help -- brinsea eco hatched on edges

[foxflower]

I set 12 eggs in my new Brinsea Eco. They were placed in two rows of 6 on one side of the incubator. The two in the outer corners hatched a few hours early. Then the others on the front row hatched twelve hours later, working inward to the middle . Of the eggs in the second row the two on the ends and one next in line hatched about 6 hours later. The 3 closest to the fan never hatched despite being left in the incubator a couple extra days.

I opened the quitters to find 3 fully develped chicks. 2 looked as if they'd not absorbed the yolk, and I couldn't tell on the other. Am I right in thinking the temperature was too low? If I raise the temperature, what will then happen to the chicks in the corners? Will it be too hot? I have it set now at 99.5 steady. The under fan temp before was showing at least 99 degrees steady and humidity for lockdown was 65 with some flucuation as they hatched and when I added water. Oh, I forgot to take out the dividers, but they did fine as they hatched. Any comments/ suggestions? I set 6 last night on one side and am going to add at least another twelve this comming weekend. These are eggs I've bought and had shipped, so I want to get it straight. Last time were just practice crossbred eggs from my bil.

 

[JordanFamily]

I also use the Eco but am wondering if the two chicks had issues because you kept the deviders in place? The directions tell you to take them out and I'm sure there is a reason for that... I keep mine at 100 or just barely below 100 defrees... All mine hatch but I always place them on their side for lockdown and then never ope the bator until they are all done... How was your air vent set? all the way open? I try to keep my vent 1/3 open all the time and only open it more if I need to bring the humidity down a little... Oh and when I open to candle at day 10 and day 14 I always switch the eggs around so all get different places to finish growing... Good Luck...

 

[katharinad]

Looks like the heat is not distributed right. Warmer to the outside and cooler to the center. This is due to the design of the machine and the fan location. Also never put any eggs under fans. This applies to any fan driven incubator. The down blow dries the eggs out and the chicks get shrink wrapped before it is their time to hatch. I also avoid corner, because air gets trapped there.
Katharina

 

[cluckers&quackers]

I can't offer any advice as this is my first hatch. I am using the brinsea eco 20, today is my hatch day. I have 3 chicks hatched, the first 2 to hatch were in the front right corner, the 3rd was in the back left corner. I have pips in a bunch of other eggs, through out the bator, don't seem to be in just one area. I know I am no help for your current problem, just thought I would post what I have noticed so far.

 

[JordanFamily]

In the brinsea I have had good hatches even under the fan... I would just read my post and do what I have done by playing musical chairs once ot wice so they all get moved a few times... You can also call Brinsea and they have suport people to help with suggestions... Good Luck...

 

[HenThymes]

I just hatched in the Brinsea ECO 20 last week and had it slap full and 23 of 24 eggs hatched. It made no difference where they were, they all did great. This being my own personal experience and only used the glass thermometer too. I have it reset with another full 25, some are bantams, and so far so good. Still too early to see who may or may not be vital in this group. I am enjoying using my eco 20.

 

[foxflower]

Quote:
Well, I don't know if the dividers made a difference or not, I still had a 75% hatch rate and a lot of people hatch with eggs upright, correct? I thought removing the dividers was to protect their feet and legs once they hatch.

I didn't open it during lockdown and my air vent was kept at 1/3 unless I opened it to add water through a straw or needed to bring humidity down. I guess moving the eggs around might be a good idea when candling them anyway. I just might call Brinsea and see what they think... Meanwhile, maybe I can set them to avoid being in the center using plastic eggs as ballasts. I'm glad to hear others did better than I with their hatches.

 

[foxflower]

Just in case anyone refers to this thread later.....I called Brinsea. They also suggested I rotate the eggs around periodically. They have heard of this a couple times before. The fan doesn't blow directly down. It blows on the plastic and flows around distributing the heat. The warm air flows down the sides, so the sides and corners are warmer. The area under the fan in the center of the bator is then the cooler area. So even though it's a small bator, there are slight temperature differences. Since my temperature was around 99, those in the middle were cooler. Now we know. Hope this information helps someone else! Good luck hatchers.