The Moonshiner's Bootleg Incubator Reviews And Discussions

[The Moonshiner]

I've decided to broaden my horizons when it comes to hatching and incubators.
My first incubator was a GQF chickbator. Second was a GQF hovabator and third was a GQF sportsman.
GQFs have been good to me and I've stuck with hovabators for decades. I've made a few different homemade ones at different times and even tried a couple other brands. Thanks for nothing Little Giant.
There's so many options now days I want to experiment. OK really I just want more incubators to do more hatching but while I'm at it....
My plan is to pick up various random brands/models from time to time and try them out. And also hear from others on their favorites or fails.

 

[The Moonshiner]

I have the maticoopx 30. I've used it once. Can't give a good review on it currently bc it was my first hatch too...but it did hold temp and humidity well, turners work well.

May be one for you to check out.

I may or may not have already gotten one.

 

[The Moonshiner]

First up is the Nuture Right 360. Seems a lot of you'll have one and I've heard good things. I've always passed on one since the price vs capacity didn't appeal to me but I did love the viewable aspect of it.
I recently found a used one for a good price so I grabbed it up and set eggs in it a few days ago.
I'll report the outcome once hatch day arrives. Until then if you have one I'd like to hear your opinions. The good, the bad and the ugly.

Nuture Right 360

 

[The Moonshiner]

I also have a Brinsea Ovation 56 and I hate it. I'll probably get rid of it.

Do you need my address?

 

[The Moonshiner]

it had hot flashes constantly

Was it old? Menopause maybe?

 

[The Moonshiner]

Must be Spring is in the air because I'm already preparing to fire this thread up sooner rather then later.
A new incubator arrived today and another is due for delivery tomorrow.

 

[CastielH]

First up is the Nuture Right 360. Seems a lot of you'll have one and I've heard good things. I've always passed on one since the price vs capacity didn't appeal to me but I did love the viewable aspect of it.
I recently found a used one for a good price so I grabbed it up and set eggs in it a few days ago.
I'll report the outcome once hatch day arrives. Until then if you have one I'd like to hear your opinions. The good, the bad and the ugly.

Nuture Right 360
View attachment 3554003

I have one and it was super easy to use which was nice for a first time hatcher, wasn't too bad to clean either. The humidity can be a little finicky but if you put a shoestring in a glass of water and tuck the other end in where you put water it keeps it nice and steady. If it's in a cold room for the last few days when the vent is all the way open it can get a little cold and the low temperature warning is louder then some smoke alarms, woke my whole family up but a dish towel over it fixed that. Overall I was very happy with it, I had over 60% hatch rate with it from shipped eggs. I cut some shelf liner to fit in it for extra traction so I can't speak to how the stock floor is for hatchlings.

 

[MGG]

First up is the Nuture Right 360. Seems a lot of you'll have one and I've heard good things. I've always passed on one since the price vs capacity didn't appeal to me but I did love the viewable aspect of it.
I recently found a used one for a good price so I grabbed it up and set eggs in it a few days ago.
I'll report the outcome once hatch day arrives. Until then if you have one I'd like to hear your opinions. The good, the bad and the ugly.

Nuture Right 360
View attachment 3554003

I love mine. It's better than the two Brinseas I have, imo. I like them but they're just not as stable or reliable. I've gotten some pretty big fluctuations in them, I don't like the design of the lid, and they take quite a while to get back up to temp. I run all of my incubators in the same location too so that's not a factor. The NR gets back up to temp very fast, and holds it. I've never seen any deviations in temp on any of my thermometers in the NR. I do like the hovabator you recommended to me, but I've just been using it as a hatcher for now so I don't know about actually incubating any eggs in it. It's keeping my NR opened up for the more valuable eggs by being able to move any eggs out as they get close.
I have only used the turner in the NR 360 one time, I usually just hand turn because I can fit so many more eggs in without it. But the turner does work well. It turns pretty gently and I believe every hour. I like that it has the humidity readout too, it's actually very close to accurate on mine.
The temp is a bit off, I have to have it set at 100.5 to get 99.5, but it stays at 99.5 at all spots in the incubator. I haven't found any hot or cold spots in mine at all. It also holds humidity for hatching the best of any of the incubators. Filling both channels all the way and putting the B cap on the B port and it'll get you to 70-ish%. It gets humidity back up fast too so I can open it frequently and check eggs or remove ducklings/eggshells. I usually just mist all of the eggs right before I put the lid back on.

The lid being hard to pick up is the biggest con, imo. I attached those little clear stick on hooks to the sides, and that pretty much solved the problem. I can get a pic of it if you want.
The other two issues are : it is a bit hard to clean, mainly because of the little channels in the bottom. If you hatch in it, the feather dust stuff will get up in the top and around the fan. I've used an air compressor to just spray that out after each hatch though. The other issue is chicks will jump out the sides and it's easy to roll eggs out if you bump them. The little lip it has doesn't do much. I would like to get one of the risers they make eventually, that would fix the problem.

 

[The Moonshiner]

Farm Innovators 4250

Pros

• Holds lots of eggs

Cons

• Dents easily
• Huge temperature differences across the incubator

The sensors were placed together to calibrate them against each other. Xiaomi sensors are numbered Xiaomi 1-4 from left to right.

You posted a graph.
You ever just like low tech anything?

 

[The Moonshiner]

Are you using shelf liner?

Uh, I'm a guy. You think I know what that is?