Opinions on tbe Farm Innovators 4200 please

[ButchGood]

I candled my turkey eggs at 7 or 8 days last night. I was not impressed. 5 out of the 6 I couldn't tell anything. couldn't make out any veining. One I saw the inside sloshing around. I cracked it open in a dish. It was an infertile egg. I hope the rest are viable and alive and I just cant see it. I'll check them again when I candle the chicken eggs when they are about 7 or 8 days into it.

 

[SassyChix]

Well....of the 19 eggs that made it into the hatcher, all but 2 hatched healthy and are doing great! I'm very happy with this Incy! I now have one to incubate in and one to hatch in. Great hatch rate....dry hatch method rocks!

 

[horsekeeper]

My daughter and I collected eggs for 5 days and set 26 in the 4200 on March 3rd. They started hatching on Friday, Day 19. 18 out and healthy so far and some pips and rocking on the rest. We used a Little Giant as a hatcher because we set 55 more from a trade for ducks a week later. A friend loaned us an LG, so 2 incs and 1 hatcher.

Very happy with the performance of the 4200. Holds humidity well and the temperture varies, but only by a few degrees. We have small mixed flocks and we each have a golden cuckoo marans rooster (brothers that were given to us). The chicks are from several hens: cuckoo marans, blue marans, golden cuckoo marans, white easter egger, olive egger, buff orpington, black austrolorp, white rock, and one little game bantam that hitched a ride in the undercarraige of an 18-wheeler last year and needed a new home. The chicks are adorable and healthy.

This is our first try at hatching and we went overboard thinking we wouldn't have much luck. Hope we can find homes for all the excess! All but one so far have feathered legs and all are dark colored from black to silvery red except two that are yellow and look like they have the ee whiskers.

Had to help two out because they were stuffed in so tight they couldn't zip. I did 35% humidity, letting it drop to 20% before putting in a tablespoon of water until lockdown. The air cells looked good, and then 70-80% in the LG for hatch.

 

[SassyChix]

Well....of the 19 eggs that made it into the hatcher, all but 2 hatched healthy and are doing great! I'm very happy with this Incy! I now have one to incubate in and one to hatch in. Great hatch rate....dry hatch method rocks!

 

[SassyChix]

Well....of the 19 eggs that made it into the hatcher, all but 2 hatched healthy and are doing great! I'm very happy with this Incy! I now have one to incubate in and one to hatch in. Great hatch rate....dry hatch method rocks!

 

[SassyChix]

 

[ButchGood]

COOL Sassy, Proof that this incubator works, and with a respectable hatch rate. I hope my hatch rate is close to yours. I have 5 turkey eggs , 4 OEGB, 5 Aracauna, a couple Australorp, and a couple Australorp/Buff Orp mixes. All are due at the same time, I got like 12 or 13 days left to go.

 

[Loghousemom]

I have been thinking of buying this incubator for a while. It's good to know you are happy with it.

 

[nanclapper]

Thanks for all the postings regarding the Farm Innovators 4200. I recently purchased this unit and have never hatched eggs before so I am reading up on it and trying to figure it out before I need to use it. Where exactly are the water reservoirs? Is it just the bottom portion of the unit, below the wire mesh? How much water do you put in it initially?

Someone else mentioned they used a Little Giant Liner and cut it to size so that bacteria would not seep into styrofoam, which I thought was a good idea so I purchase one too.

Good luck with your hatching! I plan to set a dozen Silver Grey Dorking eggs in a few weeks. I'm very excited.

 

[horsekeeper]

Yes, the reservoirs are in the middle of the bottm half under the mesh. Be careful where you put the water - there are drain holes in some sections of the bottom and it will leak right back out. Didn't even notice them until I saw water running across the table.

Got a temperature/hygrometer from incubator warehouse that works nice because the built in ones are not very accurate. To get the humidity up for lockdown, just put a wet sponge in, either under the wire along the sides or if there is room, right on the wire. The humidity holds well in this unit, so you won't need too much.