Octagon 20 Eco- first hatch!

[jaybme]

I love this incubator! Very steady on the temp, and so easy to use. I also have the auto-turner, incubating is a breeze with this one.

I have such a variety of eggs- Guinea Fowl, BR x Leghorn, silkies, Nankin and Button quail too!

Of the chickens, after removing the clears early on I had 16 eggs, of which 11 hatched. Of the Button quail only 1 of 7 hatched. The guineas hatch next week, along with another group of Nankin.

I opened the eggs and really do not know what went wrong. The chicks never broke into the air cell. The membrane seemed soft and pliable, and the air cell was large. Could the humidity be too high? I had it at about 70%. The chicks emerged very wet from their shells.

Despite that, the incubator is excellent. Love the way it handles the different sized eggs, and makes it so simple!

I know a bunch of others bought this incubator too- how are your hatches?

Jayne

 

[raindrop]

I can tell you about my hatch after Monday...

 

[bigjohn]

I have the brinsea eco and am on my 8th day with quail eggs only. I have the humidity set at 40%. This is the default since only one of the water trays is full. If the temp in the house goes to around 68 or less, the humidity drops to 36 or so, but during the day, goes back up to about 42%. I am going to follow Brinsea's instructions by waiting until a couple of days before the hatch to fill the other tray and raise the humidity. My intention is to raise the last 2 days to about 60%. Reading some other threads makes me believe that there is no need to go over this percentage. We will see!

I do not have the auto turner. I just turn the unit two or three times per day during the week and more during the weekends. It is so easy it is scary. I check the temp twice a day and it never changes from what I set it on. Very nice not to have to constantly be fighting temp changes.

To be honest, ever since I was a child, I have had at least 10 or 15 different incubators and have always only been concerned with temps. I never understood the need or reason to be concerned about exact humidity percentages. I always made sure that water was in the incubator and never let it run dry and always added more near hatch day. That was it. Most of the time I had decent hatches. Of course, now with all of the info, I am going to pay closer attention to humidity and see if it really makes 'that' much difference to be so 'accurate'. I am still learning and trying to do the best thing for the eggs............

The only thing I intend to do with the ECO after this hatch is completed is to drill a small hole so that tubing can be inserted to allow for water to be added without having to open the unit. That way IF the humidity levels drop during hatching, the unit won't need to opened to add water. I think it is good to open it every few days during the incubation period to add water and check the eggs so I am not too concerned with that.

 

[TriciaHowe]

I'm glad you like your new 'bator

I have a regular oct. 20 and have been pretty happy. I would consider 70% to be very high! I usually don't add any water to mine at all and my humidity hangs around 50%. I love the dry incubation method and it has worked well for me. I am in Florida where we have a high relative humidity anyway so I'm sure that helps. I would try lowering your humidity with your next hatch though and see if that helps. Maybe read the sticky on dry incubation if you haven't already and see if it looks like something you would want to try.
Good luck

 

[mediazeal]

Quote:
I agree. I have one too, almost done with my first hatch. Easy to keep at 35-45% for the first 18 days and I've been at 60% during the hatch. Chicks are having a really easy time zipping and hatch fast, no sticking.

Quote:
No no no, no drilling!!!
During the last 3 days and hatch, I did two things that worked great. I used a straw to drop water through the vent on top. Worked great. I did not have eggs or chicks directly under that.

Also, I used strips of wash cloth to expand my evaporation surface. I had a few in the wells in the bottom and I laid out on the bottom so they were wicking from the wells to get to the higher humidity (it's dry here) and during the hatch if the humidity was dropping (down into low 50's) I took a soaked warm strip of cloth folded up and cracked open on corner of the incubator and put it in where it was not touching anything.

After some of the chicks hatched I could put it on top of an open shell.

I was able to keep the humidity really even and the brinsea keep the temp perfect. Opening it by cracks at a lower point because of how it's designed did not lower my temp or humidity for more than a few seconds and they both came right back up to desired levels.

I'm in my third day of hatching and I've taken the early hatchers out as well. 5 more hatched after I did that so I'm saying no harm done.

I dont' think you need to drill, you can use a straw and the vent at the top.

My 2 cents.

 

[sben451]

My Octagon 20 Eco has a small hole for adding water on the back side of the top. It is marked with two symbols that look like drops of water. I intend to find a small piece of tubing that will fit the hole so I can add water through the tubing for the last three days (starting tomorrow--my eggs are due to hatch Tuesday). I have been lifting off the top to add water so far and the temp. and humidity come back up really fast, but I don't want to hinder the hatch, so for the last three days I'll try to add water through the hole with some tubing and a large syringe.

 

[mediazeal]

Quote:
Brilliant!!
I never saw that! Thank you for pointing it out.

 

[Zahboo]

Could you use piping thats used in fish tanks? It's only 25 cents a foot at most places, but it is REALLY thin....



Does anyone have the price and more info on this 'bator

 

[jaybme]

Thanks for all the input.

The humidity in mine stays at about 35% all the time, with BOTH trays filled. When I put the hygrometer on the counter it reads 50% or so, standard in the bay area, so I know it works.

I got mine from Brinsea- $99 for the 'bator and ~$49 for the auto turner. The incubator is worth every penny, and the auto turner is for those who can't be home to turn.

Hmmm, now to get more eggs...

 

[raindrop]

Hatching duck eggs right now, I am having a hard time keeping humidity up. Have a baby washcloth stretched into the trough and across the floor, both troughs full, and another wet baby washcloth in the corner, vent open 1/3 (as per instructions that came from the incubator) and I have a humidity of 78% now. Whew.

I had 5 pips last night, the first one has died (am pretty sure) as of this am. I hope it wasn't my low humidity.

There are a total of about 10/16 pips so far that I can see, but it is pretty crowded in there. One is very active and peeping and making quick progress right now! My temps have been rock solid at 99.6-99.8.