Farm Innovators Model 4200 Circulated Air Incubator with Automatic Egg Turner

I almost believed the bad reviews and bought another brand...glad I didn't. Having spent a career as a electromechanical technician I can assure you that nothing is idiot proof (those guys can get pretty clever in screwing things up).When first preparing this to run a batch of quail eggs I had to install the quail rails on the automatic egg turner. With room for 120 eggs, about 80 more than I would ever use so I thought I would just install 2 rails and be able to turn eggs and put eggs about ready to hatch on the wire to hatch thereby being able to have a perpetual run going. The problem here was that the egg turner doesn't run smoothly unless all rails are in place (could be the reason for noisy egg turner motor and burnt out motor). So I abandoned that idea put them all in.I agree that you should get an outdoor digital thermometer/hygrometer. $10 at the hardware store. The directions say to calibrate the probe thermometer...don't do this until it has settled in for a few hour after the delivery. I adjusted mine only to have to readjust it back to its original position, but if you get a digital one you really don't need this one. By the way, both thermometers are right on but the hygrometer is off.After adding water it was time to adjust the temperature and humidity. Piece of cake...Adjust temperature as stated in the directions with one exception, turn the knob fully to the right and monitor the temperature until it hits the temperature you want then turn the knob counter-clockwise until the indicator lamp just goes off and don't mess with it any more. To adjust humidity pull one or both red plugs out to get the humidity as close as possible under the wanted humidity then turn on (or both) red plugs upside down and partially cover the hole(s). I got the temperature adjusted within 5 minutes and the humidity with 20 minutes. The directions (and many bad reviews) say to let the incubator run or settle in for 6 hours up to several days. After not seeing any change in temperature or humidity for 2 hours I decided to run my eggs early. Out of 29 eggs I got 20 quail. Of the 9 unhatched eggs 1 had a crack I hadn't noticed, 1 was breech (if that's the right term for chick coming out the small end), 4 were unfertilized and 3 looked fully developed but didn't hatch (probably the ones I put in a day and a half late.Not bad hatch rate of about 69% for a first time incubation with eggs being stored in the fridge in a bowl. I'm starting my second batch right now with eggs stored with the small ends down this time as is suggested.

So far this incubator is doing exactly what it should be - we candled eggs on day 8 (son and husband couldn't wait until day 10), and eggs are developing as expected. We have 2 - 3 eggs out of 24 that are questionable, but it is early, and they simply may not be fertile as we got 12 eggs locally from a friend. Sometimes the rooster doesn't get them all - they sure try though!Please follow the directions - set up incubator 2 days prior to setting your eggs and you will have temperature regulated. I have not had any issues with temperature since finding the 99.5 mark and leaving it alone. I have not purchased extra thermometer for humidity, we live near Mississippi River in Illinois, we have plenty of humidity. I have watched this on the machine and only added a little water once after initial set up. I did take out the bottom plug after adding that water as the humidity shot way up, after about 2 - 3 hours it had settled down and I put the plug back in.The other 12 eggs we got from very nice lady across the river who breeds/raises Silkies and Chochins. All are developing. She told us she has this exact same incubator and it has worked like a charm. No failures or problems.This model from Amazon does not come with a candler - Farm Innovators Website seems to show it should be included, but I still paid less on Amazon than this same incubator at the Farm & Home Store. After reading the instructions, I wondered about the plugs and the fan. You leave them in, except in the instance above when I needed to lower humidity and of course once the chicks are piping. I did call Farm Innovators and they were very helpful - if you have any questions about your incubator, I would suggest you call them.

First day I plugged it in and I couldn't even tell it was running it was so quiet. However, I followed directions to add the water as it says fill all wells full. That was a mistake. Could not keep the humidity under 60. It stayed around 70 actually, even with both plugs out. The temperature stayed steady once it was set right. But it takes awhile to stablize. Don't rush it. Just let it warm up and turn it off by barely turning the knob when it reaches your desired temp. I bought a digital thermometer for peace of mind, but once the unit temp stablized, the thermometer on the unit works properly.The second day the temp was very stable and it was doing great, except the humidity was still way too high. So i opened it up, took out the egg racks (full of eggs) and dumped the water out. Dried it and then just filled two wells (the smaller side ones). Plugged it back in and now its vibrating. Both the fan and the egg turner are vibrating. I tried unplugging and plugging in several times to no avail. Tried redistributing the eggs to no avail. The temp seems to look decent, not quite stable yet but i'll give it some time it should stablize. Both plugs are out and humidity looks much better. Around 55-60%. I will probably let this batch hatch out and send it back for an exchange or refund. The vibration may cause death to the embryos. I don't expect a hatch rate over 50% as about half of my 35 eggs are old and dirty anyway. I will report back on my hatch rate. Hopefully the vibration wont harm them. I'm worried about it. Three stars for now, may change that later, depending on hatch success or failure.My advice is to buy a digital thermometer that has a probe you can put inside unit. Put it on the plastic card provided the holds the glass thermometer. Put the plastic card on top of the eggs in the center of the unit. Also, DONT fill all the wells. Start it out with no water or just one well filled. if humidity not high enough, leave plugs in. If too high take plugs out one by one to adjust. If not high enough after adjustment, its easier to add water than to take unit apart and take screen out and dump water and dry it.