Help with Brinesea Incubator

[Necklace]

Hello.. I purchased the Brinesea Mini Advanced incubator.. I have already lost one group of eggs on the last few days.. they were making sounds then they just turned to jelly.. I have a second batch in and they seem ok like the first ones did but I am afraid that in the end they will die also.. I have read the manual 6 times.. looked through the forums.. but I was wondering if anyone that has one of these incubators can tell me what I am doing wrong.. I have it set at
Temp: 99.3
Day: 14
Turn mode is int.
cooling is at 120 min
I am not sure if I should keep water in there for the humidity.. I did that last time and I think that is what killed them.. i have been putting a tiny bit of water in with this group.. they seem ok.. moving when I candle them but I am scared that in the end they will end up like the rest... :/

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Sorry to hear you had a poor hatch last time
Your temp is a little low at 99.3. Would be best at 99.5. What has your humidity been reading? Have your air cells grown adequately? Have you had your vent fully open to allow the full amount of oxygen into the incubator?

What day did you start doing the cool down? I start at 7 but only for 60 minutes as I find 2 hours is too much. That's just a personal choice though and what I find works for me.

Did you stop turning day 18 and put your humidity up to at least 65%?

 

[Necklace]

Wow.. ok that was a great help I am doing it all wrong.. I thought they needed to be turned. All along and does the machine register humidity or do I need something different?

 

[Necklace]

The eggs I have in there are in 14 days

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

They only need turning up to day 18. I will just check if the mini advance has humidity read out on it. I have the octagon advance and it does have a humidity read out on it. If the mini does not I would suggest you get a hygrometer to measure humidity.

Be right back!

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Just looked and the mini advance does not have humidity read out so you will need to get a hygrometer.

How big are your air cells? Here is a guide ~

Have a read of this article too, it's a bible on incubating and hatching

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/hatching-eggs-101

 

[Necklace]

they look to be between the 14 day and the 7 day.. I will have to go and get a hygrometer... this model does not have one.. for 180 dollars it should be able to sing a lullaby to the eggs..



so the humidity should be at 65% about now..

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

At least 65% at day 18 when you stop turning. If the air cells are little small now you need to keep the humidity low to get them bigger before you bump it up to 65% on day 18. As they are showing too small right now the humidity must have been on the high side and the eggs have not lost enough moisture during the first 14 days. Did you have both sides of your little pot full of water?

It's the advance EX model that has the humidity read out on.

 

[Necklace]

no.... since the first batch died because I had to much water in there I have been afraid to put much of anything in the tray.. I put a cap full of water in one side of the water holder every other day.. I am afraid to over do it and have the same thing happen again... :/



I just checked the eggs and one has some brown sappy stuff on it.. not a lot just a little does that mean something is wrong? sorry to attack you with so many questions.. I am just worried about the babies..

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

It doesn't matter if you fill the whole half of the little pot right up as surface area creates the humidity and not depth of water. Full or half empty will still give you the same surface area of water. You need some humidity so would recomend for the rest of this hatch keep going as you are untill day 18.

At day 18 stop turning the eggs and take the turner out, place the eggs on their sides in the incubator. Turn the cooling option off on the incubator. Fill both sides of your water pot up to the top and put the guard cover on it. Keep your vent fully open at all times from now on to get as much oxygen in as possible.

Good luck with this hatch