Harris Farms Nurture Right 360 Incubator is AMAZING!

[Thebantyhenhomestead]

You can see internal pips when candling. It will look like an odd shadow at the air cell.


Another thing...I had chicks that would pip, and die. Regularly...like 1/3. My last hatch I stopped turning the eggs on day 16, didn't increase humidity until day 18. EVERY egg that pipped hatched.

Stopping the turning gives them more time to get turned to the appropriate position to hit the air cell when they internally pip, which apparently makes them stronger for when they go to externally pip. The difference was night and day for me.

Okay thanks for the tip! I’ll definitely try setting earlier maybe too! What’s your humidity for lockdown? I know to do at least the 45 for incubating now 1-18, but I’m wondering what to set these next 3 eggs at today for humidity

 

[CrisAnderson27]

Okay thanks for the tip! I’ll definitely try setting earlier maybe too! What’s your humidity for lockdown? I know to do at least the 45 for incubating now 1-18, but I’m wondering what to set these next 3 eggs at today for humidity

Lockdown itself? Day 18? I fill both troughs and whatever it is, it is. I stop turning at day 16 though, and don't change the humidity.

I'd also like to add. Before, most of my eggs made it to day 18 and died, too. Many would pip, then die. Some still die, but at least the ones that pipped, hatched...now that I've started an earlier lockdown,.

 

[CluckNDoodle]

You can see internal pips when candling. It will look like an odd shadow at the air cell.


Another thing...I had chicks that would pip, and die. Regularly...like 1/3. My last hatch I stopped turning the eggs on day 16, didn't increase humidity until day 18. EVERY egg that pipped hatched.

Stopping the turning gives them more time to get turned to the appropriate position to hit the air cell when they internally pip, which apparently makes them stronger for when they go to externally pip. The difference was night and day for me.

I usually put mine on lockdown on day 17. Studies show stopping turning as early as day 14 won't have any detrimental effects on the hatch.

PS, BYC is always tossing some of my response to you like...nah, she didn't need to talk that much. Lol!

Okay thanks for the tip! I’ll definitely try setting earlier maybe too! What’s your humidity for lockdown? I know to do at least the 45 for incubating now 1-18, but I’m wondering what to set these next 3 eggs at today for humidity

65% but you can get away with lower if they haven't pipped yet. The humidity will increase slightly once they pip so even if you start at 60% and watch for the numbers to start creeping up you might not even need to add any more water. Don't be concerned if you see the humidity spike temporarily when a chick hatches either. This is normal and it will drop back down once the chick dries off. Short spikes will not hurt anything.

 

[Thebantyhenhomestead]

I usually put mine on lockdown on day 17. Studies show stopping turning as early as day 14 won't have any detrimental effects on the hatch.

PS, BYC is always tossing some of my response to you like...nah, she didn't need to talk that much. Lol!



65% but you can get away with lower if they haven't pipped yet. The humidity will increase slightly once they pip so even if you start at 60% and watch for the numbers to start creeping up you might not even need to add any more water. Don't be concerned if you see the humidity spike temporarily when a chick hatches either. This is normal and it will drop back down once the chick dries off. Short spikes will not hurt anything.

Okay so I got another humidity reader and it’s reading that the incubators humidity is way higher then what the machines read.. but that doesn’t make sense because the air cells .. so now I’m confused

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Okay so I got another humidity reader and it’s reading that the incubators humidity is way higher then what the machines read.. but that doesn’t make sense because the air cells .. so now I’m confused

No matter what the readout says, what is really convenient about NR360s is that they built them expecting you to fill side A for the first 18 days and both side A & B for hatch. Even if you fill them to the top they will still have the same surface area for evaporation to occur. Make sure your vent is open all the way and if you fill both sides it won't be enough to cause humidity issues if you're keeping the incubator inside your home. In a garage I might hesitate to say that in our humid climate but in a home with running AC, filling both sides will be fine. I don't get concerned about humidity at hatch until I see condensation build up on the window and now that I'm thinking about it, I don't think I've ever actually had that happen in the NR360, just the styrofoam bators.

This is a good guide on how to calibrate your secondary thermometer and hygrometer if you haven't done so already. That may help to clear some things up as well.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...incubator-thermometers-and-hygrometers.73634/

 

[Thebantyhenhomestead]

No matter what the readout says, what is really convenient about NR360s is that they built them expecting you to fill side A for the first 18 days and both side A & B for hatch. Even if you fill them to the top they will still have the same surface area for evaporation to occur. Make sure your vent is open all the way and if you fill both sides it won't be enough to cause humidity issues if you're keeping the incubator inside your home. In a garage I might hesitate to say that in our humid climate but in a home with running AC, filling both sides will be fine. I don't get concerned about humidity at hatch until I see condensation build up on the window and now that I'm thinking about it, I don't think I've ever actually had that happen in the NR360, just the styrofoam bators.

This is a good guide on how to calibrate your secondary thermometer and hygrometer if you haven't done so already. That may help to clear some things up as well.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...incubator-thermometers-and-hygrometers.73634/

Okay so last question then lol so is this what the a and b should look like and maintain these full lines

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Okay so last question then lol so is this what the a and b should look like and maintain these full lines

Yes, correct. A is on the left and B is on the right. If you look inside you can see raised letters in the plastic. We didn't make up the A & B thing. Lol

 

[Thebantyhenhomestead]

Yes, correct. A is on the left and B is on the right. If you look inside you can see raised letters in the plastic. We didn't make up the A & B thing. Lol

Haha no I know ! B comes with a little cover too, but I wanted to make sure my “fill” amount was correct and if I had to make sure that fill line didn’t disappear

 

[SnapdragonQ]

The only reason I mention that is that if you're having issues with chicks dying late...and it is a developmental thing with the flock (or shipped eggs, or anything else), the non-standard 'stop turning early' might help those chicks along. It certainly won't hurt them!

Also! When you stop turning, the deepest part of the air cell should face up! A lot of the 'how to hatch' pages don't say anything about that, and it's very important!

Thanks! I think I will stop this batch at day 16. I already had to pull and toss one of the Biele eggs. It had started weeping a little and the weep smelled a little "off". Not rotten, but for sure off. And when I candled it just didn't look right.

That was last night so I put it in a bag and into the fridge to eggtopsy today.
Ewww, it was icky inside
I'm betting it was bacteria because it was only day 8.

 

[SnapdragonQ]

Haha no I know ! B comes with a little cover too, but I wanted to make sure my “fill” amount was correct and if I had to make sure that fill line didn’t disappear

I know I'm late to answer, but I did 65% for lockdown on my hatch and I had 17 of 18 eggs make it. Or rather I aimed for 65% and usually it stayed between 64 and 70.

During the first 18 days I kept it around 45%. I was a little relaxed about it and sometimes it dipped down in the 30s overnight, and sometimes up to 50 after filling it, but not that high or low for very long.