Humidity Problems with Brinsea Mini Advance

[song of joy]

No, I did not. And I think that could be the problem. The hygrometer I just put in also has a thermometer and it is reading much lower than the brinsea built in digital thermometer. This is a major problem! How do you calibrate it? I do have 2 pips now, so hopefully we will have chicks tomorrow. Thanks

If the temperature is 98 to 98.5, I would leave it for the hatch as it's OK to hatch a degree lower than 99.5. Also, the temps may be fluctuating with the hatch itself, as chicks emerge.

BTW - it's a "no, no" but I opened the Brinsea after every two chicks hatched out, provided they had been in the incubator for at least 30 minutes to begin drying. It seemed super-crowded in there with chicks, unhatched eggs and hatched eggs, and I actually had a chick draped over a pip for a long period of time. The chicks dried much better in the brooder. Also, humidity came back up very fast.

The manual was not very clear on how to calibrate! To calibrate, make sure you have an accurate thermometer(s) positioned inside the incubator at egg level for several hours with the lid closed. Take the reading from this thermometer. Push all 3 buttons on the incubator control panel to access the calibration menu. Push the up or down buttons to enter in the thermometer reading from inside the incubator, and hit "OK". (If your thermometer is reading 98.5, enter that reading.) Work through the rest of the menu and save. The incubator should now readjust itself using the newly entered reading. Give it several hours with the lid closed to bring the incubator and its contents to the corrected temperature. I had to recalibrate at least 3 or 4 times to get the temperature at or close to 99.5. Don't worry if you're within 0.1 degree of 99.5, as you can drive yourself crazy trying to hit 99.5 exactly!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

BTW - it's a "no, no" but I opened the Brinsea after every two chicks hatched out, provided they had been in the incubator for at least 30 minutes to begin drying. It seemed super-crowded in there with chicks, unhatched eggs and hatched eggs, and I actually had a chick draped over a pip for a long period of time. The chicks dried much better in the brooder. Also, humidity came back up very fast.

Oh heck, I have an LG and I do that. I keep my humidity up at 75% so I can open my bator and they do not fluff up until they are under the brooder light. I don't consider anything in incubation/hatching a "no no" if it works for you. Just because someone else doesn't do it that way, or doesn't think it should be done that way doesn't mean it shouldn't if it works and you are comfortable doing it.

I pull mine as soon as they get active and start moving around. I've had chicks get hurt in my bator and I feel they are safer in the brooder, so that's what I do. I have never lost a pipper/zipper so it works for me.

 

[grahask]

If the temperature is 98 to 98.5, I would leave it for the hatch as it's OK to hatch a degree lower than 99.5. Also, the temps may be fluctuating with the hatch itself, as chicks emerge.

BTW - it's a "no, no" but I opened the Brinsea after every two chicks hatched out, provided they had been in the incubator for at least 30 minutes to begin drying. It seemed super-crowded in there with chicks, unhatched eggs and hatched eggs, and I actually had a chick draped over a pip for a long period of time. The chicks dried much better in the brooder. Also, humidity came back up very fast.

The manual was not very clear on how to calibrate! To calibrate, make sure you have an accurate thermometer(s) positioned inside the incubator at egg level for several hours with the lid closed. Take the reading from this thermometer. Push all 3 buttons on the incubator control panel to access the calibration menu. Push the up or down buttons to enter in the thermometer reading from inside the incubator, and hit "OK". (If your thermometer is reading 98.5, enter that reading.) Work through the rest of the menu and save. The incubator should now readjust itself using the newly entered reading. Give it several hours with the lid closed to bring the incubator and its contents to the corrected temperature. I had to recalibrate at least 3 or 4 times to get the temperature at or close to 99.5. Don't worry if you're within 0.1 degree of 99.5, as you can drive yourself crazy trying to hit 99.5 exactly!

Well, I'm very disappointed in my first hatch and in the brinsea mini advance. The two pipped eggs never made progress after 24hrs. One is living but seems fragile and weak and the other died after not even fully finishing absorbing the yolk at the end of day 23. The thermometer I placed in the incubator in reading 96.6 while the brinsea says 99.6! Three degrees low and it was probably like this the entire time. I still have chicks chirping but I'm not sure I even want them to hatch if they are going to be weak and possibly deformed. I guess I will buy one more thermometer just to make sure and then calibrate the incubator before my next hatch. Eveything I read said that this incubator was a great buy for a beginner and basically a plug and play. The humidity and temperature are way off. I'm very disappointed!!!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Well, I'm very disappointed in my first hatch and in the brinsea mini advance. The two pipped eggs never made progress after 24hrs. One is living but seems fragile and weak and the other died after not even fully finishing absorbing the yolk at the end of day 23. The thermometer I placed in the incubator in reading 96.6 while the brinsea says 99.6! Three degrees low and it was probably like this the entire time. I still have chicks chirping but I'm not sure I even want them to hatch if they are going to be weak and possibly deformed. I guess I will buy one more thermometer just to make sure and then calibrate the incubator before my next hatch. Eveything I read said that this incubator was a great buy for a beginner and basically a plug and play. The humidity and temperature are way off. I'm very disappointed!!!

That's surprising. All I ever hear is how good those are.

 

[song of joy]

I'm sorry it turned out so rough, especially considering this was your first hatch. Don't give up. It should go much better when you're able to get the temperature where it should be.

I was disappointed too, as Brinsea is supposed to be a "plug and forget" type of incubator. I trusted it until I read posts on BYC about double-checking the incubator thermometer against another one or two thermometers. I hadn't planned on spending more money for an accurate thermometer to check what should have been a very accurate incubator, but I'm glad I did or my hatch would have failed. It's pretty shoddy quality control when an almost $200 incubator comes out of the box so inaccurate.