Which Incubator to buy?

[TattooedMama]

A note on the customer service at Brinsea. I called this morning about the knocking noise for my incubator. For all my frustration with this incubator, it may yet prove its worth. There is no wait or automated system. Someone picks up the phone within a handful of rings and you deal with them directly; I was not transferred to any other person/department. I explained the issue with the automatic turner and within 3-4 minutes total the phone call was done. She said she will ship out a new motor and clutch for my turner today and it should be here in 5 business days. Thats great news since I was expecting to have to justify that I was in fact using it properly, but she did not question me at all. I just put 13 turkey eggs in there yesterday so we will see how it works for that!!

 

[Sydney Acres]

Wow, that's pretty amazing customer service. I've heard they were the best. Do you know how to install the parts, or will you have to pay someone to do it, or will you have to take it somewhere to have it repaired under warranty?

On another subject, I recently bought an Rcom Max 20, which I love and will post about as soon as I get more time. With a new hatch going every week I was thinking about getting an Incuview (from Incubator Warehouse) as a hatcher. But earlier today I read on the Incuview incubator thread that someone had two chicks injured in the Incuview because they got their legs caught up in the fan!! One died, and one is limping around but expected to survive. Does anyone on this thread have an Incuview? If so, is there such poor shielding over the fan that a chick can get caught in it?? If that's the situation, then it's totally off my list.

 

[TattooedMama]

She said it would be easy to do myself. I believe they will des instructions on how to switch out the parts. I don't need to take it anywhere or anything troublesome like that. And I should have the part here in time to not have to hand turn my turkey eggs more than a week. On another note, I have 13 turkey eggs in there so it is roughly 2/3 full and with water in both reservoirs I can only get 42% humidity. That's fine for now but I will have to rig something together like last time for hatching; that's disappointing. I wish it had another reservoir built in, though it may just be there way of getting you to buy the humidity pump!!

 

[Sydney Acres]

She said it would be easy to do myself. I believe they will des instructions on how to switch out the parts. I don't need to take it anywhere or anything troublesome like that. And I should have the part here in time to not have to hand turn my turkey eggs more than a week. On another note, I have 13 turkey eggs in there so it is roughly 2/3 full and with water in both reservoirs I can only get 42% humidity. That's fine for now but I will have to rig something together like last time for hatching; that's disappointing. I wish it had another reservoir built in, though it may just be there way of getting you to buy the humidity pump!!

I'm not sure how the Octagon 20 is set up, so this may not even be possible, but have you tried enlarging the evaporative surface area? This can usually be done by using something that wicks water very well, like good quality paper towels or flannel cloth or something similar. Have a corner or a side of the "wick" dipped in the water reservoir and the remainder of the "wick" spread out over a large area. That should allow the humidity to get quite high, and you can "adjust" it by increasing or decreasing the surface area. Someone on one of my threads (I forgot which one now) recently used this suggestion and got 68% humidity for her hatch.

 

[TattooedMama]

I'm not sure how the Octagon 20 is set up, so this may not even be possible, but have you tried enlarging the evaporative surface area? This can usually be done by using something that wicks water very well, like good quality paper towels or flannel cloth or something similar. Have a corner or a side of the "wick" dipped in the water reservoir and the remainder of the "wick" spread out over a large area. That should allow the humidity to get quite high, and you can "adjust" it by increasing or decreasing the surface area. Someone on one of my threads (I forgot which one now) recently used this suggestion and got 68% humidity for her hatch.

It might have been me on this thread!! Lol. You suggested that before and it worked wonderfully for hatching my chicks. For incubation I stayed above 30 and under 45 with the chicken eggs without utilizing any type of extra material or anything to increase the surface area of water. I will have to take a picture for you. It has two very narrow channels in the floor of the bator, they are deep but still dry up within 2 days or less. There is room for more channels so I think they only didn't add another to get us to buy the humidity pump

 

[Sydney Acres]

Quote:
Oh goodness, I'm sorry -- all these chicks and the incubator with pedigree cages and 4 different broodies on different schedules and building new coops, and culling the extra cockerels, and the garden, the poor neglected garden and orchard-- my brain is swirling trying to keep everything straight.

It sounds like you need an easier way to refill the water channels. Even with the R-com, and I think with the Brinsea humidity pump too, you still have to refill the machines every 2-3 days. The advantage to both those units is that you don't have to open the incubator to add water. (Not really a problem for these high-end units, as the temp returns to normal in less than 5 minutes, but was really a problem with the still air Little Giant styrofoam incubator I borrowed before getting my R-com -- it took hours to return to temperature after opening, even if only opening for a few moments.) Because adding water in the R-com is so easy, I just got into the habit of adding water every evening, so I never had to rely on the "Low Water Indicator LIght" to warn me. My biggest concern when I used the Little Giant incubator and had to add water (other than slow return to temp) was that I would spill water on some incubating eggs, which were directly above the humidity wells. I got a large syringe and some extension tubing, which allowed me to place the tube down between the eggs and into the well, and put the water directly into the wells while bypassing the eggs. Later I realized that I could thread the tubing through a vent hole that I usually kept plugged and just leave it there, so I didn't have to open the incubator at all.

 

[TattooedMama]

Oh goodness, I'm sorry -- all these chicks and the incubator with pedigree cages and 4 different broodies on different schedules and building new coops, and culling the extra cockerels, and the garden, the poor neglected garden and orchard-- my brain is swirling trying to keep everything straight.

It sounds like you need an easier way to refill the water channels. Even with the R-com, and I think with the Brinsea humidity pump too, you still have to refill the machines every 2-3 days. The advantage to both those units is that you don't have to open the incubator to add water. (Not really a problem for these high-end units, as the temp returns to normal in less than 5 minutes, but was really a problem with the still air Little Giant styrofoam incubator I borrowed before getting my R-com -- it took hours to return to temperature after opening, even if only opening for a few moments.) Because adding water in the R-com is so easy, I just got into the habit of adding water every evening, so I never had to rely on the "Low Water Indicator LIght" to warn me. My biggest concern when I used the Little Giant incubator and had to add water (other than slow return to temp) was that I would spill water on some incubating eggs, which were directly above the humidity wells. I got a large syringe and some extension tubing, which allowed me to place the tube down between the eggs and into the well, and put the water directly into the wells while bypassing the eggs. Later I realized that I could thread the tubing through a vent hole that I usually kept plugged and just leave it there, so I didn't have to open the incubator at all.

LOL. It's ok, I totally understand!! As you said, with the high end models that heat back up so quickly opening to add water isn't a problem. The Brinsea actually only has one vent. A I wrong in thinking most models have more than one? Also the flooring I think is too small to fit anything through so you have to actually remove the tray of eggs to add water, or else get them wet, and it likely will be the bottom of several that get wet. I am going to have to send you pictures of the inside and the tray when I candle in a few days so you can see what I am talking about. Its not filling it thats the problem but rather for hatching we need the humidity to go up. With both my channels filled, I only get humidity at 46% for a few hours and then it drops to 42%. It just seems a bad design. Remember there was another person on this thread who also purchased the Brinsea 20 Advanced and had the same issue. If some eggs need to get to 80%, how do they justify only enough surface area to get to 46%?

 

[Sydney Acres]

Quote:
Gosh, that just seems really challenging, but there's got to be a way. It sounds like they concentrated so much on saving countertop space that a few important things got left out. That doesn't make sense for a company like Brinsea to do that. Unless when the machine was developed it was never meant to be used without the humidity pump, but someone in marketing decided to market them separately, making people think they could get a $450+ incubator for $325.

I hear people talk about spraying the walls with water. Alternatively, would there be a way to tape the paper towels/flannel up the walls for it to wick the moisture upward, without covering the heating vents.

Since Brinsea has such great customer service, I would call them. Explain that you're trying to hatch turkey eggs, and that you need a minimum of 65% humidity, but would like 5-10% more. They may have some suggestions for what they know works in their design.

When I read my R-com hatching guide, I was actually surprised to see that they recommended 65-70% humidity for hatching chicks also, not just turkeys. I was glad I read that, as I had a chick that was malpositioned and pipped at the wrong end. I had the unit set at 65% to start, but given that this baby would have trouble zipping, I turned the humidity up to 68% to give it a little more in-shell lubrication. He did great -- took 4 hours and I did cut one tiny piece of membrane that was especially difficult for him to break, but just that minimal assistance. I don't think he could have turned easily in that position with lower humidity, so I was.glad for the R-com recommendation.

 

[TattooedMama]

Gosh, that just seems really challenging, but there's got to be a way. It sounds like they concentrated so much on saving countertop space that a few important things got left out. That doesn't make sense for a company like Brinsea to do that. Unless when the machine was developed it was never meant to be used without the humidity pump, but someone in marketing decided to market them separately, making people think they could get a $450+ incubator for $325.

I hear people talk about spraying the walls with water. Alternatively, would there be a way to tape the paper towels/flannel up the walls for it to wick the moisture upward, without covering the heating vents.

Since Brinsea has such great customer service, I would call them. Explain that you're trying to hatch turkey eggs, and that you need a minimum of 65% humidity, but would like 5-10% more. They may have some suggestions for what they know works in their design.

When I read my R-com hatching guide, I was actually surprised to see that they recommended 65-70% humidity for hatching chicks also, not just turkeys. I was glad I read that, as I had a chick that was malpositioned and pipped at the wrong end. I had the unit set at 65% to start, but given that this baby would have trouble zipping, I turned the humidity up to 68% to give it a little more in-shell lubrication. He did great -- took 4 hours and I did cut one tiny piece of membrane that was especially difficult for him to break, but just that minimal assistance. I don't think he could have turned easily in that position with lower humidity, so I was.glad for the R-com recommendation.

Should I have my turkey eggs at 65% humidity? This is my first turkey hatch but I was keeping it around 40% which is slightly higher than what I had my chicks at, they were mostly 35%. I was going to measure my air cells on Wednesday(day 7) and decide whether to go up or leave it. I peeked at a few last night and they are growing

 

[Sydney Acres]

Quote:
Oh, how exciting! I've not yet hatched out turkey eggs, but just got my second hatch of chicks with the third on the way.

No, the turkey eggs need to have at least 65% humidity for hatching, not for incubation. Incubation humidity is determined by either air cell measurement or egg weights. But starting 3 days before the hatch, humidity should go up to 65-70%.