My new Brinsea Octagon 20 Eco - HATCH! pg. 6 (pic heavy)

[TheMartianChick]

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Ooo, TheMartianChick, that's brilliant!
What humidity did you use for hatching? I'm on day 18 right now.

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Good luck with the quail! What are you doing with them once they hatch? Do you have an aviary or do you let them free range?

I have been a quail momma for all of 8 days now! I plan to keep them in a combination of cages, both inside of my barn and outside in my garden and will likely raise them for eating eggs, hatching eggs and to play with the colors and breeds. I do have an old dog run that with a little work could probably be used as an aviary. However, I am sure that the local feral cat population would think of it as a fast food restaurant!

I kept the humidity between 40 and 50% during incubation and between 60 and 70% for the quail hatch. Much of the reading that I have been doing seems to indicate that the quail eggsdo better with higher humidity than chicken eggs. Out of the first batch that hatched, none seemed to have any problems getting out of the shell. Once all of the viable one had hatched, I broke open the rest of the eggs and only found one other that had developed and died along the way. So I figure that the incubator did a pretty good job of developing all of the eggs that actually had a shot at life.

 

[raindrop]

Well, hatch day has come and gone and if not for a busy week I would have updated sooner, but here we go!

Set 18 eggs on March 23 at 8pm.
Candled on day 6, found 1 blood ring, 17 alive. 100% fertility!
Candled on day 19, one egg looked "different" but I kept it in.
Over the next few days, a horrible smell develops...
Candled on day 23, found the smelly egg and removed, 16 eggs left.

For some reason, I did not have my act together to "convert" to hatching mode soon enough. Did not raise humidity, etc. until Day 26. Found 4 pips when I opened the bator to remove the egg dividers and add a washcloth spread along the bottom to increase humidity. I got a red rubber catheter (3.5 french) to put through the hole in the back to help with adding water without opening the incubator, filled both troughs, sprayed the eggs, and closed the vent down to 1/3 open. Humidity was about 73%.

Here is a picture of the tube in place:

Two of the 4 first to pip died after just starting to zip. The first hatchling was waiting to greet us the morning of April 20 (Day 28), quite dry, fluffy and active so I imagine had been hatched for 6+ hours at that point.

Over the course of the day, 8 more hatched. It did get crowded, so I removed the first duckling, and then the next 4 to hatch.

Each time I opened the incubator, I sprayed the eggs. Humidity was up to 85% after spraying/opening, temperature back to 99.6 within 5 minutes. I was able to open the vent to 50% or even more after hatch started. It became much easier to keep humidity up after the hatch started, I think this helped the majority of the ducklings hatch over a relatively short period of time. Not to mention they seemed to cheer for each other, and the hatched ones would bite at the shell where the ones still in the eggs were trying to zip. The little tube was not really needed, since it was easy to quickly add water when I opened the bator to get ducklings and shells out. Besides, the ducklings moved it all around and I didn't know if it was over the washcloth anymore after a while. Humidity was easy to maintain for me once that hatch started.

The morning of Day 29 I had 9 ducklings.

That afternoon, I found another pip.
At about 3pm on Day 30, the 10th one hatched. The last 4 eggs did not pip.

Here they are as of tonight. They are all doing well!

I have no idea how the genetics work, I have two bibbed drakes, one bibbed duck (Georgina), and one dusky duck (Meg). I got 6 dusky babies, 3 bibbed, and one white. More of Meg's eggs hatched overall. The 2 that pipped then died were hers (they all hatched/pipped first), the four left at the end were all Georgina's.

I would highly recommend this incubator to anyone, the only "limitation" is the size, but it is the small size that allows it to return to desired temp/humidity so quickly.

 

[Keisha]

Congratz on your hatch, those ducklings are super cute.
I agree with you guys this incubator leaves you with pretty much nothing to do. My first batch of chicken eggs are due to hatch the 9th of may, i'm excited

 

[bigjohn]

An ECO update:

I just quit turning my quail eggs today. It has been 14 1/2 days. Added water to the other water well and my humidity went to 60% within a short time. It has been hovering around 40% for the last 14 days.

Hopefully, I will have a good hatch with these 'settings'. I did add a small wash cloth that I cut in half and put half way down in the well and laid the rest on the bottom of the bator. I am trying to leave the vent open at least 1/2 way or better to allow fresh air to get to the eggs.

I have not candled, but if these eggs are any good (shipped eggs) then I should have a good hatch. 48 eggs are waiting to hatch. Well, I am waiting on 48 eggs to hatch, LOL.

I am really glad I did not order the auto turner. It has been so easy to turn the eggs 3 times per day and more times during the weekends. It really has not been a problem even with me working all day.

The only other thing that I have not done and may consider doing is lowering the temp a degree in the next day or so. I noticed the temp rose a tiny bit with the eggs nearing hatching. Not sure if I want to even make a change ........ The temp has been constant throughout the 14 days at 99.5.

Anxiously waiting for a new batch of Texas A&M's.

 

[pascopol]

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Not to diminish your efforts or any importance of proper temp, I found coturnix eggs even when shipped hatched very well for me in my Little Monster (LG) bator when this was my only bator years ago while the same Little Monster killed many of my other bird species hatches.

They are very tough little birds, most people do not realize coturnix are probably the easiest birds to hatch and raise, and they start laying at amazing 6 or 7 weeks.

I would consider them "SUPERBIRDS" LOL

 

[Epona142]

I heard the same thing, but I've had nothing but terrible hatching experiences with quail using an LG and using an Brower.

Maybe I'm just terribly unlucky?

I'm going to order this incubator very shortly and see if my luck improves.

 

[Keisha]

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You definitly should order it! I saw that its on sale again.

 

[happyvalleyherbals]

Hi all, Im new here and just love this site. You have all sold me on the octagon eco 20. trouble is I WANT IT NOW!!!!

I live in australia and will buy from the US. The price is roughly $130 Australian plus freight which I estimate $50Aus, and the price here is just over $400Aus plus freight. A good deal I reckon!!

I know the power is different voltage and you can get an adaptor. I hope that this wont make any difference to operating temps? Any concerns with that?

I will be doing mainly quail eggs.

BigJohn, you set quails. How did they go?

Does everyone agree that you really dont need a auto turner for the eco20?

This is my first foray into incubators, so dont know a thing.!!

I want to thank you all for putting on so much great content. Fantastic.

Really excited to have found this site.

Only it took me a long time to re find this thread once I had registered. grin

thanks again, and will be an avid reader
deb

 

[bigjohn]

I had a very good hatch with my quail in the ECO. I love the incubator and would have no other at this point (unless I was hatching LOTS of quail. It is perfect for me. The best incubator I have ever used and the easiest to use. You cannot go wrong with the price!

 

[happyvalleyherbals]

Thanks bigjohn,
thats excellent news.
just have to order it now. hopefully they wont make me go through the australian distributor.
saving the eggs already!!!