I have 24 Black Copper Marans I am going to be setting on Saturday so I dont want to screw it up. I got my new incubator, unpacked it and trying to figure out what happens when you need to add water down the road to the incubator. Do you remove the tray with the eggs on it and pour the water underneath it or what. It says you fill one of the troughs with water but does not tell me what to do when I need to add water after it evaporates. Also...I did not get the auto turner with mine, so how much do you actually turn the bator each time. There are only 3 options roll it to the left roll it to the right or leave it in the position I initially laid the eggs in. In other words the eggs will turn approx 60 degrees to the left and 60 degrees to the right but the eggs will not ever turn completely over. I guess I am baffled to say the least. And I suck at Geometry too. If anyone has used this incubator and has any tips I would greatly appreciate it. Maybe I am overthinking it too much, but I really want to have a good hatch.
I have duck eggs in mine on day 17. All has been going very well. Temperature has been very stable, I have it set at about 99.5 degrees. I have water in both troughs and the vent 1/3 open and humidity was 40-45%. I added a small damp cloth to one of the egg racks (only 17 eggs in mine) to boost humidity to 50-55%. I am using the little white hygrometer from Walmart. I do remove the tray to add water, need to do this about every 3-4 days in my climate. For hatching, I have a red rubber catheter (from my vet) that I will put through the little hole in the back and use to add water to a cloth stretched between the two water troughs without opening the incubator. I turn from one side (just the next "flat" part from the center) to the other every 8 hours or so. I don't let it rest in the middle except when adding water, etc. Any more turning and the eggs would fall out of the racks, so I figure the auto-turner must do about the same amount of turning. It is very easy to turn.
I have the Octagon 20 Advance with the auto-turner, though I just ordered an Eco today! As the previous poster said, you just tilt the incubator back and forth..The auto-turner does this about every hour or so throughout the day, but you would need to do it manually an odd number of times per day. I have been filling the troughs up with water without removing them, but then again, my incubator was not full, so I had room to do so without getting the eggs wet. I also have a few pieces of sponge that I use to help to regulate the humidity. With a few days practice, you will get the hang of exactly how much water to add into the troughs to keep the humidity right where you want it. We have forced air heat in our house so I have to add water to the incubator daily. After opening, my incubator humidity rebounds within a minute and a half, so I had no fear of causing a problem when the incubator was open.
