A
Anonymous
Guest
HI Thanks,
What is a incy?
Thanks
Greenhen
What is a incy?
Thanks
Greenhen
A
Anonymous
Guest
An incy is an abbreviation,short for incubator.
Tim
Administrator
Yes, I'd agree with above 
As for the best incubator for hatching, I think they are both about the same.
The separate hatcher if you can afford it saves a great deal of mess - I add eggs to my incubators every 4 or 5 days sometimes in small groups and then remove eggs that are at 18 days and hatch them.
Let us know what you go for in the end...
As for the best incubator for hatching, I think they are both about the same. The separate hatcher if you can afford it saves a great deal of mess - I add eggs to my incubators every 4 or 5 days sometimes in small groups and then remove eggs that are at 18 days and hatch them.
Let us know what you go for in the end...
girlracer265
New member
I was doing this tim but then i got worried about the incy not being cleaned between adding, so let it get empty gave it a good clean and used the incy disinfectant, then started againTim said:Yes, I'd agree with above
The separate hatcher if you can afford it saves a great deal of mess - I add eggs to my incubators every 4 or 5 days sometimes in small groups and then remove eggs that are at 18 days and hatch them.
Let us know what you go for in the end...
How long do you think i should leave it between cleans ?
A
Anonymous
Guest
Can anyone help. I have a Brinsea Octogon 20 Advanced (without the additional humidifier) and a Brinsea Polyhatch. I have no problems with the polyhatch but I have tried 8 settings of eggs in the Octagon 20 with very poor results. Both incubators are in the same location. I buy my eggs in from other breeders or local poultry auctions. When I have split them from the same source into both incubators the hatch rate is far better in the polyhatch. Are there any experienced Brinsea Octogon 20 users who can offer any advice or are there are any experienced users in the Lancashire/Manchester area who would be prepared to try a hatching using my machine at there premises.
Andy
Andy
girlracer265
New member
I have never had a problem with my octagon but then its the best of the 2 incys that i have
What sort of %'s are you talking about ?
obviously the polyhatch is dearer and probably therefore a better machine
What sort of %'s are you talking about ?
obviously the polyhatch is dearer and probably therefore a better machine
I used the Brinsea octagon 20 - but with the humidifier and got all of them hatched. I have also read about those who have one without the humidifier and although it's not as carefree they seem to get really good results and highly reccomend them. So saying that they would much prefer the humidifier - which can be added - to make life easier.
Tim
Administrator
girlracer265 said:
Ah - depends on how much bacteria is in there I guess. I disinfect incubator before starting and wash eggs in Brinsea egg disinfectant before placing them in there.
If the eggs are hatching and there are no bad eggs, I keep it going for a couple of months - then I remove all eggs, place them in the hatcher for 20 mins and sterilise the incubator. Before turning on again I use almost boiling water to heat the plastic surfaces. I don't dry them and put it back together so you get instant humidity as the surfaces dry - The temperature / humidity should come up quite quickly within 15 mins.
I don't add new (cold) eggs until the next day and I don't do this when I have eggs under a week old in there as this is the most critical time for the development of the embryos..
Hope this helps...
T
Tim
Administrator
Bracken said:
Hi Andy,
Can you elaborate on the sorts of problems (early / late hatch, dead in shell early, dead in shell but pipping etc)?? and to be clear, is it right that you DON'T have automatic humidity control? Are they automatically turned? and finally, what sort of hygrometer are you using (little plastic dial / electronic / wet bulb etc...).
I would test it for you if I were closer (Bedfordshire) as I have some accurate thermometers and hygrometer but you're a little far for me I'm afraid. It is possible it needs calibrating - these are normally very good machines but we might be able to do something for you here if you can answer lots of questions
Tim
girlracer265
New member
Thanx Tim, I was worrying prematurely then lol. but there again, always better to be safe than sorry, i clean my incy the same way and love the instant hunidity after cleaningTim said:
A
Anonymous
Guest
Hi I think I may have worked out what incubator I'm going to get.
I'm looking at the R-com Suro 20 to incubate and possibly the MPS 18 which I've seen one on e bay for £79.50 inc p&P for hatching in as the children should be able to see through the thick plastic.
If anyone has any other ideas of which incubator to get for the hatching and which suppliers are good but also to steer clear of I would be very grateful.
Thanks again for all your help on this forum it has been great.
Greenhen
I'm looking at the R-com Suro 20 to incubate and possibly the MPS 18 which I've seen one on e bay for £79.50 inc p&P for hatching in as the children should be able to see through the thick plastic.
If anyone has any other ideas of which incubator to get for the hatching and which suppliers are good but also to steer clear of I would be very grateful.
Thanks again for all your help on this forum it has been great.
Greenhen
A
Anonymous
Guest
Tim
The Octagon has a build in Hydrometer. For most of the hatches I have had between 25% & 60% of the eggs at day 21 with fully formed chicks in. When I have had a low % of chicks formed the eggs appear to have started developing and then died whislt at the vein stage. With chicks fully forming I have assumed that they are drowing in their shells when they are hatching so I have reduced the humidity during the incubation upto day 18/19. The humidity levels I use are 35% upto day 18/19 then take it to 70% for the last 2 or 3 days. Any chicks that I have hatched in this inc have always been 2-3 days late. My last hatch in this inc I had 12 eggs in, 3 haf almost fully formed chicks in but have failed to hatch but I think there may be a problem with the fertility with these eggs. I am going to set another inc full at the end of the week and start from basics. The inc with be fully disinfected, pre heated for a couple of days but what I would appreciate are the humidity levels used by any one else who has a 20 and is succesful or any other tips.
Andy
The Octagon has a build in Hydrometer. For most of the hatches I have had between 25% & 60% of the eggs at day 21 with fully formed chicks in. When I have had a low % of chicks formed the eggs appear to have started developing and then died whislt at the vein stage. With chicks fully forming I have assumed that they are drowing in their shells when they are hatching so I have reduced the humidity during the incubation upto day 18/19. The humidity levels I use are 35% upto day 18/19 then take it to 70% for the last 2 or 3 days. Any chicks that I have hatched in this inc have always been 2-3 days late. My last hatch in this inc I had 12 eggs in, 3 haf almost fully formed chicks in but have failed to hatch but I think there may be a problem with the fertility with these eggs. I am going to set another inc full at the end of the week and start from basics. The inc with be fully disinfected, pre heated for a couple of days but what I would appreciate are the humidity levels used by any one else who has a 20 and is succesful or any other tips.
Andy
girlracer265
New member
i usually do between 35 - 40 % till day 18 then up it to 60 % and it seems to work for me but then again i used the seperate hatcher recently but it hasn't made any difference really, i use 60 % for hatching in there too
Tim
Administrator
I think there could be a number if things going on.
Firstly, (the thing that should be the easiest to fix) is the late hatch - this usually happens when the temperature is too low.
Could you borrow or buy an accurate glass bulb thermometer? I think you can get them for £7 or so that are the right range for hatching (they go from about 20 to 40 degrees).Then, you can check the temperature in different parts of the incy. You should of course have 37.5.
This could explain the problems you are having but I would also check humidity if you can.
I get a wet bulb hygrometer - ie thermometer covered in wick that dangles into water. - this can be using the above thermometer and some wick together dangling into a small jar with a hole punched in the lid..
There is a a look up chart to read humidity at 37.5 deg.
I know you are not using an electronic hygrometer but for others reading this, check the electronic readings - that essentially are only as good as the calibration performed in the factory and a little twiddle one way or the other gives you completely different readings!
The final thing worth checking is inbreeding / breeder flock health. If birds are closely related, eggs become harder and harder to hatch. I know you've had eggs from different sources though.
If you look at theincubation trouble shooting guide, about half way down you can see all of the things that can cause dead in shell chicks...
Firstly, (the thing that should be the easiest to fix) is the late hatch - this usually happens when the temperature is too low.
Could you borrow or buy an accurate glass bulb thermometer? I think you can get them for £7 or so that are the right range for hatching (they go from about 20 to 40 degrees).Then, you can check the temperature in different parts of the incy. You should of course have 37.5.
This could explain the problems you are having but I would also check humidity if you can.
I get a wet bulb hygrometer - ie thermometer covered in wick that dangles into water. - this can be using the above thermometer and some wick together dangling into a small jar with a hole punched in the lid..
There is a a look up chart to read humidity at 37.5 deg.
I know you are not using an electronic hygrometer but for others reading this, check the electronic readings - that essentially are only as good as the calibration performed in the factory and a little twiddle one way or the other gives you completely different readings!
The final thing worth checking is inbreeding / breeder flock health. If birds are closely related, eggs become harder and harder to hatch. I know you've had eggs from different sources though.
If you look at theincubation trouble shooting guide, about half way down you can see all of the things that can cause dead in shell chicks...
A
Anonymous
Guest
Tim
thanks for the reply. I have ordered an auto humitity kit for the Octogan 20 so hopefully this will sort out any humidity issues. There seems to be a slight difference in what individuals believe is the right humidity level. What humidity levels do you use in the 20. A previous contributer suggested 35-40% to day 18 and then increase to 60% for the final 3 days, what do you think.
The 20 has a digital temp display and mine is currently set for 37.5. If as you say the temp may be slightly to low as the eggs are hatching 2 or 3 days late if I raise the temp (on the display) to 37.7 do you think this small increase will make a difference.
Andy
thanks for the reply. I have ordered an auto humitity kit for the Octogan 20 so hopefully this will sort out any humidity issues. There seems to be a slight difference in what individuals believe is the right humidity level. What humidity levels do you use in the 20. A previous contributer suggested 35-40% to day 18 and then increase to 60% for the final 3 days, what do you think.
The 20 has a digital temp display and mine is currently set for 37.5. If as you say the temp may be slightly to low as the eggs are hatching 2 or 3 days late if I raise the temp (on the display) to 37.7 do you think this small increase will make a difference.
Andy
Tim
Administrator
OK - Humidity - Here goes...
When eggs are incubated, you are looking to have the right amount of evaporation through the shell as the chick develops - the right weight loss (approx 13% of egg weight for chicken eggs) to give the correct size air sack and the right conditions for the chick to hatch. Evaporation / weight loss increases as the humidity decreases and vice versa.
Generally speaking, chickens eggs are 'easy' to hatch compared to some birds eggs. Some egg shells are more porous than others and the amount of evaporation required for different eggs will vary, even between the same batch of eggs.
The way you would hatch rare bird eggs is to run 3 incubators with a different humidity in each. You would weigh the eggs at intervals and eggs that were losing too much weight would be placed in a higher humidity incubator for a few days and eggs that hadn't lost enough into a lower humidty incubator... and so on...
A very long story (sorry!) but in short, there is no 'perfect' humidity. What works for one may not work for others. Generally, it is accepted thet 40 to 50% is used for chickens eggs from day 1-18. My Rcom runs the automatic 'chicken' program that holds it at 45% and generally speaking hatches most of the fertile eggs I put in. If I buy some rare eggs, I will weigh them and use the weight loss method and adjust humidity from day 1-18 slightly to keep the weight loss on target. Some waterfowl are tricky to hatch, especially if they are inbred as are some show strains of chickens.
Yes, if you raise the temperature and they hatch on time, you should have fixed that problem - but for the time and cost involved, it would pay to get an accurate thermometer to use as a check / reference.
Hope this helps and you're not asleep by now :roll:
When eggs are incubated, you are looking to have the right amount of evaporation through the shell as the chick develops - the right weight loss (approx 13% of egg weight for chicken eggs) to give the correct size air sack and the right conditions for the chick to hatch. Evaporation / weight loss increases as the humidity decreases and vice versa.
Generally speaking, chickens eggs are 'easy' to hatch compared to some birds eggs. Some egg shells are more porous than others and the amount of evaporation required for different eggs will vary, even between the same batch of eggs.
The way you would hatch rare bird eggs is to run 3 incubators with a different humidity in each. You would weigh the eggs at intervals and eggs that were losing too much weight would be placed in a higher humidity incubator for a few days and eggs that hadn't lost enough into a lower humidty incubator... and so on...
A very long story (sorry!) but in short, there is no 'perfect' humidity. What works for one may not work for others. Generally, it is accepted thet 40 to 50% is used for chickens eggs from day 1-18. My Rcom runs the automatic 'chicken' program that holds it at 45% and generally speaking hatches most of the fertile eggs I put in. If I buy some rare eggs, I will weigh them and use the weight loss method and adjust humidity from day 1-18 slightly to keep the weight loss on target. Some waterfowl are tricky to hatch, especially if they are inbred as are some show strains of chickens.
Yes, if you raise the temperature and they hatch on time, you should have fixed that problem - but for the time and cost involved, it would pay to get an accurate thermometer to use as a check / reference.
Hope this helps and you're not asleep by now :roll:
Hi bracken
I have the brinsea octagon with hudity pump - I followed the instructions in the manual and had humidity at 45% until day 18 and then it says put it up to 75%. I thought at the time this was high but did it as I thought the manual had stipulated that and all was ok - they all hatched safely.
Tim - or anyone else please.
I have my temp at 37.5 - my last lot which were my first lot - were a couple of days late - do you think I should raise the temp slightly?
I have the brinsea octagon with hudity pump - I followed the instructions in the manual and had humidity at 45% until day 18 and then it says put it up to 75%. I thought at the time this was high but did it as I thought the manual had stipulated that and all was ok - they all hatched safely.
Tim - or anyone else please.
I have my temp at 37.5 - my last lot which were my first lot - were a couple of days late - do you think I should raise the temp slightly?
A
Anonymous
Guest
Good question Anne,my incy's are all set at 37.5 as well,all my eggs hatch late,not a day or 2,my last lot(Serama's)were 3-4 days.
Tim
Administrator
I would give it a few hatches and if they are consistently late, check the temperature and adjust accordingly...
Humidity is something you will hear a lot about from people and everyone says something different!
Humidity is something you will hear a lot about from people and everyone says something different!
