Nuture Right 360 issues

[Dezi735]

I have a question about incubation in a Nuture Right 360. I know most people love theirs but as it stands right now I hate mine. I've only been able to hatch at most 6 out of 22. Lately its been 3. I have a secondary hydrometer/thermometer in it and it usually is within normal range (temp between 99.5-101.0 humidity 45%-50%). I've also tried letting the humidity go down to about 22%-25% to try to simulate a 'dry' hatch. It's in my kitchen on the counter. No drafts, no direct sunlight and the tem in our house is usually about 80°. The biggest kicker is all of the eggs start to devolop but stop a lot stop about the 10 day mark. I could really use some tips, tricks, points from folks. None of the eggs are shipped all are from my chickens here at my farm.

 

[Kiki]

I have a question about incubation in a Nuture Right 360. I know most people love theirs but as it stands right now I hate mine. I've only been able to hatch at most 6 out of 22. Lately its been 3. I have a secondary hydrometer/thermometer in it and it usually is within normal range (temp between 99.5-101.0 humidity 45%-50%). I've also tried letting the humidity go down to about 22%-25% to try to simulate a 'dry' hatch. It's in my kitchen on the counter. No drafts, no direct sunlight and the tem in our house is usually about 80°. The biggest kicker is all of the eggs start to devolop but stop a lot stop about the 10 day mark. I could really use some tips, tricks, points from folks. None of the eggs are shipped all are from my chickens here at my farm.

My guess is your kitchen changes temp through out the day, especially when you are cooking and you don't realize how much of a change it is which could be causing the bator to over heat.
Over heating kills much faster than cooling them a few degrees.

First I would move the bator to a smaller less used room.

Second I would get ANOTHER thermometer , maybe two, and put them all in the bator at the same time (leave them all in there) so you can see at ONE glance what the temp is in multiple spots.

Third I would not let the temp get up to 101 because it may actually be getting up to 103.

I would keep the bator at 98-100 before I would keep it at 100-101.
I would also MAKE SURE to salt test the humidity gauge and I would lower the humidty down to 30-35 percent through out and only raise it once you see an external pip. Keep the humidity steady.


I have 100% hatch rates...often.

 

[kurby22]

I have a question about incubation in a Nuture Right 360. I know most people love theirs but as it stands right now I hate mine. I've only been able to hatch at most 6 out of 22. Lately its been 3. I have a secondary hydrometer/thermometer in it and it usually is within normal range (temp between 99.5-101.0 humidity 45%-50%). I've also tried letting the humidity go down to about 22%-25% to try to simulate a 'dry' hatch. It's in my kitchen on the counter. No drafts, no direct sunlight and the tem in our house is usually about 80°. The biggest kicker is all of the eggs start to devolop but stop a lot stop about the 10 day mark. I could really use some tips, tricks, points from folks. None of the eggs are shipped all are from my chickens here at my farm.

I had very limited success with dry hatches. I had similar successes with my NR until this year. My success happened once I let the humidity sit right around 50% and I currently have a crocheted cover for it I found on Etsy (https://www.etsy.com/listing/144932...ick_sum=43980180&ref=shop_home_active_3&frs=1), and then a thick beach towel around the clear plastic top. This has allowed the temperatures to stay really consistent where you want them to be and my last several hatches were over 80% hatch without needing any assistance. They all managed to zip on their own, none of my hatches last year were that easy. I didn't think my NR was in a drafty or problematic spot either but must be since the changes I made have been so successful.

 

[ColtHandorf]

@Overo Mare @Kiki - Do either of you have any suggestions? Dezi reached out to me on Facebook, and I asked her to make a post here.

 

[SourRoses]

What Kiki said is spot-on.

I haven't found any incubator to be suitable for just any location in a house. It needs to be a sheltered, low draft area. A kitchen counter is going to have different temperatures coming at it from all directions in most house designs. If it's a stone counter, that's a lot of cold thermal mass working against the heating unit. There's also the chance of cooking fumes posing problems for the eggs.

The biggest con to the NR360 is the lid. It's very difficult to line up when closing. I have 2 and they are different in the way they need to be handled to close fully. With one I can just set the lid in approximately the right place and nudge each side at the top and it falls into place properly. With the second I have to hold the lid at an angle to line up the little notch in the lid with the tab on the tray, starting at the back and then getting the front into place. A little wiggle with two hands on the top to confirm it's right.
So, are you certain your lid is closing properly?

Everything else about the incubator makes the lid issue worth the hassle IMO. But if it's not for you, that's your call.

To help eggs roll smoothly, I like to use a rubber shelf liner cut to fit the bottom, there's plenty of clearance for the turner. The first hatch I used it without a liner, eggs would kind of "roll back" in their cells after being turned, the movement was so jerky, and it sounded like bowling balls. With the liner everything stays where it's put and it's quiet.

It's also entirely possible to get a faulty unit. That happens sometimes with every electronic device, there's no reason it wouldn't with an incubator. If it can't hold temperature within the correct range despite choosing a good location, try giving MannaPro a call.

 

[ColtHandorf]

With the second I have to hold the lid at an angle to line up the little notch in the lid with the tab on the tray, starting at the back and then getting the front into place. A little wiggle with two hands on the top to confirm it's right.

Mine is like that. Drives me nuts. lol Especially if the cord gets in there when I'm setting it down.

To help eggs roll smoothly, I like to use a rubber shelf liner cut to fit the bottom, there's plenty of clearance for the turner. The first hatch I used it without a liner, eggs would kind of "roll back" in their cells after being turned, the movement was so jerky, and it sounded like bowling balls. With the liner everything stays where it's put and it's quiet.

Ooo. Same. I always forget to mention that. The first time I heard them turning I went out and bought shelf liner.

 

[imacowgirl2]

I second moving it to a different location…kitchen counter is one of the worst places in most houses. I have also found that during the winter months, I get much steadier humidity in mine if I’m running an independent humidifier near the incubator — but we also have wood heat, so our house is SUPER dry in the winter. Ours is in the office on a desk with the humidifier next to it, and the temperature usually needs to be set at 101 on mine to get 99 degrees as read on two other thermometers that I keep inside it. I’ve had close to 100% hatch rate on all of my hatches (three so far).

 

[ColtHandorf]

Mine is in the laundry room on a baker's rack. I'd be scared to do the kitchen counter because my dishwasher and any appliances would probably cause vibrations that could damage the embryo in the early stages of development.

 

[drangle]

Mine is about the same

 

[Dezi735]

Mine is about the same

Well dang! I feel like I keep reading about people getting 50-75% hatch rates out of them.