Harris Farms Nurture Right 360 Incubator is AMAZING!

[ronkonkoma]

A cutie from my hatch.
How do you separate chicks in this incubator?

 

[aart]

Hatching chicks is a messy business, lol.

...and stinky!

 

[CluckNDoodle]

View attachment 1731560
A cutie from my hatch.
How do you separate chicks in this incubator?

Too cute! 9/10 is great!
When you say separate them in the incubator what do you mean exactly? For lockdown I just pull straight up on the turner and the eggs are already in a good position to hatch that way.
If you mean because they kick the other eggs all over the place once they start hatching, I don't do anything about this as it hasn't posed an issue for a successful hatch yet, though I do watch closely to see if any chicks were to get caught up, that's any incubator though, the eggs just get kicked around, lol.
If you mean separating chicks when hatching different breeds in the same incubator, it's tough if you don't sit there watching all of them hatch, which I do, lol. After they're out of the incubator you can always band the chicks with different colors as well.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

...and stinky!

Yes! So stinky!! As soon as the chicks are ready for the brooder I already have bleach water ready to clean the incubator. Lol, I have absolutely loved hatching chicks but that ick afterwards isn't staying any longer than necessary.

 

[aart]

Yes! So stinky!! As soon as the chicks are ready for the brooder I already have bleach water ready to clean the incubator. Lol, I have absolutely loved hatching chicks but that ick afterwards isn't staying any longer than necessary.

At least with the solid plastic bators it can be cleaned out...
....the foamies seem to absorb it, smells fine until you heat/humidify them up.

 

[ronkonkoma]

This incubator wasnt easy to clean. even though it was plastic ai had difficulty cleaning in all the grooves in the water tray.

When I mean separate... like if I want to separate one hens chicks from another to see what they're coming out like, but in the same incubator... how can I do that so they dont get mixed up.

 

[ronkonkoma]

My current situation. 28 white, blue and splash Silkies from Kate Morreale! If anyone is on Long Island I will be selling a few. Cant keep them all!

 

[CluckNDoodle]

This incubator wasnt easy to clean. even though it was plastic ai had difficulty cleaning in all the grooves in the water tray.

When I mean separate... like if I want to separate one hens chicks from another to see what they're coming out like, but in the same incubator... how can I do that so they dont get mixed up.

I use these disposable cloths to wipe mine down and clean in the grooves. They're still nice and thin so they can be squeezed into the smaller parts but are more durable than using paper towels.

As far as separating, I personally mark the eggs with a crayon and because I actively watch the chicks as they hatch I know which ones to band with different colors once I take them out but all of my chicks hatched with enough differences that I was able to tell them apart fairly easily. With yours being the same breed and likely many looking similar, it may be more difficult in the same incubator. I now have a second incubator set up with 3 bloodlines of Silkies, so it will be easy for me to separate the obvious 2 in their separate incubators and then band them when I take them out but I guess we'll see if I'm able to watch closely enough to definitely identify the 3rd bloodline that is mixed in.
If it's really important to you, you could probably make a simple cardboard separation but I'm so paranoid about temp, humidity, and ventilation that I don't think I would do it...

 

[ronkonkoma]

And I legit filled it with the full 22. Had anyone else ever hatched so many. Worried it will be cramped. Of course after I candle I'm guessing half will be duds because they were shipped, but well see.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

And I legit filled it with the full 22. Had anyone else ever hatched so many. Worried it will be cramped. Of course after I candle I'm guessing half will be duds because they were shipped, but well see.

So far every time I've used the incubator I've filled it with 22. I can't seem to resist, lol. My last hatch only 4 eggs were infertile and no quitters so I hatched 18 chicks in there. I agree it seems cramped and I did end up opening the incubator quickly to remove most of the chicks while the last two were struggling a bit but with my experience all but the last two hatched like popcorn so they were only in there long enough to dry off. I have 2 incubators full right now, for a total of 44 eggs and I'll be checking fertility again tonight but when I checked early I felt like I had at least a few infertile eggs again. I'm sure I'll eventually have a full 22 fertilized eggs incubating. I think it will be ok, just a full house for a bit, lol. We'll see what happens!