The Moonshiner's Bootleg Incubator Reviews And Discussions

[The Moonshiner]

@The Moonshiner
Of the 20 eggs that made it to lock down I ended up with a 90% hatch rate on shipped eggs using the dry hatch method in the maticoopx 30

If you count all the eggs I started with (scrambled and clears included) it was 60%...

I am happy with my results...

All eggs hatched early starting on day 19 as tonight was supposed to be hatch day and I have no more eggs left

That's awesome and setting the bar pretty high.
I'll candle and go into lockdown tomorrow evening.
All the eggs are from my blue pen and I believe that pen has been throwing a few more clears lately then I'd like to see so I'm ready to find out how many I get to hatch.

 

[Hedgeland Farms]

That's awesome and setting the bar pretty high.
I'll candle and go into lockdown tomorrow evening.
All the eggs are from my blue pen and I believe that pen has been throwing a few more clears lately then I'd like to see so I'm ready to find out how many I get to hatch.

I am excited to see how it goes for you.
I haven't followed any other hatches with this incubator ...

 

[The Moonshiner]

Ya once I saw it and liked it i.asked around some and no one had even ever heard of it. I was a little suprised anyone showed up here with one. Guess there's 3 of us now.
Also a little suprised I even got one. I saw them on Amazon then one came up for auction on Ebay. Starting bid was low and it had 6 or 7 days to go. I bid a few times and so did others then the last day it got out of hand. Winning bid was $20 or $30 higher then the Amazon price.
I went back to Amazon and it wasn't available any longer. That sucked.
I gave up hope and started looking at others figuring one day I'd see one again.
I planned on buying every incubator known to man eventually so no big deal. Then literally a day or two later one came up local on Facebook marketplace. New in box for a great price. Guess it was meant to be and I didn't waste no time not wanting to miss out.

 

[007Sean]

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.

The newer ones have a plastic shell around them and two filling holes below the egg grating. I like mine alot, holds temp well and humidity is fair but I also use an Inkbird TC-306 temperature controler.

 

[The Moonshiner]

The newer ones have a plastic shell around them and two filling holes below the egg grating. I like mine alot, holds temp well and humidity is fair but I also use an Inkbird TC-306 temperature controler.

I heard about the plastic shell. Wish hovabators would jump on that idea.
It's a great idea.
I've never used a Farm Innovators because when I looked at them it looked like their thermostat set up was the exact same as Little Giants.
I won't go there again.

 

[Hedgeland Farms]

Ya once I saw it and liked it i.asked around some and no one had even ever heard of it. I was a little suprised anyone showed up here with one. Guess there's 3 of us now.
Also a little suprised I even got one. I saw them on Amazon then one came up for auction on Ebay. Starting bid was low and it had 6 or 7 days to go. I bid a few times and so did others then the last day it got out of hand. Winning bid was $20 or $30 higher then the Amazon price.
I went back to Amazon and it wasn't available any longer. That sucked.
I gave up hope and started looking at others figuring one day I'd see one again.
I planned on buying every incubator known to man eventually so no big deal. Then literally a day or two later one came up local on Facebook marketplace. New in box for a great price. Guess it was meant to be and I didn't waste no time not wanting to miss out.

Sounds like you got lucky, which is awesome!!!

I watched a couple videos on YouTube of hatchers who had both NR360 and the maticoopx. Same sentiment on the ones I watched... very very similar to the NR360 with 2 of them stating they liked the maticoopx better...holds more eggs, and cheaper price and having better hatch rates. The reviews I read were also similar ...sealing the deal for me.

It's currently on Amazon for $135 I believe...(just looked last night) I paid $145 so I am all like...

But I am glad it's what I settled on.

I have no experience with the NR 360...just a cheap China one and then this one....but I am pleased with it, and want to purchase a second one.

 

[Sstuder]

Ya once I saw it and liked it i.asked around some and no one had even ever heard of it. I was a little suprised anyone showed up here with one. Guess there's 3 of us now.
Also a little suprised I even got one. I saw them on Amazon then one came up for auction on Ebay. Starting bid was low and it had 6 or 7 days to go. I bid a few times and so did others then the last day it got out of hand. Winning bid was $20 or $30 higher then the Amazon price.
I went back to Amazon and it wasn't available any longer. That sucked.
I gave up hope and started looking at others figuring one day I'd see one again.
I planned on buying every incubator known to man eventually so no big deal. Then literally a day or two later one came up local on Facebook marketplace. New in box for a great price. Guess it was meant to be and I didn't waste no time not wanting to miss out.

Yes it looks it looks like the Maticoopx 30 egg incubator s only sold through Amazon and it constantly sells out within hours.

I was just lucky enough to get one on Amazon and then Maticoopx send me another one to rule out calibration issues with my first unit. And I have to report that it seems there are no issues so far.

There is a Facebook group for people who use it and so far there are about 430 members in the group if you are interested. https://m.facebook.com/groups/1857043804667355/?ref=share&mibextid=I6gGtw

On day 12-14 today, so should see what happens late next week.

 

[007Sean]

I heard about the plastic shell. Wish hovabators would jump on that idea.
It's a great idea.
I've never used a Farm Innovators because when I looked at them it looked like their thermostat set up was the exact same as Little Giants.
I won't go there again.

Although the thermostats are better than they use to be, I still use a thermostat controller on my cheap incubators....I consider the 4250 a cheap incubator. The Inkbird series of controllers are excellent, reliable and are 'plug and play'. Around $30 from Amazon. Ebay has had a few of the 4250's, going for cheap...$108 to $120, I recently bought one for $112 + shipping, it was brand new....didn't need another bator but it was too good a deal to pass up!

 

[The Moonshiner]

Although the thermostats are better than they use to be, I still use a thermostat controller on my cheap incubators....I consider the 4250 a cheap incubator. The Inkbird series of controllers are excellent, reliable and are 'plug and play'. Around $30 from Amazon. Ebay has had a few of the 4250's, going for cheap...$108 to $120, I recently bought one for $112 + shipping, it was brand new....didn't need another bator but it was too good a deal to pass up!
View attachment 3604966

So how does the plug and play work when adding to an incubator that has a built-in thermostat? Do you disconnect the incubators thermostat or set it so yours over rides it or?

 

[007Sean]

So how does the plug and play work when adding to an incubator that has a built-in thermostat? Do you disconnect the incubators thermostat or set it so yours over rides it or?

It automatically over rides the OEM thermostat. You can get one with two temperature probes or like mine just the one temperature probe. I can run two incubators off the one unit but it controls the temperature in both according to the one that has the probe in it. It holds temperature at exactly where you dial it in for both units. It also has separate channels to set a different temp from the first channels temp....does that make sense or am I not explaining things well enough?

It's well worth the money, I set the temp and forget! I have very accurate antique mercury incubator thermometers in the bators and they read 'dead-on' ....I set my 4250 incubators at 100°F, instead of 99.5°F, they remain constant throughout the incubation process.