How hard is it really to incubate eggs?

[scflock]

6 days is perfectly fine. Yes, you should collect them (store them in an egg carton around 50-60 degreesF and turn then daily) and when you have what you want set them all together. Most people set eggs that are a week old or less. Most articles recommend 10 days and under with the consensus being over two weeks the hatch rate declines significantly. The Brinseas are highly recommended and one of the most fool proof incubators, so you are off to a good start. Good luck on your hatch!

X2

 

[silkiecuddles]

Thanks AmyLynn2374 and scflock. I'm guessing you can't incubate chicken eggs and duck eggs in the same incubator. Right?

 

[scflock]

Thanks AmyLynn2374 and scflock. I'm guessing you can't incubate chicken eggs and duck eggs in the same incubator. Right?

If you have the smallest Octagon, you have an Octagon 20, and it will easily hold 24 hen eggs. I know it will hold duck eggs, but I'm not sure how many. Don't they have a 28 day incubation period? I don't know if the humidity requirements are the same, but in my mind you could set the duck eggs a week before the chicken eggs, and they would theoretically hatch at the same time. I don't know if there are other problems running them together, though

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Thanks AmyLynn2374 and scflock. I'm guessing you can't incubate chicken eggs and duck eggs in the same incubator. Right?

People do incubate the two together. I don't know to what success rate. There are quite a few threads on here about it though and the experienced duck/chicken mixers chime in.

 

[lrus5]

I am sitting on the fence as to whether or not to buy an incubator. All the talk about temp, humidity, turning and all the stuff is pretty intimidating. So here is my question, how hard is it really for a first timer  

 

[lazy gardener]

If you have the smallest Octagon, you have an Octagon 20, and it will easily hold 24 hen eggs. I know it will hold duck eggs, but I'm not sure how many. Don't they have a 28 day incubation period? I don't know if the humidity requirements are the same, but in my mind you could set the duck eggs a week before the chicken eggs, and they would theoretically hatch at the same time. I don't know if there are other problems running them together, though

I've not hatched both together, but it can be done, and lots of folks do it. The easiest way is to start the duck eggs first, then add the chicken eggs a week later so they all have the same hatch date.

 

[dekel18042]

Depends on what kind of incubator you have. I love my Brinsea Octagan 20 Advance. It is billed at holding 24 hens' eggs, but I've had 20 eggs in it and it was crowded. Hatching chickens are really crowded. Best bets, IMHO are keeping the number of eggs at a dozen, 15 max, Anyone (That means me, I'm sort of incubating eggs for dummies.) can be successful using it.
If you have your own eggs or a cheap source of eggs, then you can get braver and try the homemade and some of the more difficult ones.
I think once someone gets used to a certain type incubator, it becomes much easier for him.

 

[silkiecuddles]

Could someone on here give me a step by step guide on how to use my octagon 20 advance? I read the instructions it came with, but I don't quite understand all of it. It doesn't show the humidity, so is there a special way to check it? And do I manually need to turn the eggs every 24 hours?

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Could someone on here give me a step by step guide on how to use my octagon 20 advance? I read the instructions it came with, but I don't quite understand all of it. It doesn't show the humidity, so is there a special way to check it? And do I manually need to turn the eggs every 24 hours?

The best one I know of to talk to about the Brinseas is @Yorkshire coop I know @scflock also uses a brinsea, not sure which one though.

 

[dekel18042]

Could someone on here give me a step by step guide on how to use my octagon 20 advance? I read the instructions it came with, but I don't quite understand all of it. It doesn't show the humidity, so is there a special way to check it? And do I manually need to turn the eggs every 24 hours?

I have the Brinsea Octagon 20 advance and love it. I sort of need the Cliff's version with anything and I can use it so that is the acid test. If you have the incubator set on the cradle and the cradle plugged in, that does all the turning automatically for you. On day 18 you unplug the cradle or take the incubator off the cradle for lockdown.
The incubator has to be turned on and the control display shows both the temperature and humidity. You can raise or lower the humidity by adding water to the wells (I add a small damp sponge in a container at lockdown if I need higher humidity) or humidity can be lowered by removing water from the wells (I dip a sponge in and let the water be absorbed to remove some. Hope this helps.
Just wanted to add, checked the temps and found the factory settings to be spot on.