Harris Farms Nurture Right 360 Incubator is AMAZING!

[Faraday40]

If the red light is on over the egg turning icon does it mean the auto turner is on? I have never noticed it turning, the egg I have in there is always in the same place and the embryo appears to be stuck to the eggshell???

The turner in the newest model is quiet and very easy to miss - even when you're in the same room! I had to use a Crayola to mark ONE egg and placed it in right next to the water port. When I went back a few hours later, that egg had moved off toward the back, so I know it actually turned.

 

[Lydia Huizenga]

The turner in the newest model is quiet and very easy to miss - even when you're in the same room! I had to use a Crayola to mark ONE egg and placed it in right next to the water port. When I went back a few hours later, that egg had moved off toward the back, so I know it actually turned.

I agree. I have the newer model which cost me $160 but worth it. Very quiet and low maintenance.

 

[Faraday40]

I agree. I have the newer model which cost me $160 but worth it. Very quiet and low maintenance.
View attachment 2247510

The incubator looks great, but you still don't have enough eggs in there!

 

[Lydia Huizenga]

The incubator looks great, but you still don't have enough eggs in there!

I know! I only have 4 in there I am hatching for a friend.

 

[BuckeyeAmy69]

Just got two pips...but it turns out tomorrow is day 21...so we're still on schedule!!

I also candled all of the Ayam Cemani in the other incubator (day 8...was a day late!)...11/11 viable and moving!

I'm enjoying all your videos! How much time do you allow yourself for candling? I noticed you said "we have 2 minutes left" at one point. I will be picking up my incubator in a day or two and am trying to learn all I can before setting eggs.

 

[SnapdragonQ]

I'm enjoying all your videos! How much time do you allow yourself for candling? I noticed you said "we have 2 minutes left" at one point. I will be picking up my incubator in a day or two and am trying to learn all I can before setting eggs.

I personally take my time so I'm focused on not dropping eggs, but the candler itself will turn off after like 5 minutes I think. I just hit the on button again.
Broody hens often will be gone for 15 to 30 minutes while they get up daily to eat, drink, and poop, so my 10 minutes of candling in a controlled environment should not hurt anything.

I found it helpful to watch videos on you tube where people have snippets of the whole process...day one to hatch. I also recommend you set it up ahead of time and play with the settings and see how it reacts to your house's ambient temps and humidity. Don't forget to try bumping the humidity up too like you will need to do in lockdown.
Thing will be a little different when there are eggs inside, but running it empty for a few days helped me get familiar with everything before I was ready to set eggs.

edit: typo

 

[BuckeyeAmy69]

I personally take my time so I'm focused on not dropping eggs, but the candler itself will turn off after like 5 minutes I think. I just hit the on button again.
Broody hens often will be gone for 15 to 30 minutes while they get up daily to eat, drink, and poop, so my 10 minutes of candling in a controlled environment should hurt anything.

I found it helpful to watch videos on you tube where people have snippets of the whole process...day one to hatch. I also recommend you set it up ahead of time and play with the settings and see how it reacts to your house's ambient temps and humidity. Don't forget to try bumping the humidity up too like you will need to do in lockdown.
Thing will be a little different when there are eggs inside, but running it empty for a few days helped me get familiar with everything before I was ready to set eggs.

Yes, I've used broodies before to hatch eggs for me and noted the approximate time they were off the nest. So if I took 10 min. to candle that would be fine. I was just wondering if people were timing themselves, which really isn't a bad idea in my case. I tend to lose track of time when I'm really focused on something!

I won't be setting eggs until late Feb/early March so I was thinking of doing what you suggested and just letting it run and experimenting with it to get a feel for it. I'm also going to open the box at the store when I pick it up to make sure it is a brand new unit so I don't go through what poor Cris did!

Where I live the humidity is really low in the winter due to the furnace running. Average humidity in my house in February is in the mid 30s to low 40s so I hopefully won't have problems with spikes in humidity. Right now my indoor humidity is exactly 45! Ha! too bad I have no eggs to hatch!

I think I will pick up some shelf liner too and get it cut to size. I like the idea of having that in there the whole time. I also need to pick up distilled water. I have hard water here. Although I do have a really good filter on my fridge. Maybe I'll just use that water.

 

[Faraday40]

I think I will pick up some shelf liner too and get it cut to size. I like the idea of having that in there the whole time. I also need to pick up distilled water. I have hard water here. Although I do have a really good filter on my fridge. Maybe I'll just use that water.

The distilled water is good because it will make cleaning easier (at least no mineral residue). I have a filter on my sink water & that is good enough for me. I haven't had any issues, but everyone's water is different. Since the base is plastic, if a mineral residue starts to build up, you can always clean it with some vinegar.

The shelf liner works perfectly during hatching. I strongly recommend it - especially if you're hatching bantams or quail whose feet could go through the grate. The shelf liner also helped the turner handle tiny quail eggs. Without it, those little eggs did somersaults and even hopped the rails.

However when I used it during incubation of my regular large eggs, the shelf liner did leave a shine around the center of the egg some time after the 1st week. Not sure if it rubbed off the bloom or if something got deposited onto the egg. The eggs hatched OK but it worried me a little.

 

[Lydia Huizenga]

I'm having a little trouble with the humidity in mine. It's been getting a lot higher than 50%. The highest its gotten is 57%. I fill up the A section 2/3 the way like it says. I also have the slide open 2/3 the way. How do I keep the humidity at bay?

 

[BuckeyeAmy69]

The distilled water is good because it will make cleaning easier (at least no mineral residue). I have a filter on my sink water & that is good enough for me. I haven't had any issues, but everyone's water is different. Since the base is plastic, if a mineral residue starts to build up, you can always clean it with some vinegar.

The shelf liner works perfectly during hatching. I strongly recommend it - especially if you're hatching bantams or quail whose feet could go through the grate. The shelf liner also helped the turner handle tiny quail eggs. Without it, those little eggs did somersaults and even hopped the rails.

However when I used it during incubation of my regular large eggs, the shelf liner did leave a shine around the center of the egg some time after the 1st week. Not sure if it rubbed off the bloom or if something got deposited onto the egg. The eggs hatched OK but it worried me a little. View attachment 2249348

Thanks for the response! I will be hatching Buckeye eggs (of course!) I like the idea of having the shelf liner in there the whole time, it just seems to make sense. I'm also considering leaving the turner in after reading Cris' experience with it helping keep the eggs in place even with chicks running around bumping into them after hatching.

Still reading and learning...you all have so much great advice!