Ozark Bantams: Our Blog

With spring right around the corner, I thought it would be an appropriate time to review the new EcoGlow Chick Brooder by Brinsea – a product that I’m confident will be valuable to many poultry hobbyists. Brinsea has a well-established reputation within our hobby as innovators of quality avian products. The new Brinsea EcoGlow Chick Brooder is no exception to that tradition and represents yet another example of product innovation in the form of low-energy consumption and significant safety advantages when compared to traditional heat lamp brooders. As such, the Brinsea EcoGlow Chick Brooder will likely prove to be a must-have for many small-scale poultry hobbyists, particularly for the energy-conscious poultry keeper and those with small children involved in the poultry hobby. Like many other poultry hobbyists, we at Ozark Bantams have been successfully using Brinsea Incubators for our artificial hatching needs for several years now. Needless to say, we’re pleased to see this new product from Brinsea which will certainly help us and other hobbyists with the requirements of artificial brooding as well. For the purpose of this review, I will be taking a closer look at the Brinsea EcoGlow 20 Chick Brooder. As its name implies, the EcoGlow 20 is ideally suited for small broods of up to twenty chicks. Brinsea also offers the EcoGlow 50 Chick Brooder for larger broods. Both the EcoGlow 20 and EcoGlow 50 Chick Brooder models can be purchased online directly from Brinsea.com.

Those familar with Brinsea products will immediate recognize the signature yellow and black color scheme that charaterizes Brinsea’s well-known incubator line-up. On further inspection, however, it becomes obvious that the EcoGlow 20 represents an innovation in artificial brooding technology. As anyone who has raised chicks by hand knows, providing warmth to young birds during their first weeks of life is one of the most fundamental aspects of rearing newly-hatched chicks. Under normal circumstances, the mother hen provides vital warmth to her young via her own body heat during those first few critical weeks of life until the chick is fully feathered. In other words, nature has provided for the warmth and protection of young chicks in the form of their dutiful mother hen. Unfortunately, this is not the case when hatching and rearing a brood of chicks artificially. Without a mother hen, an alternative source of warmth must by provided for the chicks by the poultry-keeper. Traditionally, this has been accomplished by confining the young birds to small area and suspending an infrared heat lamp directly above that space. However, the EcoGlow appliance has no infrared heat bulb. Instead, the EcoGlow 20 uses radiant heat emitting from the underside of the appliance to keep chicks warm. The heat source istelf is a metal plate covered with a black teflon-like material. In essence, the warm underside of the EcoGlow imitates the warmth associated with the underside of a brooding hen. And so again, the EcoGlow 20 represents a significant innovation over traditional heat lamps.

The traditional heat lamp brooder set-up hasn’t change much through the years. In fact, it’s the same method many of our grandparents used to brood chicks, as do most poultry hobbyists today. It’s simple and it works; the heat lamp generates heat and the chicks stay warm. Be that as it may, the traditional infrared heat lamp brooding method has inherent disadvantages to the Brinsea EcoGlow. For instance, infrared heat lamps are inefficient and characterized by unreasonably high energy consumption. Be aware that the typical infrared bulb runs at about 250 watts compared to 18 watts for the Brinsea EcoGlow. In the brooder environment, traditional heat lamps must remain on continuously for weeks on end. In other words, the energy cost associated with artificially brooding chicks can quickly add up when using a traditional heat lamp for brooding. Furthermore, heat lamps get extremely hot during use, which again is 24 hours a day during chick brooding. This should not be underestimated; heat lamps put off a great deal of heat and can cause serious burns if accidentally touched. As a result, small children should not be permitted to remain unsupervised in an area where a heat lamp is set up for the purpose of brooding chicks. Unfortunately, the safety concerns associated with traditional heat lamps often prevents children from fully enjoying the wonderful experience of artificial chick brooding.

Another inherent disadvantage of infrared heat lamps involves the unnatural light they give off. Bright artificial lights are known to induce aggression and pecking behavior in chicks, hence many poultry-keepers use red heat lamps. And while a red light bulb does provide the source of heat necessary for brooding, the chick’s eyes never get a reprieve from the unnatural light emitted by the bulb itself. Remember: chicks require warmth to survive and for healthy growth, not 24 hours of glaring artificial light. Lastly, considering that the heat lamp is usually suspended above absorbent chick bedding, such as wood shavings, there is always the potential risk of fire associated with the use of infrared heat lamp brooders. In the past, chicks were often brooded in outdoor pens or brooder areas within a larger chicken shed. The risk of fire still existed but was often limited to the outdoor chicken shed, not the home. As the backyard poultry hobby has grown in recent years, more and more people are rearing chicks inside their homes, whether that be in the workshop, the garage, or even the actual living space. As a result, the risk of home fire associated with heat lamp brooders has become more likely.

With those factors in mind, the Brinsea EcoGlow 20 Chick Brooder offers several important advantages to the poultry hobbyist when compared to traditional infrared heat lamp brooders. To begin with, the Brinsea EcoGlow 20 Chick Brooder uses only 18 watts of electricity to operate in contrast to 250 watts for traditional infrared head lamps. In other words, the Brinsea EcoGlow 20 uses only a tenth of the electricity necessary to operate a traditional heat lamp. For the energy-conscious poultry keeper, using the EcoGlow 20 as an alternative to a heat lamp is an economical investment that adds up to significant energy cost savings over time. Furthermore, the Brinsea EcoGlow Chick Brooder does not rely on a standard or infrared light bulb to generate heat. As such, chicks are not exposed to excess artificial light and can developed according to natural light schedules of day and night provided the chick brooder is set up in a room with a draft-free window. Another important advantage of the Brinsea EcoGlow is that it produces no excess heat other than what is needed to warm the chicks through direct contact with the warming surface of the element. In other words, the EcoGlow is no warmer than the underside of a hen. You can essentially leave the EcoGlow running for weeks; it remains comfortable to the touch, but never hot. Even the warming under-surface of the EcoGlow, the radiant heat source, is never hot to the touch. Because the Brinsea EcoGlow produces no excess heat; there is essentially no risk of contact burns nor fire hazard associated with its use. As such, the Brinsea EcoGlow offers a significant safety advantage over traditional heat lamps, making it ideal for poultry hobbyists, children, and the teacher-classroom learning environment.

In addition to the EcoGlow 20 and EcoGlow 50, Brinsea also manufactures the popular Mini and Octagon series incubators. To purchase any product manufactured by Brinsea including the EcoGlow Chick Brooder or to learn more about other quality avian products by Brinsea, simply visit Brinsea.com today. If you’ve used the Brinsea EcoGlow Chick Brooder with success and would like to share your experience with others, please feel free to leave a comment below. Otherwise, visit our blog regularly for future product reviews and articles of interest to the avian breeder and poultry hobbyist.

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Brinsea Mini Advance Incubator: Watch Your Eggs Hatch, Every Time!

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As of yesterday, I finally completed the new duck pen for my mandarin ducks. For those unfamiliar with these ducks, the mandarin (aix galericulatas) is a wild migratory duck native to Northeast Asia. The mandarin is closely related to the North American Wood Duck (aix sponsa). If fact, they are the only two ducks comprising the Aix genus. Many people consider the mandarin to be the most beautiful of all wild ducks. With its orange sail feathers, purple chest, red-orange whiskers, and blue-green crest, the mandarin drake is certainly the most colorful duck in the world. Until recently my mandarins had been sharing a pen with my white call ducks. This had always been a temporary arrangement as the two breeds have very different habits and nesting behavior. Like all ducks derived from wild mallards, call ducks are dabbling ducks that nest on the ground under cover of brush and weeds. Mandarins, on the other hand, are perching ducks that nest in tree cavities or man-made wood duck style nest boxes. Throughout the winter I had planned on building my mandarins their own duck pen suited to their habits and nesting behavior, but wasn’t sure of the best design.

I had initially considered building the mandarins an on-the-ground aviary with shrubs and other natural cover. However, ducks are notoriously messy with water and on-the-ground aviaries require regular maintenance and up keep. On the other hand, the raised pens that I use for my call ducks remain very clean with little effort on my part. In fact, the only real maintenance involved with the raised duck pens is emptying dirty pond water a couple times a week. And this is made easy by using a mortar mixing tub for the pond and releasing a drain that I installed on the underside of each tub. My call ducks seem happy and their feathers stay cleaner than they would if kept on the ground, plus they don’t come into contact with any dirt with which to create annoying and bacteria-infested mud puddles. Moreover, unlike on-the-ground aviaries, raised pens are more secure as predators are unable to dig underneath pens of this design. In short, I’ve been very pleased with the raised pen design that I use with my white call ducks. As such I decided to put utility and cleanliness before aesthetics and built a modified raised duck pen for my mandarin ducks as well. You can see the completed mandarin pen in the photos below.

Like our raised call duck pen, this new pen is constructed of pressure-treated wood and stands 6 feet tall. The floor of the pen consists of galvanized hardware cloth and sits right at 3 feet. As such, the birds are actually at eye level which makes for easy viewing. A 20 gallon mortar mixing tub, which can be purchased at Home Depot, sits within a frame in the floor of the pen and serves as the duck’s pond. Any water splashed out of the pond falls right through the hardware cloth. Therefore, the ducks can never come into contact with any mud with which to dirty their feathers. The corner posts of the pen are constructed of 4x4s, whereas the frame of the pen in made of 2x4s. The covered shelter is two stories. The upper level consists of four separate wood duck style nest boxes. Each nest box is 1 foot in width by 2 feet in depth. There is a perch that runs the width of the pen underneath each nest box entrance hole. The floor of the nest boxes are covered with several inches of pine shavings, and there is a hardware cloth ladder leading out of each nest box to assist ducklings when climbing out of the nest. The lower level of the shelter is a communal area where feed is offered and provide shelter from the elements. The floor of this area is also covered with  shavings for added warmth and comfort.

As you can see, I added an oak branch for natural perching that leads from the floor up to the nest box ledge. I put two potted plants (variegated hostas) in the pen to give it a more natural feeling. Unfortunately, the ducks have already started to eat the leaves off the hostas, so I think I will replace them with some kind of spreading evergreen. I think the mandarins will be less inclined to eat evergreen shrubs. Moreover, evergreens are winter hardy and will add some color to the pen throughout the colder months. I also placed a planter with ornamental sweet potato vine on top of the pen. The idea is that this vine will cascade down one side of the pen, providing shade and natural cover for the mandarins. I’ll probably add an additional oak branch or two before all is said and done. The idea is to make the mandarins as comfortable and secure as possible even though the pen was built with utility in mind. By adding tree branches and plants to the pen, I think the mandarins will feel more secure and at home.

The day after adding my mandarins to their new pen I saw my white mandarin pair breeding in the pond. This was actually the first time I had seen this behavior, and it confirmed my suspicion that my two white mandarins had paired up. For those unfamiliar with this breed, mandarin ducks typically form pair bonds that are reestablished year after year. My white mandarin drake was the last bird added to my mandarin flock and was initially shunned by the white hen. However, the two birds have since bonded. They are almost always seen next to one another whether perching together on a branch or basking in the sun next to one another. Needless to say, I am pleased that these two have paired up. My plan is to eventually  build an additional pen for each mandarin pair. This way each pair will be able to have a secure and private home in which to breed and rear their young. This will also eliminate quarrels between mandarin drakes, which tend to increase during the breeding season. During the non-breeding season I will then put all the mandarins back together in a communal pen. Doing so will imitate wild mandarin behavior as the birds generally pair up together during the breeding season, then flock together during the colder months.

Note: One shortcoming of the raised pen design should be mentioned. It has been observed by experienced mandarin breeders that the mandarin duck will not lay eggs if raised on wire. To account for this, I have created a thin plywood insert that sits on the wire and covers the entire pen floor. During the breeding season I will place this plywood on the floor of then pen, then removed it after the mandarin hens lay and incubate their eggs.

With spring right around the corner, the hatching season will be in full swing before we know it. For those of us who raise backyard poultry flocks and ornamental fowl, this is an exciting and often busy time of the year. Our birds begin their yearly courtship and soon thereafter dutiful hens begin laying eggs throughout the spring and, depending on breed, even into the summer months. For many of us, this means that our egg incubators will soon be full of various hatching eggs. As such, I thought it would be appropriate time to review the Mini Advance, one of the latest small personal incubators available from Brinsea – the leading manufacturer of incubators, brooders, and other avian products. For seasoned fowl breeders and poultry hobbyists alike, the name Brinsea has become synonymous with quality and advanced hatching technology. And like all Brinsea products, the Mini Advance lives up to this well-deserved reputation. For the purpose of this review, I will be setting seven bantam duck eggs in a brand-new Mini Advance incubator acquired directly from Brinsea.com. Fortunately for this reviewer, the Brinsea Mini Advance arrives pre-assembled from the factory and is ready-to-go right out of the box.

Upon initial inspection of the Brinsea Mini Advance, the first thing one notices is the incubator’s quality construction. The incubator’s see-through dome top, which provides superior egg viewing during incubation and hatch, is made of quality acrylic; while the base and egg turning tray are made of a durable high-gloss plastic. The digital display housing, which sits atop the see-through dome, is likewise constructed of quality plastic. In terms of durability, these materials offer a major advantage over cheaper styrofoam incubators such as the Little Giant incubator by Miller Manufacturing and the Hova-Bator by GQF. Moreover, the use of high-grade plastic provides a better hatching environment and makes post-hatch cleanup easier in contrast to styrofoam incubators, which can often harbor bacteria. In its overall appearance and design, the Mini Advance is somewhat reminiscent of the well-known Marsh Turn-X incubator by Lyon Electric. However, the Brinsea Mini Advance is more modern in appearance and features Brinsea’s signature yellow and black color scheme. More importantly, the Mini Advance offers similar features as the Marsh Turn-X but at just one-third the cost of that incubator. And unlike the Marsh Turn-X, the Mini Advance features digital programming of the most common incubation settings. In short, the Mini Advance gives the immediate impression of being a well-made and sophisticated little incubator.

At eight inches in diameter, the Mini Advance is the smallest incubator in the Brinsea lineup and hence the “mini” designation. If fact, the Brinsea Mini Advance is one of the smallest incubators currently on the market. Because of its small footprint the Mini Advance can be setup nearly anywhere, making it ideal for those with limited space. The Mini Advance is intended for small clutches of eggs; its default egg turning tray accommodates seven regular size eggs. However, by switching the automatic turning feature off and removing the egg turning tray, the Mini Advance can actually accommodate up to ten standard size chicken eggs. For smaller eggs, such as those of quail and pheasant, an optional 12 egg tray can be purchased separately. Again, for the purpose of this review, I’ll be setting seven fertile hatching eggs from our flock of white call ducks. As a size reference, call duck eggs are only slightly larger than the average bantam chicken egg. And as you can see in the photo below, the call duck eggs fit nicely in the standard egg turning tray.

One of the most unique features of the Mini Advance is the incubator’s digital programming menu, which allows for digital programming of important incubation settings including temperature, incubation period, and egg turning frequency. Such an advanced feature is usually only found in more expensive incubators. Preparing the Mini Advance for egg incubation is made easy by this sophisticated, yet straight forward, digital menu. In fact, I had the Mini Advance up and running within a matter of minutes. With a few quick adjustments to the digital menu, the Mini Advance was ready to incubate my seven call duck eggs. In additional to digital programming the Mini Advance also features fan-assisted air circulation and automatic egg turning, both of which are necessary for optimum incubation conditions. The Mini Advance has two water reservoirs that are used to achieve the correct humidity during incubation. By filling the first reservoir, relative humidity inside the incubator remained around 50 percent. However, by filling the second reservoir, humidity increases to about 65 percent which is the ideal humidity during hatch. Of course, this will vary according the environment in which the incubator is set up. Nonetheless, the incubator’s water reservoirs are easy to access and manual humidity control is relatively easy to maintain in such a small incubator. For those requiring automatic humidity control, Brinsea offers the Mini Advance EX which includes an external water reservoir and digital humidity control.

The Mini Advance arrives factory set to the optimum incubation temperature of 99.5 degrees. Within only a few minutes of setting my call duck eggs in the incubator, the Mini Advance had reached this temperature. More importantly, the Mini Advance has steadily held the temperature between 99.5 to 99.6 degrees throughout the duration of the incubation period with no adjustments made on my part. Should the temperature ever exceed the recommended range for safe egg incubation, the Mini Advance will sound an alarm. This important feature is not usually found in other small tabletop incubators. Using the digital menu, I was able to program the incubator to automatically turn the eggs every hour. A chime sounds each time the eggs are turned; however, the motor that rotates the egg turning tray remains relatively quite when in use. With the exception of refilling the water reservoirs occasionally during incubation, the Mini Advance is truly a set-n-go type incubator that requires very little user oversight during incubation.

In short, the Mini Advance is a quality small incubator that achieves and maintains the correct incubation conditions for hatching a variety of fowl eggs using technology usually only seen in more expensive models. At the time of this blog post, all seven  call duck eggs were developing. And by the following week, all seven call ducklings had successfully hatched. In other words, I achieved a 100% hatch rate using the Brinsea Mini Advance for this particular hatch. You can visit my call duck egg incubation page to follow the incubation and hatch of these eggs. For those of us who raise and breed call ducks, it’s well known that call duck eggs are notoriously difficult to incubate and hatch. Nonetheless, the Brinsea Mini Advance did an excellent job of incubating eggs that usually require close supervision and the use of more expensive equipment. By incorporating automatic egg turning, fan-assisted air circulation, and digital programming into the Mini Advance, Brinsea has brought advanced incubation technology to the poultry hobbyist at a very reasonable price. And while the Mini Advance’s easy-to-use features are ideal for the novice, its level of sophistication is equally suited to the more discerning fowl breeder who regularly needs to incubate a small number of difficult-to-hatch eggs.

Brinsea’s mini incubators are available in three versions: the Mini Eco, the Mini Advance, and the Mini Advance EX. The Mini Eco is the entry level model, whereas the Mini Advance EX represents the most feature-rich model with automatic humidity control. The Mini Advance is the mid-line model combing both low cost and advanced incubation technology. In addition to the Mini Advance, Brinsea also manufactures the popular HatchMaker and Octagon series incubators. To purchase any incubator manufactured by Brinsea including the Mini Advance or to learn more about Brinsea’s quality incubators, simply visit the Brinsea web site. If you’ve used the Brinsea Mini Advance with success and would like to share your experience with others, please feel free to leave a comment below. Otherwise, please check out our blog regularly for future product reviews and articles of interest to the avian breeder and poultry hobbyist.

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Brinsea Mini Advance Incubator: Watch Your Eggs Hatch, Every Time!

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