Pre-Season Checks for Your Incubator

We asked Brinsea Incubator Specialists how to get off to a good start to a successful hatching season

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You are expecting the first eggs to be laid any day and you dust off your incubator from last year but before you are ready to set the new season's eggs follow the steps below to avoid some common problems:

Find the instructions for your incubator (If you have a Brinsea incubator you can download them free from www.brinsea.co.uk or www.brinsea.com) and read them carefully. Even experienced breeders should familiarise themselves with the instructions to check some of the less obvious issues - for example, ensuring the incubator sits level, as a tilt may affect temperature control in some models.

BEFORE PLUGGING IN...

Clean your incubator thoroughly. As incubators are warm and wet they are ideal breeding grounds for bacteria and if they have been left with debris from the last hatch of last year they will harbour

germs which are highly likely to damage your next hatch. After removing any old shells, fluff and dirt, it is best to soak non-electrical parts like egg trays in a disinfectant solution that is alcohol-free for an hour before scrubbing clean.