So, it’s time to incubate some eggs! After setting up the Nurture Right 360 and letting it run for a few hours to stabilize the temperature and humidity, we’re ready to roll. Really the only responsibility you have is to make sure the water chambers are filled to the appropriate levels in order to maintain proper humidity during the first 18 days and the last three days. It has a built-in candler so you can monitor the growth of the embryos and remove ones that are infertile or have stopped developing. It has a built-in countdown that tells you how many days are left until hatch day, and the turning rack stops automatically when the eggs go into “lockdown” on day 18. It has clearly labeled water chambers: fill chamber A for the first 18 days, then fill both A and B for the last three days. Out of the box it is set to the correct temperature of 99.5° Fahrenheit. The included instructions are easy to understand and very thorough. However, the Nurture Right 360 takes virtually all of the guesswork out of it. Eggs must be turned multiple times a day as the chick grows. Staying within the right range for humidity is equally important. Even just a degree or two difference in temperature can have disastrous results. Developing embryos are fragile and temperamental. Hatching eggs for the first time can be a bit of an overwhelming experience once you start researching how it all works. It’s amazingly simple for beginners and reliable enough for pros. The quality of life features this unit brings to the table are unmatched by any of the competition within a similar size and price point. I recently had the pleasure of trying out the Nurture Right 360 Egg Incubator and, spoiler alert-it’s pretty amazing. Or maybe you’re expanding your breeding program and looking into new options. A lot of you may be considering taking the plunge this year and purchasing your first incubator.

Spring is just around the corner and hatching season is underway. Young or old, novice or seasoned veteran, no one can resist the cuteness of a cheeping baby chick! The excitement of seeing those first pips after 21 days of anxious anticipation is universal. Have you hatched eggs yourself? Let us know what kind of incubators have worked for you and your flock.Whether it’s your first time or your 71st, hatching chicks never gets old. Proper temperature, humidity, and air circulation lead to a healthy group of chicks-and from there, it’s on to the chicken brooder as the newest members of your flock start their journeys to adulthood. Due to the controlled temperature and humidity limiting the natural flow of oxygen, incubators need ventilation systems to provide the eggs with plenty of fresh air.īy providing a warm and secure home for the eggs, incubators replicate the care a mother hen would normally give. The porous shells of the eggs breathe in oxygen and dispel carbon dioxide, so proper air circulation is a necessity for incubators. Like most living things, chicken eggs need fresh oxygen to grow and survive.

It’s important to keep a close eye on the humidity levels in your incubator and make sure your water source doesn’t deplete and dry out the eggs. During the last few days before hatching, the eggs need higher levels of humidity than during the rest of the hatching period. The ideal level of humidity will change depending on the type of eggs you have as well as what stage of the hatching process you’re in. Even slight temperature changes that aren’t enough to kill the chick can negatively affect the hatch time and result in weak birds that are more prone to disease.Īlong with the temperature, incubators control the humidity so that the eggs don’t lose too much moisture. If you keep eggs at a temperature that’s too high or too low, the embryo inside will die.

Chicken eggs are extremely sensitive to temperature, so an incubator keeps them safe by keeping them at the precise, ideal temperature: 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit. One of the most important aspects of how a chicken incubator works is temperature control. How does a chicken incubator work, and what does it need to keep the eggs healthy? Find out with this overview. When this happens, farmers rely on incubators to see the eggs safely through the hatching process. Unfortunately, a mother hen isn’t always there to take care of her eggs, so the responsibility of safely hatching them falls to the farmers.

From keeping them warm with her own body heat to adjusting them throughout the day so that they lay just right, a hen knows exactly what to do with her soon-to-be chicks. When a hen lays, cares for, and hatches her eggs, instinct tells her exactly what to do.

Chicken incubator temperature humidity