HELP WITH SETTINGS on Brisnea mini advance

[wannabchick]

Hello everyone, I have been reading like craaaazy and yet, cant seem to find the info
A little about me- I am a total newbie- so new to this.. my bestfriend passed away last week she was hit by a train... still trying to deal with this... together we were going to hatch eggs and give them to her husband for Christmas as he has a farm and doesnt have chics..

Now me... I go ahead in honor of her memory her wishes... and her goal.. which was to give him chics... ordered the Brisnea mini advance.. I ordered- 3 white bearded silkies- in fact what is the difference between bearded and non bearded?, 3 serema and 3 frizzled cochins, from a very helpful lady out of Texas.. they should arrive here Monday or Tuesday.

Heres where Iam lost- programming turn time- default is 45 minutes.. but should I change that number???? same with angle?? what angle do I set it on???Yes, I know all 9 wont go in the incubator- just ordered etc incase of breakage etc...

Also when you set it... do I set the number 18 so it shuts the turner off.. or do I set day 17, or day 19... somewhere I think I am thinking into it too much.

Thank you all for your help.. I really want to honor my best friends wishes and her suprise for her dh.....

 

[call ducks]

Quote:
You should not need to change anything, if you wish you can change the turing time, to every 60min there are 3 turing modes, ON OF and "Auto" Auto will turn it off 2 days before hatch, but if using "Auto" you will need to turn it off 3 days before hatch. On is will on and again you will have to turn it off 3 days be fore hatch.

Sorry to here about your friend

 

[aka Rachel]

so sorry to hear about your loss

I'll just share what I've done with my mini adv (this is my first time setting eggs in it tho)

I changed my turning time to every hour and a half, or whichever the greatest time was once I realised it just rolled them back and forth, instead of a little farther each time.

Then I made sure the turning angle flipped them 180 degrees by putting a little mark on them. So each hour and a half or so they get flipped all the way over.

I have my turninging setting to AUTO. It says it will automatically be switched to off when the countdown reaches day 2.

Good luck

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I like to set mine for turning every hour. I use the default for angle. I manually go in and reprogram it at lockdown (day 18 which is really day 4 since it counts down) for turning "off." And I remove the turning tray at lockdown.

Then I take a cloth rag cut to size and DRAPE it around the bottom of the incubator at lockdown so that they don't get spraddle leg (it is not flat- it is poofy and something that their feet can easily stand on). I throw it away when I clean up after the chicks are moved to the brooder.

I use dry incubation until 1 1/2 weeks have passed, then fill one reservoir. At lockdown I fill both reservoirs.

Bearded silkies have little beards under their chins. The non-bearded don't. I like the bearded ones better I think. I have both.

Also- I believe serama eggs (I don't have any experience with seramas) are going to be soooo small that I think I would lean toward putting the other breeds in the incubator first, and the seramas if you have the space. (Because when he wants to eat eggs after they start laying, he might rather have the larger egg-producing breed.)

But, on the other hand, maybe he wants pets instead? The frizzle cochins and silkies will go broody on him some, and he won't get eggs while they are broody. But their eggs will be larger than serama eggs. I have frizzle cochins too. They are really adorable!

This is just food for thought. It is always hard to toss eggs that won't fit in the incubator!!!

I'm so sorry for your loss.

 

[gryeyes]

I'm pretty darned familiar with that 'bator. Set it for 21 days, on Auto. It will stop turning the correct day. I left mine on 45 minutes, but the friendly Brinsea rep told me to set the angle to 15 - and it does roll the eggs better.

You will have to remember to take the turning tray out when it stops. Not that exact second...

. And then put a paper towel down, so hatching chicks don't slip on the plastic "floor."

So sorry to reds about your friend.

 

[aka Rachel]

I knew I was forgetting something!

Thanks for reminding me about the slippy surface solution at hatch time. Just candled and all are progressing, but worried about the one with the air sac thats out of place. This is so much better then my homemade 'bator.

for an awesome hatch for you wannabchick

 

[DillardHome]

Thank you for posting this topic WANNABCHICK!

First, I am so sorry to hear about your friend

I am asking Santa for this incubator and this has helped me since I am a incub-newbie. I also just threw in a hint for the Ovascope candler

 

[wannabchick]

Thank u so much everyone,that has helped me tremendously.

Okay so set it day 21, set temp 99.5, set for 45 minutes default,set whoops already forgot what incline...LOL

And the day it stops turning take out turn table place eggs onto of paper towel and fill then both reservoirs with water

Lock Down,don't touch...and let them do their thing

How though should I lay my eggs in there?

As in small end to center and big end facing. Outward...?

Since They all lay Down:/

Also when eggs arrive Tuesday, do I sit them in an egg carton for 12 hours with bigger end standing out

So they become room temp?

Thanks again everyone so much

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I don't think it matters which way you put the eggs in the incubator since they are on their sides. I don't pay attention to that when I put mine in. But yes, in a carton, the pointy end of the egg goes down.

I am really bad about waiting after eggs have arrived to put them in the incubator- don't ask me how many hours to wait, lol!!!

I usually put them in within 8 hours of getting them- probably not recommended!

Also don't forget you need to pay attention to your humidity even before lockdown. Either purposefully dry incubate after researching it- or add some water to one of the reservoirs at some point.

You don't want the air cell to get too large too fast. The chick won't grow properly if too dry- but also might have really bad problems with too much humidity (BEFORE lockdown).

I don't measure my humidity at all. I just use the same procedure over and over that works for me- I have my incubator in my moist laundry room. Not near the wood stove.

 

[bantyshanty]

In my early days of incubating silkie eggs with the Mini Advance, I emailed Brinsea customer service to ask them what the turning angle should be for a silkie egg. The customer service rep. said "Angle 6", so that's how I've always incubated them, with no problems. I think you can have them turned every hour, every two hours, or every 4 hours, with no problems, whichever you choose. I've tried all these settings, and I've turned only 3 times a day, mostly, with the Mini Eco I had before, with no problems.

The easiest way to go with the Brinsea Mini is to follow the recommendations for 1 pot full until lockdown, then 2 pots. However, if you're getting constant rain or high heat & humidity, you may bee keeping your eggs too moist this way. One method to keep 1 pot filled yet control the humidity more is to take a very small drill bit and slowly, delicately, drill several holes at intervals into the base, where there are already two ventilation holes. You can cover these with a little duct tape if the humidity is low, and take it off on the days where humidity is high.

Hope this helps, & best of luck