13 Button Quail shipped eggs
Harris Farms Nurture 360 incubator with auto heat
Temp 99.5, Humidity 45-50%
August 17 = Day 14
Temp 99, Humidity 70-75%
August 19 = Day 16 - 1 day remaining
2 pips, no rocking nor chirps
I purchased a brand new incubator, Harris Farms Nurture 360 and this is the first use. I couldn't use the Little Giant due to inexperience and wanted something more automated. This one seemed a good economic choice for me and got at local TSC.
Had a power outage yesterday evening for about an hour in which temp went down to 87.5 degrees and humidity went up to 97% about 40 minutes into the outage. I know this because I began to worry with condensation beginning to build on incubator clear plastic walls. So I hooked up the car inverter, ran an extension cord to the patio and plugged in the incubator and sucked out about 1/2 Cup of water from the outside well with a syringe. Temp and humidity normalized again and after about 20 minutes running the incubator plugged in with the car inverter, the electric came back on and things seem back on track again. Hopefully no damage was done.
Compared to the last still air incubator which was not automatic, this new forced air, auto temp incubator seems much easier for me as an inexperienced hatcher. Temp absolutely constant throughout the incubation at 99.5 degrees and humidity was not difficult to keep up with by adding water to outside water well and not having to open for that purpose, keeping humidity constant throughout at about 45-50%. Although this product does auto turn, I turned manually due to small egg size.
I have the old incubator set up next to the new one and can use it as a temporary brooder for transfers if necessary. As for the new incubator, I read all the reviews and there is one flaw to it which is the fan located at the top of the machine. I do not think it will be an issue for these tiny birds, but read that larger chicks injured on their heads on the fan. Once hatching begins, I will be watching constantly since the whole incubator is see through all around.