Harris Farms Nurture Right 360 Incubator is AMAZING!

[CluckNDoodle]

So I have my first set of eggs (EVER) on day 9 (today) in the incubator. I forgot to add water to the port last night after I was already in bed, but the Govee I have inside said it was around 47% humidity and I thought it would be okay overnight. This morning it was at 22% and completely dry. After adding water, humidity went up and became normal very quickly, but was under 30% for about 5 hours. I have been trying to keep it around 45%, but realistically it sits around 50% with adding about 25ml distilled water AM/PM and vent 100% open. I haven’t candled yet (life is hectic), but I wanted do so today. So, first, should I be worried with a drop in humidity like that if was only for a few short hours? And since it did dip, do you think it is okay for me to still candle today?

As already mentioned, short periods of lower humidity during incubation won't harm anything. I can't run mine completely dry either because, like yours, my incubators drop into the 20s if I don't add water in my dry house, lol. I've let it drop overnight a multitude of times during several incubations though and as long as they aren't actively hatching there's no risk for short periods. Humidity in early incubation is a tool to make sure that the eggs lose the appropriate amount of weight.

 

[jordynm]

As already mentioned, short periods of lower humidity during incubation won't harm anything. I can't run mine completely dry either because, like yours, my incubators drop into the 20s if I don't add water in my dry house, lol. I've let it drop overnight a multitude of times during several incubations though and as long as they aren't actively hatching there's no risk for short periods. Humidity in early incubation is a tool to make sure that the eggs lose the appropriate amount of weight.

So I found that some of the air cells have barely changed and some were bigger. Every single egg has a saddle air cell from shipping, so I’m not sure if they will follow the same growing scale as an egg with a normal air cell. I’m not sure if I should adjust the humidity or not at this point (it’s around 50% with vent completely open). Also, by day 9 should you be able to see a heartbeat/movement in every egg that is alive?

thank you!

 

[CluckNDoodle]

So I found that some of the air cells have barely changed and some were bigger. Every single egg has a saddle air cell from shipping, so I’m not sure if they will follow the same growing scale as an egg with a normal air cell. I’m not sure if I should adjust the humidity or not at this point (it’s around 50% with vent completely open). Also, by day 9 should you be able to see a heartbeat/movement in every egg that is alive?

thank you!

Saddled air cells make it harder to monitor weight loss by air cell development but I think 50% is probably a safe spot in the NR360. You don't want to increase the humidity too much in early incubation. A hatch that is too dry is usually easier to save than a hatch that is too wet.

What you are able to see will depend on how bright your candler is and how dark/thick the shell is but you should be able to see development by day 9, yes.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/egg-candling-tips-tricks-and-best-practices.1462841/

 

[jordynm]

How do y’all arrange your eggs during lockdown? I kinda just spread them out evenly throughout the incubator, but it makes me a little nervous because I know I have some colder spots in the incubator. I went into lockdown today (day 17 with shipped eggs). Started out with 19 eggs, pulled 3 scrambled eggs first candling, pulled 4 more next round with 1 scrambled and 3 early quitters, and 1 egg before lockdown (early quitter). So that makes 11 possible viable eggs. Since this is my first time I’m not 100%, but they looked great when I candled them). Super stoked! Hatch day is this Friday 11/5!

 

[CluckNDoodle]

How do y’all arrange your eggs during lockdown? I kinda just spread them out evenly throughout the incubator, but it makes me a little nervous because I know I have some colder spots in the incubator. I went into lockdown today (day 17 with shipped eggs). Started out with 19 eggs, pulled 3 scrambled eggs first candling, pulled 4 more next round with 1 scrambled and 3 early quitters, and 1 egg before lockdown (early quitter). So that makes 11 possible viable eggs. Since this is my first time I’m not 100%, but they looked great when I candled them). Super stoked! Hatch day is this Friday 11/5!

I usually place them in similar positions to how they're positioned in the turner but maybe more towards the front of the incubator just because it's easy to check for pips without moving the incubator, lol. Good luck on your hatch!

 

[Kennas_Kritters]

I have hatched 4-5 batches of chicks so far in the NR360°. It is AMAZING! I have had 95%-100% hatch rates. I keep my humidity at 50% for the first 18 days then bump it to 60% in the last 3 days. I don't have any extra thermometers or anything and it has been just fine. It is accurate. The ONLY thing I don't like about it is it's really hard to clean the bottom. I use qtips and a wash cloth atm.... if anybody has better ideas for cleaning let me know! Other than that this incubator is darn near perfect. ❤

 

[CluckNDoodle]

I have hatched 4-5 batches of chicks so far in the NR360°. It is AMAZING! I have had 95%-100% hatch rates. I keep my humidity at 50% for the first 18 days then bump it to 60% in the last 3 days. I don't have any extra thermometers or anything and it has been just fine. It is accurate. The ONLY thing I don't like about it is it's really hard to clean the bottom. I use qtips and a wash cloth atm.... if anybody has better ideas for cleaning let me know! Other than that this incubator is darn near perfect. ❤

I like using Handi-wipes disposable cloths because I can easily twist the into shape or wrap around my finger to clean the smaller areas. Using a shelf liner at lockdown also makes clean up easier.

 

[Sydney65]

I am currently on lockdown, seemed a good time to list tricks I've noted while fresh in my mind.
1. Andrea, put incubator on a lazy susan- gives you full view w/o disturbing eggs.
2. The suggestion to allow unit to run several days (one even said a cpl of weeks) before adding eggs must be a good one, bc I had a lot of temp & humidity discrepancies in the beginnig that have leveled out now.
3. Likewise, there seem to be warmer/cooler spots in the unit. This would mimic a hen moving the eggs around IF you're using the turner. I had shipped eggs with funky air cells so kept upright & manually turned, but also rotated the spot in egg crate so everyone got warm/cool time.
4. Cluckndoodle taught me importance of oxygen so I try to keep vent full open & A/B ports open. But when fighting low humidity, covering both A/B can help a lot before needing to dim the vent. I started putting a small jelly jar in my last unit and cont, in the NR360. It provides even moisture, and when you need to top off, you can use contents so unit doesn't have to recoup from cool water.
5.Conversely, ambient humidity reeks havoc on RH,especially after several days of rain. Use a dehumidifier, or even one of those hanging desiccants that draws moisture, or a pan of kitty litter.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

I am currently on lockdown, seemed a good time to list tricks I've noted while fresh in my mind.
1. Andrea, put incubator on a lazy susan- gives you full view w/o disturbing eggs.
2. The suggestion to allow unit to run several days (one even said a cpl of weeks) before adding eggs must be a good one, bc I had a lot of temp & humidity discrepancies in the beginnig that have leveled out now.
3. Likewise, there seem to be warmer/cooler spots in the unit. This would mimic a hen moving the eggs around IF you're using the turner. I had shipped eggs with funky air cells so kept upright & manually turned, but also rotated the spot in egg crate so everyone got warm/cool time.
4. Cluckndoodle taught me importance of oxygen so I try to keep vent full open & A/B ports open. But when fighting low humidity, covering both A/B can help a lot before needing to dim the vent. I started putting a small jelly jar in my last unit and cont, in the NR360. It provides even moisture, and when you need to top off, you can use contents so unit doesn't have to recoup from cool water.
5.Conversely, ambient humidity reeks havoc on RH,especially after several days of rain. Use a dehumidifier, or even one of those hanging desiccants that draws moisture, or a pan of kitty litter.

In reference to #2, I usually run mine at the beginning of the season for a couple of days just to make sure everything is working but your going to notice that the incubator is more consistent once full of eggs that have come up to temp. Same with it being full of water that has had time to warm.

 

[Robin37]

They're absolutely adorable!! My first hatch was actually under a broody hen which you would think would go better but it was unfortunately a tragic experience for me. My friend currently has 3 different incubators and has tried even more and other than her Hovabator she rarely sees better than a 50% hatch rate, she's a pro and has been hatching chicks for years and these are local eggs, not shipped. So for me being fairly new other than being with her while hatching chicks this Nurture Right has reduced my stress with hatching chicks significantly and I can't wait to load it again! I hope your experience goes as well as mine did! ❤

50 percent hatch rate is about all that I get.