Harris Farms Nurture Right 360 Incubator is AMAZING!

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This post is what made me decide to buy this incubator. Previously, I had only used the Styrofoam kind. Honestly, I have never gotten good hatch rates from this, I don't think I've ever had anything over 70%, maybe not even that high. This is using really fresh, homegrown, non-shipped eggs. I even calibrated a few thermometers so see if it was truly at the temp it said it was this year. At first it was off by 10! degrees, then it seemed to only be off by one? I don't have a hygrometer so maybe it's way off there? I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong? At first I was at least getting almost 100% that made it to lockdown to hatch out no problem. Now, the last couple batches were terrible at the end also.

Maybe I'm not turning them enough? Or the hens need a different food and their eggs just aren't as fertile? Maybe dry hatching doesn't work as well as others say, or I'm not doing it right? I'm just getting sort of tired of it when I fill it up, and get 10 chicks. That seems to be my limit per hatch. I fill it with 30 some eggs, and seem to end up with 10 no matter what. Maybe it's just the chicken gods telling me I don't need any more??
 
hmarg06 said:
This post is what made me decide to buy this incubator. Previously, I had only used the Styrofoam kind. Honestly, I have never gotten good hatch rates from this, I don't think I've ever had anything over 70%, maybe not even that high. This is using really fresh, homegrown, non-shipped eggs. I even calibrated a few thermometers so see if it was truly at the temp it said it was this year. At first it was off by 10! degrees, then it seemed to only be off by one? I don't have a hygrometer so maybe it's way off there? I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong? At first I was at least getting almost 100% that made it to lockdown to hatch out no problem. Now, the last couple batches were terrible at the end also.

Maybe I'm not turning them enough? Or the hens need a different food and their eggs just aren't as fertile? Maybe dry hatching doesn't work as well as others say, or I'm not doing it right? I'm just getting sort of tired of it when I fill it up, and get 10 chicks. That seems to be my limit per hatch. I fill it with 30 some eggs, and seem to end up with 10 no matter what. Maybe it's just the chicken gods telling me I don't need any more??
Click to expand...

Are you using the automatic turner? You shouldn't need to hand turn them. The automatic turner holds 22 eggs. You also need to make sure to reset the days til hatch at the beginning of each incubation so that the turner works because it has an automatic shut off 3 days before hatch (lockdown). In my particular set up I don't feel the Nurture Right 360 works as well with a completely dry hatch. While fiddling humidity up and down through many hatches since buying then I find that for the first 18 days that I now like to keep my humidity around 45% until hatch then I increase it to about 65%. I do monitor air cell growth and will increase or decrease slightly as needed.

Make sure to use a calibrated thermometer when checking the temperature against the digital readout. Harris Farms seems to do quite well with correct calibration out of the box but I always think it's a good idea to check anyway. If adjusting is needed I can get the instructions for you.

With all of that said, faulty incubators are possible with any brand and if troubleshooting doesn't fix your incubator I would definitely contact the manufacturer to let them know.
 
aart said:
Not until she's a year old ;)
Check pelvic points and vent for laying status:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/who-is-laying-and-who-is-not-butt-check.73309/

Man, those black and blue birds are gorgeous!
Click to expand...

That makes total sense! Id's definitely not her if I'm reading it right.

hmarg06 said:
This post is what made me decide to buy this incubator. Previously, I had only used the Styrofoam kind. Honestly, I have never gotten good hatch rates from this, I don't think I've ever had anything over 70%, maybe not even that high. This is using really fresh, homegrown, non-shipped eggs. I even calibrated a few thermometers so see if it was truly at the temp it said it was this year. At first it was off by 10! degrees, then it seemed to only be off by one? I don't have a hygrometer so maybe it's way off there? I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong? At first I was at least getting almost 100% that made it to lockdown to hatch out no problem. Now, the last couple batches were terrible at the end also.

Maybe I'm not turning them enough? Or the hens need a different food and their eggs just aren't as fertile? Maybe dry hatching doesn't work as well as others say, or I'm not doing it right? I'm just getting sort of tired of it when I fill it up, and get 10 chicks. That seems to be my limit per hatch. I fill it with 30 some eggs, and seem to end up with 10 no matter what. Maybe it's just the chicken gods telling me I don't need any more??
Click to expand...

Mine didn't like dry hatching either...seemingly at all. I upped the moisture to 40-45%...and things improved. I'm not super confident in the temperatures of mine as well. I love my GoVee hygrometers but I'm not 100% confident in their preset settings. Need to find a way to calibrate them against something exactly known.

Here's a current video taken today. It's day 16 so everything got locked down.

 
CrisAnderson27 said:
That makes total sense! Id's definitely not her if I'm reading it right.



Mine didn't like dry hatching either...seemingly at all. I upped the moisture to 40-45%...and things improved. I'm not super confident in the temperatures of mine as well. I love my GoVee hygrometers but I'm not 100% confident in their preset settings. Need to find a way to calibrate them against something exactly known.

Here's a current video taken today. It's day 16 so everything got locked down.

Click to expand...


Thermometer: Fill a glass with crushed ice. Add a little clean water until the glass is full and stir. Wait for about three minutes before inserting the sensor on the thermometer into the ice-filled water. Wait for about thirty seconds and check that the thermometer reads 32°F. If it does, then it is accurate, but if not, it requires calibration. This is by far the most accurate method, and it will also give you an idea of how far off your readings are when it comes time to reset it.

Hygrometer:

  • Place a teaspoon of salt in the bottle cap and add a few drops of tap or distilled water to moisten it. Don’t overdo it. You don’t want to dissolve the salt. Add only enough water to dampen the salt. When water is added to common table salt, it will maintain an exact 75% humidity in a perfectly sealed environment.
  • Carefully place the salt and your hygrometer into the airtight container.
  • Seal the container tightly but don’t try to remove any remaining air trapped inside. Now, wait for at least several hours until the environment has stabilized (this could take up to 6 hrs.). Do not open the container. Read the gauge’s humidity % level. It should be exactly 75%. If it is not, note the deviation as being the amount your hygrometer is out of calibration. If for example, it reads 65%, the gauge is 10% low. If it reads 80%, the gauge is 5% high.
  • Carefully remove the unit from the container/bag. Assuming your hygrometer has a calibrating screw on the back (most better ones do) take a very small flathead screwdriver and turn it slowly while watching the dial on the front. If your gauge was low by 10%, turn the screwdriver so the dial is set 10 percentage points higher than it was previously. Conversely, if your gauge was high by 5%, turn the screw in the opposite direction to set the dial 5 percentage points lower.
 
DallasChickyMomma said:
Fill a glass with crushed ice. Add a little clean water until the glass is full and stir. Wait for about three minutes before inserting the sensor on the thermometer into the ice-filled water. Wait for about thirty seconds and check that the thermometer reads 32°F. If it does, then it is accurate, but if not, it requires calibration.
Click to expand...
This only works if the temp gauge is made to work in that range.

I use a therm with a range of -40°F to 302°F.
This Thermoworks can be tested in ice and boiling water and can calibrated

Or compared my bator therms to a human medical thermometer:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...incubator-thermometers-and-hygrometers.73634/
 
Last edited:
Willow2253 said:
I’ve found a medical thermometer to be the easiest to compare to. I’ve tried the ice method and had trouble getting the thermometer to even agree with itself. Plus the ice method doesn’t really work with digital thermometers if you can’t submerge them.
Click to expand...
The way I did it: I bought a glass lab thermometer, ran the ice water test 3 times, noted the amount it was off from 32 degrees. Then I threw it and the button thermometers (4) I wanted to use in the incubator and calculated the variance. Then I compared that to the temp the actual incubator was giving me, and noted that, and that is how I "calibrated" everything. My digitals can't be tested themselves.

I also compared everything to a fancy calibrated one my husband has, and I own two Thermoworks ones that I keep on the outside of my incubators so I can keep track of external factors.
 

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