Incubating using a R-COM 20.

[DrRob]

Good Day Everyone although here in the South West of England it is a horrid day with heavy rain and gusty winds - my Chickens outside look like drowned rats - lol

A couple of days ago I purchased a R-Com 20 Incubator from an experienced breeder of Pure Chocolate Orphingtons who gave me the following instructions and advice which I thought would be worth passing on.

All temperatures etc are in celcius as that is what we use here in the UK.

The Incubator is set at 36.7 degrees and the humidity is at 45
This is never adjusted even after 18 days - all she said to me was to turn the turner off however she has in the past forgot to do this and the chicks have still hatched normally and her hatch rate is over 90 percent every time.

I mentioned to her about putting the 18+ day chicks into little holder - made from cut up egg cartons which she thought was an excellent idea as that way if you have a staggered hatch then you could leave the auto turn on and this would not turn the ones ready to pip / zip and hatch.

She did also say that she has stored eggs for over a month and after ensuring they have been turned upto 3 times a day after being stored for a minimum of 7 days they hatched even after being stored for a month or more.

She has been so impressed by the R-Com that she has had to buy the large 50 version.

Any thoughts and comment are welcome.

I have a question - how do I list my animals at the bottom of my profile please ?

Regards
Dr Rob.

 

[mrslb333]

I'm soooo jealous

I want one of those. To list your animals go to your profile click on personality and you can add them in the compose your signature part

 

[DrRob]

Thanks for the reply - and I want one of those related to what may I ask ? R-Com 20 or Chocolate Orphington ? If it is the latter I tried my hardest yesterday when I popped over to see the breeder to leave with a Chocolate Orphington LF Chick but I think she would have noticed it missing !

I have managed to add that now - shame we cannot have some more characters as the 400 is so limited - I wanted to add the 23 incubating babies - they were 8 Buff Pekin Bantams, 3 Silkies and A Selection of my fertile eggs from my 3 bantams - The Male is a White Pekin and the mums are 1 lilac pekin bantam and 1 charcoal frizzle pekin bantam !

Thanks again
Dr Rob.

 

[ICanSpeakChicken]

here is a short video all about the RCom 20

I still dont understand why the temp is 36.7C ?? That is too low, what does the thermometer say inside the machine? It should all be calibrated to 37.5 C

When I do staggered hatches I use the top of egg cartons cut off with the eggs laid down in them for the last 3 days but keep the turner on, the floor moves the other eggs younger than 18 days but the ones in the carton tops remain still, also makes for easy cleanup after hatching.

 

[mrslb333]

Quote:
Lol, the Rcom 20 or even better the Rcom 50

I have 1 Chocolate Orpington chick at the moment and some more in the incubator they are lovely birds

 

[DrRob]

I appreciate that it does have and suggest setting it to the 37.5 if the breeder has hatched over 300 chicks using this method in this incubator even though the temperature that she has found best is 36.7 who am I to change it.
It will be far better than my polystyrene incubator which I had so much problem with in relation to it holding its heat and humidity.

I will be able to report better after I have gone through a full incubation.

Regards
Dr Rob.

 

[mrslb333]

Quote:
On the temp issue I have 2 new incubators that arrived on the same day an Rcom suro which holds perfect at 37.5 and a Corti 25 which will not budge past 36.8. I set around 50 eggs. I had 6 Silkie eggs but could only fit 5 in the Rcom so I put the last one in the corti. When I candled at 7 days all but 10 Coturnix quail eggs were clear in the Rcom none of the 5 Silkie eggs had any development, but in the Corti all the eggs apart from a couple with shot air cells had movement including the 1 remaining Silkie. That makes me wonder if there may be something in the temp difference. Both incubators have been checked with 3 different hygrometers and they all read the same.
I set 3 Black east indie duck eggs in each incubator last night and to be honest if I get better results from the lower one I think I might adjust the suro to the same

 

[DrRob]

That is very good to hear with regards to the temperature, I spoke with the lady again today and my original comment about the breeder only incubating and hatching 300 chicks was wrong. She has actually incubated over 1000 chicks at this temperature and her hatch rate is well over 95 percent so it must say something.
Something I have recently read with regards to the R-Com range of incubators is they need to be operated in a room where the ambient temperature is over 15 degrees centigrade otherwise it can damage the heating and humidity system.

Maybe people incubating there own eggs should try a run with a setting of 36.7 degrees centigrade also I mentioned not adjusting the temperature at all through the whole incubation period as the breeder said the chance of sticking is lower as the membrane does not harden up also the risk of drowing decreases also.

Things to think about indeed !

Regards
Dr Rob.

 

[Casey76]

Well I have to admit 36.7*C does sound awfully low... have you tried adding a thermometer to the incubator to see what the temperate is independent of the readout? It could be that the incubator is out of calibration.

I would also say that having a humidity of 45 all the way through is a bit dubious after day 18, as you are risking shrink wrapped chicks once they have pipped.

But I've only had my CROM 20 a year, so I haven't incubated too many times in it. I'm also in France, and the ambient differences make it harder to do a direct comparison.