She said/He said Who's right? Who's wrong? No one!

[WVduckchick]

My funny story for the day... My dog's doggie door goes out of the house onto a screened-in porch. Then there is a small opening from the porch to the yard. The chickens have been out of their pens all day today, as I've been home all day. (They usually only get a few hours each evening). I went out to check on everyone and noticed chicken poop inside the screened-in porch! I believe I have some clever chickens! Lol

 

[NTBugtraq]

My funny story for the day... My dog's doggie door goes out of the house onto a screened-in porch. Then there is a small opening from the porch to the yard. The chickens have been out of their pens all day today, as I've been home all day. (They usually only get a few hours each evening). I went out to check on everyone and noticed chicken poop inside the screened-in porch! I believe I have some clever chickens! Lol

or your dog is experimenting with a new taste sensation...mine clean my shoes when I come out of the run...they love the poop.

 

[WVduckchick]

or your dog is experimenting with a new taste sensation...mine clean my shoes when I come out of the run...they love the poop.

Oh yes, they love it! So nasty! But these were freshly laid, obvious chicken droppings lol

 

[NTBugtraq]

So I thought I would post a sorta review of the Brinsea Spot Check digital thermometer. We know that some of the cheaper bators don't have great electronics, and even some of the non-bator thermos are...well...what you pay for. But this thing is supposed to tell you how bad your existing thermo sucks. I quickly discovered how much out my Hovabator thermo was, and it allowed me to keep a better temperature over the hatch. But this thing has its flaws too.

• If you let it rest against an egg, then you're going to get the temp of the egg, not the air. As the egg develops, it creates its own temperature...so keeping it away from shells becomes more important the further you are into the hatch.
• Letting it sit on a moist floor equally gives you wrong numbers, now you get the temperature of the water.
• It comes with nothing that allows you to place it in a bator and keep it from having contact with those undesirable things...so you might say, well, just keep the eggs away from it...yeah, well, once hatched chicks are in there too they will muck it up, no matter what you do.
• The thing really should have come with a little piece of Velcro so you could affix it to the top of the bator, as every time you open the lid it will likely slide off.
• A little ring with a clip to hold the probe would let you place it anyone in the bator and not worry about it coming into contact with stuff you don't want to measure the temp of.
• It can take up to 1 minute for it to tell you the temperature...which compared to "instant" cooking thermos, is a really long time. How can a Candy Thermo know the temperature instantly, but this thing doesn't?
• All in all, it has helped me keep better temps in my styro bator, but with humidity shifts affecting temperature, you really need to let it sit in one place for an hour or more to know what the real temp is. That's not "spot check" to me, that's just measuring temperature.
• And of course we are assuming it is more right than everything else...laudible for Brinsea to try to make us believe that...but how do I check it?

Because I have chosen to believe that Brinsea wouldn't sell me a piece of crap, it has helped me keep the bator temp steady. If it turns out to be a piece of crap...well, then my hatch may suck.

 

[WVduckchick]

So I thought I would post a sorta review of the Brinsea Spot Check digital thermometer. We know that some of the cheaper bators don't have great electronics, and even some of the non-bator thermos are...well...what you pay for. But this thing is supposed to tell you how bad your existing thermo sucks. I quickly discovered how much out my Hovabator thermo was, and it allowed me to keep a better temperature over the hatch. But this thing has its flaws too.

• If you let it rest against an egg, then you're going to get the temp of the egg, not the air. As the egg develops, it creates its own temperature...so keeping it away from shells becomes more important the further you are into the hatch.
• Letting it sit on a moist floor equally gives you wrong numbers, now you get the temperature of the water.
• It comes with nothing that allows you to place it in a bator and keep it from having contact with those undesirable things...so you might say, well, just keep the eggs away from it...yeah, well, once hatched chicks are in there too they will muck it up, no matter what you do.
• The thing really should have come with a little piece of Velcro so you could affix it to the top of the bator, as every time you open the lid it will likely slide off.
• A little ring with a clip to hold the probe would let you place it anyone in the bator and not worry about it coming into contact with stuff you don't want to measure the temp of.
• It can take up to 1 minute for it to tell you the temperature...which compared to "instant" cooking thermos, is a really long time. How can a Candy Thermo know the temperature instantly, but this thing doesn't?
• All in all, it has helped me keep better temps in my styro bator, but with humidity shifts affecting temperature, you really need to let it sit in one place for an hour or more to know what the real temp is. That's not "spot check" to me, that's just measuring temperature.
• And of course we are assuming it is more right than everything else...laudible for Brinsea to try to make us believe that...but how do I check it?

Because I have chosen to believe that Brinsea wouldn't sell me a piece of crap, it has helped me keep the bator temp steady. If it turns out to be a piece of crap...well, then my hatch may suck.

I also learned that placement is of utmost importance with it. I cut a single cup from an egg carton and tied it to my turner, then taped the SpotCheck to the cup, attaching the tape near the bottom of the probe housing, where it meets the wire. I position it flat out - at top-of-egg level. When I take the turner out, I untie the cup and sit it on the floor of the bator, so its still at egg level, not touching anything else.

 

[chicapee]

7 day candling update. 14 eggs, 1 looks clear and the rest looking good. Will remove the clear in 7 days. With any luck I will get a decent hatch rate this time as I found these eggs only 4 miles up the road. I think this will be a true brinsea test for me. Does any one use the cooling program. I did the past two times, but thought that I would skip it this time.

 

[NTBugtraq]

7 day candling update. 14 eggs, 1 looks clear and the rest looking good. Will remove the clear in 7 days. With any luck I will get a decent hatch rate this time as I found these eggs only 4 miles up the road. I think this will be a true brinsea test for me. Does any one use the cooling program. I did the past two times, but thought that I would skip it this time.

Even Brinsea recommends not using the cooling program, so that has to be enough...its in the manual, yes, but I called and asked a bunch of questions, and their support told me not to use it; "I wish it was not there", she said.

 

[chicapee]

In the literature that I received from Brinsea they were recommending to use it citing some scientific study.

 

[NTBugtraq]

In the literature that I received from Brinsea they were recommending to use it citing some scientific study.

Yup, its there, but call them tomorrow. Trust me, they do not recommend using it. The U.S. ppl tried it, and did not see any benefit.

 

[RubyNala97]

Been working on another coop this weekend. Trying a porch...

Love it!!

This is the set up in my incubator .

Just be careful with any open cups of water during hatch. The chicks can easily drown. Maybe you could fill them with marbles.

My funny story for the day... My dog's doggie door goes out of the house onto a screened-in porch. Then there is a small opening from the porch to the yard. The chickens have been out of their pens all day today, as I've been home all day. (They usually only get a few hours each evening). I went out to check on everyone and noticed chicken poop inside the screened-in porch! I believe I have some clever chickens! Lol

Now you have to catch them in action! Edited by Staff