Brinsea Mini II Advance Egg Incubator with Automatic Egg Turning and Temperature Control for Hatching 7 Chicken, Duck, or Other Eggs, Ideal Incubator for Hobbyists, Teachers, and Learners

The media could not be loaded. Great incubator for a small farm! This is the first incubator I have ever used, and I managed an 83% hatch rate on my chicken eggs (which I hear is really good!). 20/24 eggs successfully hatched; the other 4 were not viable at the 10 day mark, so these may have been a fertility/egg viability issue. I followed the instructions that came with the incubator and it worked perfectly.It monitors ambient air temperature of the room, which helps to make sure it functions optimally. I had to move it to a climate controlled space, and kept the air temperature around 67°F. There is no humidity gauge, but the incubator instructions tell you how to maintain a good humidity level. The water input spout is small but easy to judge if more water is needed, which I was able to keep in check by adding water 2x a day.Zero smell until hatching began, then it was only right over the machine.Cleaning is no mean feat- hatching is dirty business! the bottom tray was easy, but the cover had to be partially disassembled to properly clean, which should probably be done after each hatch. The manual covers cleaning the machine as well, so I had no problems figuring it all out.

We went from having fertilized eggs to having happy and healthy adult chickens!

I recommend this brinsea advance mini 11 first hatch 5 out of 6 chicks hatched second hatch 6 out of 7 hatched. The temperature fluctuated, but I left the incubator on 100.2 and kept the outside water full. humidity was between 30 and 40 through the whole hatch, super easy 03/11/25

Love this incubator, high hatch percentile. Wish it had a candler tho

Love mine after third hatch. Only thing I would change is the head space for chicks first getting around.

I knew before I purchased this incubator that I love it. I have been borrowing one from a friend for a couple of years. She uses hers too much now to loan it out. So I knew the Brinsea would last. I looked at some cheaper units, but there was no indication in the reviews that they had been used repeatedly. I'd rather pay more upfront for a good unit than have to replace after a few uses.I will be hatching Serama chicks. I have a prize hen whose offspring should be salable and show well, so I wanted a really reliable unit. This incubator is so easy to use. It's set and then pretty much forget except for adding a little water every third day or so. (They have added a place where you can add water now without opening the incubator. A great improvement.) The temperature and humidity are regulated and the eggs are automatically turned. You can set the temperature and turning to your specifications. You can see on the top how many days are left until your hatch is expected. 2 days before the due date I remove the egg turning plate. The incubator knows to quit turning. I cut a soft paper towel to fit the bottom so the chick's feet won't slip and add more water to raise the humidity. The Brinsea comes with a corrugated pad for chicks to stand on but the corrugations are too deep for Serama chicks. They're much smaller than regular large fowl chicks. You can see the chicks pipping and hatching quite well. If one has trouble you can see and gently help. I'm not expecting a great hatch rate since I'm collecting eggs from one hen, some eggs will be nearly 2 weeks old. I'll add to this later if need be.One more thing. For Serama eggs I bought the additional small egg turning plate. It has 12 holes for eggs instead of the 7 for large fowl eggs. This is a small incubator but I"m a small operation. 12 chicks would be plenty for me and probably I'll end up with closer to 6. That's fine too.The only thing that I don't enjoy about hatching my own eggs is cockerels. If you buy sexed eggs from a hatchery you're all set with little baby pullets. If you hatch your own unsexed eggs, on average 60% will be cockerels. That's a pretty reliable statistic. I struggle with having enough hens to pair with cocks.

(All activity in this review has occurred since February 2019)- Purchased my first Mini II Advance from a different site brand new (end of Jan 2019). IT WORKS AWESOME! Holds humidity, maintains temperature, super easy user face, and rotation works perfectly. Entire unit works like a dream. I loved it so much, I bought a 2nd Mini II Advanced (from Amazon this time.) - This one worked about 30 days then died.. I returned it to Amazon. BRINSEA wanted to charge me an $11.xx "restocking fee" to accept the bator back... Then BRINSEA decided to charge me a $29.xx restocking fee instead of the $11.xx initially said. WHAT?! This is RIDICULOUS! I called Amazon Rep, they advised me it is Brinsea making this charge, not Amazon.. I get off the phone with Amazon, call Brinsea in Florida. spoke to manager, she explained 'restocking fee' - I again advised ridiculous! Why charge me to restock an item that is BROKEN and doesn't need to be resold?! It is not my fault this is junk, and broke in 30 days! I get off the phone with rude Manager at Brinsea - I called back to Amazon, explained the situation. The Amazon Rep put me on hold, spoke to her Manager, and they agreed I should not be charged a restocking fee for a broken item at 30 days old. They decided the override the B.S. charge from Brinsea, and gave me back the full amount. Thank you Amazon Customer Service Dept for making this right! So this 2nd Brinsea I bought was sent back. I am back down to one.. I decided to try one more time, decided to get 1 more Mini II Advanced (bought this one from Amazon.)-it was delivered around 3/13/19. I did not take it out to use/start until around 3/18/19. ( now have eggs!) - After approx 20 minutes of working, the motor started to pop and crack... like popcorn. The motor stayed on, and the sounds eventually stopped. I work from home, so I have it on my desk, watching it for hours, and monitoring it's activity before deciding to put in the eggs. After a few hours it started again, popping and crackling in the motor, and the turner was making a loud sound as it rotated the disc back and forth (nothing in the bator, except a small trusted hygrometer)- intermittently the sound would return. After a few days, it died completely.. I unplugged it, and decided to wait until the next day, and would try again.. Plugged in the next day, and it started back up.. after a few minutes, the motor popping/crackling started again, and died that same day, Would not turn on again. Now I have to send this hunk of junk back. Return process started 3/26/19. My review is mixed, because 1 out of 3 are good. There is clearly MAJOR defects and quality control issues with this company. I called Brinsea again -and the Manager lady wanted to argue with me they are the 'industry standard' and offer customers superior British craftsmanship. I vehemently disagreed. and Also told her to maintain a 99.5 degree temp, the temperature gauge on the interface needs to be set around 101.5 - 102.5 (depending on room temp)- because the 1/8" temperature reader built in the unit is at the top center of the motor/ceiling of the dome.. WHY?! is what I asked the Manager .. WHY would your superior British engineers put a tiny thermometer gauge at the top center of the dome beside the motor/fan when the eggs are several inches below, and under the think plastic wall between the thermometer and the eggs?! How dumb! where is the forethought? Why not put the thermometer where the eggs are located to get an ACCURATE reading? Also, they need to have some sort of method/new design for the top to get it off easier and with less chance of damage. Once the chicks hatch, (as they did in the first one I bought)- there is a lot of fuzzy and hair type debris around the fan planks, and in the motor. So after each use, you will need to disassemble the unit entirely, take out the screws and GENTLY hand wipe it down, to get the built up fuzz/feathers/debris off the fan/out of the motor. That is another design flaw. All things considered, if you get a unit that actually works, it is a super nice unit, and VERY Dependable.. unfortunately you may have to go through duds that break in the first week-30 days before you find that good one. Major design flaws, major quality control issues, and major issues with the Customer Service Dept with Brinsea. Very unfortunate! I now how to look for a different brand, maybe the first one i bought from a different site is not the 'norm'- because it is running brilliantly in it's 2nd month of constant use (no down time!)