Brinsea Mini II Eco newbie questions - staggered hatches

I’m hatching quail, but they don’t seem to have forum. I hope chicken-folk don’t mind my questions. I know not all permies like incubators.

Has anyone used the Brinsea Mini II Eco incubator or a similar one for staggered hatches? Good or bad experiences?

What hand-turning methods have you had most success with? I think I’m going to just roll them with a flat hand as quickly as I can and not mark them to roll by degrees one by one. (Small incubator loses temp quickly.) Who has tried the book underneath to prop at an angle and thinks that’s better? (It’s less touching, but I picture myself inadvertently crashing them around).

I’m using it for the first time and already wasted a chunk of the day trying to figure out whether the blinking light indicated a problem. My husband read the manual (in Spanish) and he says that blinking means it’s at correct temp. Weird. Then I fretted that maybe I heat shocked the first six, which I put in at 35 degrees after confirming it would hold between 37 and 38 for several hours. Was I supposed to bring it up from cold with the eggs inside?

I would like to get 24 in, batched in 6s. That’s a risk to the later eggs when I don’t turn them for the lockdown of the earliest ones, but I think it’s a tolerable risk. Does this seem reasonable to you?

In my position would you take eggs directly from hen to incubator or set them a few hours point down and put them in as a batch after? The former would allow me to put warm eggs in a warm incubator (I have a view of the aviary from my workspace all day), but I would have skipped the setting phase (which helps positions the air pocket? Or??)

There sure is a lot of conflicting information to be found. I hope that means lots of ways work if the temp and humidity are right.

Thanks in advance,
Eileen

I've been looking at incubators like this recently also. Interested to hear what people have to say about it.

In the end I compromised with myself, haha, and I'm trying this cardboard beneath to help me gently rock eggs. I'm slipping them in freshly laid after the first six.

One thing I hadn't anticipated was how loud the incubator is. I think it's just a small fan going, but I set it up in my kitchen after realizing during the test that sleeping or working near it for that long would drive me batty.

Cheers,
Eileen

Sorry to report that only one quail of my first batch was fertile and it failed to thrive. Its 3rd night after pip was spent pecking a hole in a neighboring egg. It only ever unzipped itself about an inch. Necropsy showed feces and pasty butt inside the shell, a darkened abdomen.

Casanova is not living up to his name.  I haven't actually seen him in the act since his first day with us. Fewer of my hens are laying since his arrival. I set 16 more eggs today. I put them in all together and brought them up to temp together. I'm curious whether hatchaholics here have a preferred day to candle. It's hard to know whether my turning method is good enough without a batch of good eggs! I can "afford" to waste the eggs that aren't fertile but am discouraged since I had visions of a chirpy Easter.

Ultimately I had many unsuccessful rounds with this one.  I'm not good enough at hand-turning quail eggs is my conclusion. I wish I'd paid more for a good turner - or had the bandwidth to build one like all the happy incubator makers on YT. Shelving this project for now.

Hi Eileen,
My advice is "Don't give up completely" and "Don't worry".

My limited experience is with chicken eggs, but I'm sure many principals will carry over. I don't think you need to be a "good egg turner" in order to incubate. We raised all kinds of chicks in those styrofoam incubators with no egg turner other than ourselves. We simply marked one side with a "1" and the other side with a "2". Then we simply flipped it to the opposite number. I think it would be easier to do a single batch in the incubator at a time, rather than to try multiple rounds going simultaneously. I think sometimes people are too scared to ever open the incubator, to ever let it get more than a degree off of temperature and humidity. Don't get me wrong, if it gets too far off for too long you won't get chicks, but... chicken hens (and I imagine quail hens as well) do leave the nest for periods to eat, drink, stretch, and poop. During this time the nest temperature and humidity changes for a few minutes, and the chicks still survive just fine. Rather than trying to use a cardboard box to roll them or swipe your hand in quickly, keep it simple. Mark the eggs and when it is time to turn them, open it up, be deliberate and efficient when turning them, but don't be rushed.

Here is a "Good Luck!" for when you are ready to start again.

Thank you!

One hatched, two pipping today. I made a wonky cardboard turner that may have helped. Glad I gave it another try (in my in-law's garage where I didn't have to listen to the fan hum for weeks!)

Fantastic. Glad to hear you have 1 hatched and a couple more coming. You should share some pictures of the new arrivals.

My twins have named these coturnix quail Beaky, Becky, Pecky, Agate, Julia and Marky Sparkly ;) Beaky has scissor beak and was born without one eye. It eats fairly well so gets a chance at least until I can tell whether it's a roo or hen. My father's family had a chicken hatchery and he hated having the job of snapping necks of the males. I couldn't do it. They're so tiny and cute!

Eleven little coturnix hatched from this last round. I cut small ovals into a cardboard disc aligned toward the center of the incubator so the eggs will roll gently. Plus I left an extra tab on the cardboard bent up this time so I can more easily turn by sliding an inch one direction, then back throughout the early days of incubation. I'm moving away from staggered hatch attempts and thinking more like a mama quail. Collect six days' worth, store at room temp pointy side down, then start them at the same time as the seventh day's eggs. I was down to two mature quail  hens due to predation this summer, so I'm glad these are healthy and strong.