch.  7 eggs with 1 weak pip @ 28 days.  Chick died during pipping.  Did not conduct a post-mortem on the eggs.  For the second hatch, made minor adjustments, and had no pips @ 30 days.  With eggs still in incubator, conducted extensive research.  Research led me to the possibility that adding water to the incubator could cause chicks to drown due to too much moisture.  This time I conducted a post-mortem and found perfectly formed Black Copper Marans chicks, ready to pip, and shells filled with water.  I am now watching weather humidity conditions and will try the third batch by only adding water to the incubator on day 18.  Any other suggestions out there?

Why would use factory settings? You have to set according to your individual bird. I had 100% success with it because I read the manual first and adjusted settings depending on what kind of egg I had. Read the manual thoroughly before setting any eggs.

 

[ramonaegglady]

Thanks for the input. I read the manual thoroughly and set the eggs, based on factory defaults, for chickens. If there is information available somewhere that speaks to the potential settings needed based on type of chicken, I would love to have that! Do different breeds of chickens require different settings?

 

[suebee]

Think the only setting that could be different for chicken eggs is the turning time. Could be shorter for small eggs, longer for large. I did silkie eggs and set rotating time at 10 every 60 min.
Here is my complete settings for chicken eggs:
temp 99.5, 21 days, auto turn, turn interval 60 min., turn angle 10 seconds, cooling 60 mins daily.

 

[ramonaegglady]

I had candled the eggs at 7 and 14 days. Good development and the air sack was getting bigger - just as described in the manual. The manual says to fill both water pots starting on day 18, which I did. When I opened the eggs, the chicks were fully developed within the shell and water poured out. Should there be much water in the egg at time of pipping? Information I obtained from Univ of CA, Davis indicated that when the humidity is too high water will collect in the shell and drown the chicks. This was the only explanation I could piece together. Has anyone had anything like this happen to them?

 

[ramonaegglady]

The third group, which is in the incubator now, is set for 99.8, turning every two hours, and cooling for 60 minutes 1 x daily. Our relative humidity in the air is approximately 50% - so I have not added water to the pot. This is another group of BCM eggs plus two eggs that would result in Olive Egger chickens. We are on day 18 - so can make some adjustments. Any help or advice is much appreciated!

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

After my husband messed with it, I did figure out that it was running at 94.5 degrees, even though the digital readout said 99.5. It seems to be doing better but I'm still not getting more than 50% hatch rates with my own eggs and the last three times I tried, I got 0% with shipped. Since using my Hovabator with the turner (and fan), I'm up towards 95% of my own eggs and around 60% with shipped. Still not great but a lot better than tossing out 2 dozen eggs three times over.

 

[suebee]

I'm curious about your experiment using no water until lockdown. When are they due?

 

[ramonaegglady]

I am a researcher by trade. In all of my reading of books and various sites and items online, one individual discussed that relative humidity must be taken into account within the environment (outside the incubator). This individual indicated that he had only used the incubator dry, since he lives in a humid part of the country, and only adds water right before lock-down. His hatch rates were consistently 90+ percent. At this point, given the previous post-mortem, thought I would give it a try. If humidity needs to be approximately 50% during days 1-17 and your environmental humidity within the room in which the incubator resides is 50% (or higher), then there is already enough humidity. Again, watching your environmental humidity prior to lock-down, add water necessary to achieve the 70-80%.

Are any of you using a hygrometer? And, if so, which ones are you all using?

Thanks everyone. I am learning and this forum is helping considerably.