Reviews by brightpennies

I purchased ten Freedom Rangers from the TSC during Chick Days. Some of the chicks were questionably labeled, but I have since confirmed that Freedom Rangers are a recognized breed. I intended to eat them all, since they were listed as meat birds, but the three hens were so friendly that I ended up keeping them. At only three months, the roosters were enormous and had to be processed, yielding huge carcasses with lots of tender dark meat. A few of them had issues with their feet, presumably from growing so quickly. The hens have not had any lasting foot problems but they are nowhere near as big as the roos. The roosters were nasty to the hens, but sweet with me, and all are excellent foragers. The hens don't lay as well as some of my other girls, usually 3-4 eggs a week, but they have continued to lay into the winter without artificial light.

These are great birds, and I would happily buy more in the spring.

I had an emergency -- mom abandoned eggs right before the hatch -- and had to rush out and grab the only incubator available in mid-October. I have not used the egg turner.

Overall I'm pretty pleased with this 'bator. I had to open it several times during lockdown to add water in bowls and paper towels, since the water trays in the bottom couldn't get the humidity high enough for hatch time. This was my first hatch, and everyone says not to open the incubator during lockdown for fear of losing humidity, but I found that by lifting the corner or edge and just making quick adjustments I didn't upset things too much. Heat and humidity came back up within a minute or two, and once they were up they stayed steady. I had to make minor adjustments a few times, but I assume that is the case with any incubator.

The gauges are worthless, as people have noted, but you can get your own cheaply and use those. I was mostly interested in having an incubator that holds humidity and temp, and this one does quite nicely once you've got everything set up. Others have noted that the temperature knob is very sensitive, but once you get it adjusted you pretty much don't have to touch it after that.

Given that I bought a relatively cheap incubator on the fly, I'm happy with this one. However, I caution anyone hatching babies bigger than chicks: the heating element is exposed, and a tall baby like a duckling can stand up and bump into it. Two of my little ones burned their faces on the heating element. Now after they hatch, I give them a couple of hours to nap, dry, and get their bearings, and as soon as they start trying to run around I whisk them out into the brooder.

I will be using this incubator again, and giving the egg turner a try. It has a few issues, but if you're reasonably attentive I think you can troubleshoot without too many problems. If I was going to hatch large volumes of chicks I would invest in a model without these issues.