Harris Farms Nurture Right 360 Incubator is AMAZING!

[Akira8604]

I have this same incubator. I had 3 eggs my very first time incubating all three hatched. One died a couple days later.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

I have this same incubator. I had 3 eggs my very first time incubating all three hatched. One died a couple days later.

Aw, I'm sorry one passed after a couple of days. Sometimes there isn't anything you can do and there is just something internal or genetically wrong that you can't change.

 

[ToniaM]

Hope this post is ok to put here.
my eggs are due to hatch March 4th. I have a blended question I guess you could say. I have one pullet/hen that always goes over the fence. She visits us daily on the porch and my flower beds. She is an Amber Star from McMurray so she’s a cross, we have 3. I’ve noticed I haven’t been collecting as many of this color egg.
Today I found her in my flower bed of ferns...with at least 9 eggs!! Not sure if or how many more are under her. She has since pulled most of them under her. I had no idea this “breed” would go broody!
So, I’m wondering if there is a way to put her and a couple of eggs in one of the nesting boxes and let her do her thing. If that, or something else will work, I could then put the baby chicks that will hatch out of the incubator with her? Would be a help not to use the brooder for all chicks. She can’t stay where she is it’s going to be raining in a day or two and she’s in the open, well nesting in dead ferns from the freeze. Any suggestions?

 

[ToniaM]

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

Hope this post is ok to put here.
my eggs are due to hatch March 4th. I have a blended question I guess you could say. I have one pullet/hen that always goes over the fence. She visits us daily on the porch and my flower beds. She is an Amber Star from McMurray so she’s a cross, we have 3. I’ve noticed I haven’t been collecting as many of this color egg.
Today I found her in my flower bed of ferns...with at least 9 eggs!! Not sure if or how many more are under her. She has since pulled most of them under her. I had no idea this “breed” would go broody!
So, I’m wondering if there is a way to put her and a couple of eggs in one of the nesting boxes and let her do her thing. If that, or something else will work, I could then put the baby chicks that will hatch out of the incubator with her? Would be a help not to use the brooder for all chicks. She can’t stay where she is it’s going to be raining in a day or two and she’s in the open, well nesting in dead ferns from the freeze. Any suggestions?

You'll find many opinions on moving a broody. Here's mine: a good broody you can't shake off a nest. Move her. She she'll either be fine (good broody) or she'll break (not a good broody). You can add chicks at night the first 1-2 days after her eggs hatch. A good broody should adopt any new chicks without question. There is always the outlier broody who will kill them but sometimes they even do that to their own chicks. No guarantees in hatching.

 

[ToniaM]

You'll find many opinions on moving a broody. Here's mine: a good broody you can't shake off a nest. Move her. She she'll either be fine (good broody) or she'll break (not a good broody). You can add chicks at night the first 1-2 days after her eggs hatch. A good broody should adopt any new chicks without question. There is always the outlier broody who will kill them but sometimes they even do that to their own chicks. No guarantees in hatching.

So place her and a “very few” of her eggs back in a nesting box within the coop? I wouldn’t want all of those eggs to possibly hatch along with what I have in the incubator. If I have to wait for her eggs to hatch they may be a week or two younger than the ones I place with her.

I will research more here on BYC also. I panicked because I have to leave and won’t be back until close to dark. But I will read this evening until my eyes cross as usual. So very much great info here from people like you!! Thanks so much!!

 

[dreyno]

View attachment 1688630
I know with Spring right around the corner, and chick fever setting in there are a lot of people out there looking to purchase their first incubator, or maybe you're still looking for that incubator with a better hatch rate that doesn't cost you an arm and a leg, so I wanted to share my experience!

I did a lot of research before purchasing an incubator and there are good and bad reviews for even the most expensive incubators out there so taking my budget into account and what I wanted from my incubator I am SO happy with the results I got from my new Harris Farms Nurture Right 360! If you do your own research on the incubator most of the bad reviews you will find are on a couple of design flaws in the older models where the holes covering the fan were too large and it needed a cover on the digital readout to prevent it from shorting out from the high humidity at hatch time. In the newer models, these issues have been resolved but if you get an older incubator you can email the company and they will send you the appropriate parts to fix it.

View attachment 1688764
So back to the PROS of this incubator, at least for me!
- It comes with an automatic turner! I found that the most reasonable incubators often require manual egg turning and if you purchase the accompanying auto turner you find yourself around the same price as this incubator or more.
- It also has an egg candler built-in to the top of the incubator. It worked well for the sake of testing it but I will admit that I didn't use it much because I prefer my little high lumen flashlight.
- The visibility all the way around the incubator was a HUGE selling point for me! I could say it was for my daughter to be able to learn from the experience but if I'm being really honest, I most definitely spent the most hours sitting in front of the incubator in awe as the chicks hatched. lol
- The temperature and humidity stayed stable throughout the entire incubation process as long as you add distilled water daily.
- You add water from outside of the incubator so you don't disturb the temp and humidity.
- The company calibrated the thermometer and hygrometer well and I didn't have to go through the headache of trying to adjust it myself.
- This is thanks to the visibility as well but I was able to clearly see that all of the chicks hatched with zero issues. The eggs zipped cleanly and chicks were healthy! Yes, some of this is from genetics but it makes a big difference when the temp and humidity stay stable for the chicks ease of hatching.
- Because I was incubating different breeds my smaller eggs hatched earlier and I didn't want to leave the chicks in too long. Since the larger eggs hadn't pipped yet I took the risk of quickly opening the incubator and removing the hatched chicks. While I don't recommend doing that, what I was pleasantly surprised to find is that the humidity returned to normal in seconds and the rest of the chicks hatched without issue.

View attachment 1688718
CONS
- The top is a bit cumbersome to open and close but once you get used to it it's not so bad. I have also seen where someone used the adhesive plastic hooks and attached them to the sides upside down so that it was easier to hook their fingers under and open.
- The incubator holds 22 eggs but I feel like it would be very cramped in there if all of the eggs are viable at the time of hatch. I had quite a few infertile eggs because they were the first eggs of the season (8 infertile eggs to be exact) and 2 were quitters early in embryo development (it's impossible for me to know if the 2 quitters were due to the incubator or something else but I feel with my experience that it's less likely to be related to the incubator). All but one of the developed chicks hatched successfully and I candled right before lockdown and didn't feel good about that egg prior to closing the lid. It was also a poopy egg that I was hatching for a friend, I typically only use clean eggs as the bacteria can enter the porous shell and may have been responsible for the late embryo death. So my first run with the incubator gave me approximately 80% hatch rate (not including the infertile eggs). I anticipate having an even better hatch when I'm pickier about the eggs I set to begin with. - I'll update this later.

View attachment 1688773

***I promise all of these pictures were taken through the plastic. I did not open the incubator to take pictures. lol

For anyone that reads this far through the thread I would assume you're actually interested in the incubator. So the best tip I have is that I used a condiment bottle to add the water and I left the vent open all the way through the entire incubation because I felt the ventilation was important and it didn't effect my ability to keep the humidity where I wanted it.
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So my experience was great! I'd love to hear about your experiences with the Nurture Right 360!
I'll be participating in the Easter Hatch-A-Long with the same incubator so I will update my opinion if it changes.

I have the same incubator and I’m having trouble stabilizing my humidity. Did you? How did you add water and how often?

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

So place her and a “very few” of her eggs back in a nesting box within the coop? I wouldn’t want all of those eggs to possibly hatch along with what I have in the incubator. If I have to wait for her eggs to hatch they may be a week or two younger than the ones I place with her.

I will research more here on BYC also. I panicked because I have to leave and won’t be back until close to dark. But I will read this evening until my eyes cross as usual. So very much great info here from people like you!! Thanks so much!!

Candle the eggs. Choose ones that are closest in development to the ones you might want to add. Or closest in development to each other. If she's the only hen laying in that spot it's possible they're all on track together.

Can you hatch them all and give away the spares? I always have takers when I offer freebies. That's my insurance policy if I over hatch.

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

So place her and a “very few” of her eggs back in a nesting box within the coop? I wouldn’t want all of those eggs to possibly hatch along with what I have in the incubator. If I have to wait for her eggs to hatch they may be a week or two younger than the ones I place with her.

I will research more here on BYC also. I panicked because I have to leave and won’t be back until close to dark. But I will read this evening until my eyes cross as usual. So very much great info here from people like you!! Thanks so much!!

I just reread your post. Looks like you'll have to make some decisions on what she hatches. Assuming she sticks to the nest post move.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

I have the same incubator and I’m having trouble stabilizing my humidity. Did you? How did you add water and how often?

I didn't have any problems with humidity but others have had this complaint. I think this is usually because the reservoir holds a lot more water than it looks like it will, side A holds 4oz or 1/2 cup of water. You can adjust the vent to increase or decrease humidity but I personally leave the vent wide open throughout the incubation for ventilation.