We often get asked questions about egg sizes and incubation. The size of the egg has an influence on the time the embryo needs to grow to fill the shell and with that on the hatch time. Bigger eggs need more total incubation time, as at the same egg shell temperature the embryo will grow at more or less the same rate, but as there are more grammes of egg and grammes of chick, it will take longer to hatch. If incubating eggs of different sizes this will need to be taken into account.

Capacity also depends on the size and shape of your eggs, as eggs of one species can vary in size quite a lot. Capacity also depends and whether you are using egg disks in the Mini and Maxi machines, the size of the egg carriers being used in the Ovation machines and the type of egg trays used in the OvaEasy machines.

Our ‘Choosing an Incubator’ page gives an indication of numbers of eggs that can fit into each machine, these are based on the following ‘nominal’ dimensions:

 

Egg Measurements

Type of EggLengthDiameter
Quail35mm27mm
Pheasant45mm30mm
Bantam58mm40mm
Large Hen62mm43mm
Duck65mm44mm
Large Duck70mm47mm
Turkey65mm44mm
Goose90mm55mm
Amazon/Macaw62mm43mm

 

You may also find this table useful:

 

Maximum Egg Dimensions for Brinsea Incubators

 Diameter mmLength mm
Mini II Eco60N/A
Mini II Small Egg Disk (Quail)3044
Mini II Large Egg Disk (Hen)4865
Maxi II Eco65N/A
Maxi II Small Egg Disk (Quail)3044
Maxi II Large Egg Disk (Hen)4865
Maxi 24 Quail Quadrant3040
Maxi 24 Hen Quadrant4555
Maxi 24 Duck/Turkey/Large Hen Quadrant5065
Maxi 24 Goose Quadrant6095
Octagon 20 (eggs on side)75N/A
Ovation Standard Egg Carrier (eggs upright)4465
Ovation Standard Egg Carrier (eggs on side)44N/A
Ovation Large Egg Carrier (eggs upright)5872
Ovation Large Egg Carrier (eggs on side)58N/A
OvaEasy Universal Tray TOP SHELF (eggs on side)70N/A
OvaEasy Universal Tray OTHER SHELVES (eggs on side)85N/A
OvaEasy Quail Egg Tray3137+
OvaEasy Quail Egg Tray (stacked)3137
OvaEasy Pheasant Egg Tray TOP SHELF3850
OvaEasy Pheasant Egg Tray OTHER SHELVES3865
OvaEasy Hen Egg Tray TOP SHELF4560
OvaEasy Hen Egg Tray OTHER SHELVES4575
OvaEasy Duck Egg Tray TOP SHELF5260
OvaEasy Duck Egg Tray OTHER SHELVES5275
Z7 & K7 (eggs on side)80N/A

 

 

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