Review #1
Reviewer: Lynne Stevenson
August/Sept 2017
Product: Mini II Advance Incubator
Manufacturer: Brinsea
Product reviewed over:
1 week 2 weeks 3 weeks 1 month 2 months 3 months
Are the eggs you're hatching: Home bred
Bought in
Postal sent
All 3 types
How were the eggs stored before incubating and how old were the eggs when they were put in:
The eggs were send in Secure Eggbox (posh bit of kit). They were stored pointy end down in steady temperature. The eggs were 5 days old by the time they were set.
Your first thoughts of the product:
Neat looking bit of kit which is light to handle (although both hands needed when lifting/removing lid) but solid.
Features at a glance:
Digital control display that also includes day countdown and a symbol to let you know what turning mode you're in. External humidity fill point.
The Trial
Product Pros and Cons
Incubator is very easy to set up with easy to follow instructions.
It takes up very little space, only uses one plug socket and very economical on the old electric!
Ideal for small / special hatches
Cons for me is it really needs a digital humidity display, wasted feature is the cooling option as this is not to be used with anything other than the likes of Waterfowl etc. (not that I fully understand this a broodys get off the nest regularly and for periods of time until near hatch date) and the noise during turning is a tad loud especially when running in bedroom.
Learning curve for me with this incubator is it is not to be dry run at any point which is total opposite to how I normally hatch so have to remember to keep checking humidity level (separate gadget for this) lol.
I think if they removed the cooling option, added humidity display and made the turning quieter (turning off at a night and back on in the morning within 12 hours may not suit everybody's lifestyle or the eggs they’ve set) then it would be a better machine for me and possibly others.
Conclusion
I’ve since learnt that people do use the cooling option and it improves hatch rates and also dry hatch till lockdown.
Obviously not everybody's houses are the same and my home is pretty humid hence I totally dry hatch and have great results in my Brinsea Octagon 20.
I would recommend to others as we all hatch differently, have different set-ups and bird types we wish to hatch.
Personally it would be ideal if I could do a second hatch my own way to get a comparison – it may even be that this particular incy is not suited to my house (stranger things have happened).
I did not use the hatching discs as the ridges are a bit big for what I was wanting to hatch and did not want to risk splay leg and such.
Overall my hatch was bad as had one chick out of twelve see daylight even though five made it to lockdown they quit and upon opening the eggs the chicks were in liquid and jelly so humidity issue I would presume.
How would you rate this product: 1-5 star rating (1-poor, 2-below average, 3-average, 4-above average, 5-brilliant).
3 stars
