Help please 🙏🏻❤️. Using Nurture Right 360 for the first time

[LizFl]

Hi Everyone! So my friend is letting me use her Nurture right 360 incubator, she hasn’t used it in a while. After watching videos I decided to order also a Govee thermometer to make sure that the temperature and moisture were right. I still have not put the eggs in, just wanted to try it out before since it’s been a while since she last used it. So the temperature on the machine and the govee are SO different. A lot of degrees difference.

Also I live in Florida so our humidity is usually very high, so there’s no water in the machine just yet since I’ve read about “dry” hatching. Can anyone help me figure this out please? attached pictures for reference.

 

[AmeliaBedelia]

Huh. I would be tempted to get a third thermometer to see which is right. That is a BIG difference

 

[FunClucks]

All you have to do is calibrate your thermometer, and then compare it to the Nurture Right.

To calibrate your Govee thermometer: Put your Govee thermometer into a glass of water with ice in it (give it 15-30 minutes for the temperature of the water and ice to stabilize. It should be 32F. Then put your thermometer into some boiling water. Should read 212F. If it doesn't read correctly, the Govee is off. You can say to yourself, I know my thermometer is off by X degrees, so when the gage reads 88.5F, it's really at 88.5 + X degrees F. X is your correction factor. Then you just figure out what the gage has to read to get the correct temperature if you were to add the correction factor.

You measure the temperature inside your incubator, add the correction factor to your Govee gage reading, which will give your actual incubator inside temperature. Adjust the Nurture Right temperature (red readout) using the +/- buttons (as the instructions say) to keep the Govee gage readout where you want it. Then you should be good to incubate once your system has reached steady state(warmed up for a day or two).

ETA: in the below posts one member mentions you can't immerse the Govee so she/he puts it in a bag, then in the cold water - definitely do that.

 

[FunClucks]

To calibrate the hygrometer portion of your Govee, use the "salt test". You can look up how to do that on this forum.

 

[LizFl]

All you have to do is calibrate your thermometer, and then compare it to the Nurture Right.

To calibrate your Govee thermometer: Put your Govee thermometer into a glass of water with ice in it (give it 15-30 minutes for the temperature of the water and ice to stabilize. It should be zero degrees F. Then put your thermometer into some boiling water. Should read 212F. If it doesn't read correctly, the Govee is off. You can say to yourself, I know my thermometer is off by X degrees, so when the gage reads 88.5F, it's really at 88.5 + X degrees F. X is your correction factor. Then you just figure out what the gage has to read to get the correct temperature if you were to add the correction factor.

You measure the temperature inside your incubator, add the correction factor to your Govee gage reading, which will give your actual incubator inside temperature. Adjust the Nurture Right temperature (red readout) using the +/- buttons (as the instructions say) to keep the Govee gage readout where you want it. Then you should be good to incubate once your system has reached steady state(warmed up for a day or two).

It’s getting better now!

So now I’m off to watch more videos lol do you set it up to 100 degrees or the 99.5 degrees?

 

[FunClucks]

It’s getting better now!

So now I’m off to watch more videos lol do you set it up to 100 degrees or the 99.5 degrees?

I use the 99.5F because the Nurture Right has a fan and that's what the manufacturer says to do. My chicks all hatched a day early using the manufacturers instructions. I used my own barnyard mix eggs that were all fertile and only 2 days old when I set them.

I have high humidity here too (north Alabama, not quite as much as Florida), and mine did well at 47-52% humidity during the first 17 days, then 61-63% at day 18. Basically I filled side A and kept the vent all the way open, then filled side B and kept the vent all the way open. It can vary somewhat based on your room conditions where the incubator is at. I measured weight prior to setting, then a few times as I went along, and adjusted humidity to get a target weight loss. There's some good articles in the Articles section in the Learning area on how to hatch and what you should do for temps and humidity and why. You want to get 11-13% weight loss by Day 18, or you can shoot for the air cell to look a certain way (there are pictures you can match).

 

[Huntmaster]

It should be zero degrees F

It should read 32 degrees F you might want to edit that post so it doesn't confuse anybody.

 

[SourRoses]

Dry hatching is absolutely the way to go in Fl. I do 30-40% humidity until lockdown. Which means, for me, on unusually not humid days, adding a small amount of water to just one side of the reservoir. When it falls below 29%. Maybe 1-2 days out of the 18.
On day 18 I use warmed water in both reservoirs to boost it to 70-75%. And I really don't follow lockdown protocol. It's so quick to jump back up in our climate. All during hatch I'm grabbing out shells and fluffed babies with no issues.
The NR 360 is such a great incubator. As soon as you figure out which temp is correct, and compensate if necessary, you're good!
- Be careful of placing it anywhere near air conditioning vents, it does not like a breeze.
- Foam shelf liner cut to fit is fantastic to keep the eggs from being rolled too much by siblings during hatch.
- The lid is pia.
I'm on my third hatch with the NR 360 and my hatch rate has been excellent (8 out of 9, 13 out of 13, and so far 3 out on day 20 with a bunch more pips out of 17)...

First out at around 5pm:

 

[junior67]

I use both the NR360 and a Govee. I don't believe you can put a Govee in the ice OR boiling water. What I did was put it in a plastic bag and be sure all the air was out. I then put that in the ice water and calculated it that way. It does take the Govee a bit to catch up. You can then go on the app and adjust the temp there to be the correct temp.

My NR360 has always been off on temp and I know a friends of mine was too. I have to have mine set at 100.5 for it to be 99.5 on average in there. Where it rolls the eggs around the incubator you will have some cool spots and some warm spots. The great thing about the Govee is you can see what the average is. You want the ave to read 99.5. you may have times that it drops into the 98's and times that it hits a bit over 100 and that is fine. You just don't want it to go super high or low.

You can also do the salt test with the Govee the normal way to calibrate the hygrometer part of it.

GL!!!!!!!!

 

[FunClucks]

It should read 32 degrees F you might want to edit that post so it doesn't confuse anybody.

I think it was a long day. You are totally right. Let me edit that.