So I finally set my first batch yesterday (12/20/14). I could not be more happy with it's performance so far.
I did have a little problem when I first ordered it. I ordered it Thanksgiving night, I posted the sale they were having earlier in the thread, and was extremely surprised to receive it the following Monday. I ordered typical Black Friday stuff that night as well and didn't receive it as fast. I could not be happier with their shipping and handling procedures. The problem I had was that the unit arrived damaged. Obviously there are a lot of factors involved so I can not hold them responsible for that. I can hold them responsible for how they react to the situation. Wow! I could not be happier with that either. After emailing them Monday night, I received an email from them Tuesday morning with three solutions. Option one: have them send me a new lid ASAP. Option two: having them send me a new heating/fan unit (that's the only part that was actually damaged). Option three: having them ship me a replacement lid with a few blemishes ASAP. I thought it was cool to offer me the options versus them telling me what they were going to do for me. I opted to have them ship me a brand new replacement lid. I had the new lid at my door before weeks end. I packaged up the damaged pieces and shipped them back with the return label they provided.
I quickly set the incubator up and monitored it's performance. I played around with water levels and locations in the house to find optimum performance. I decided to build it a holder of sorts just to ensure it stays warm through the night as we have had days in the low 30's. That's not to say the incubator can't do the job, but more of a self reassurance factor. After placing it in it's final resting spot, I made sure the temp and humidity were holding steady, and finally set some eggs. I set 29 total eggs. 25 are standard sized eggs and four are bantam eggs. Amongst the lucky chosen are Easter eggers, Cuckoo Marans barn yard mixes, OEGB and bantam cochin mixes. My family and I can not be more excited!! I've been checking the incubator like five times a day and everything has been spot on.
We set small eggs (Serama) and the automatic turner isn't really 'turning' them. They're just scooting along side-to-side so we're having to hand turn them anyway which kinda defeats the purpose. We didn't notice this 'scooting' rather than turning right away - when we candled them a few days ago they were definitely developing 'stuck' on one side of the shell. I have since been hand turning them and trying to get them to develop more evenly in the shell (if that makes sense).
