GQF Sportsman 1502 Incubator Questions

[KsKingBee]

I'm about to order a gqf for myself, the 1502 just like this. So the hatcher has no lid to it and the fan blows a lot- is there a reason a lid can't be made for it? I've had to make various types of lids for some of my snake or rodent enclosures, often times with the express intent of holding in moisture on the snakes. So, is there not room for a lid or is it more a factor of the bottom egg tray turning down into the hatcher? Is the bottom egg tray removable? I don't expect to have enough eggs to use all three trays, so if it can be removed I can probably just make a lid to stop the fan from drying out the eggs in the hatcher.

@jdavis do you have a photo (or can you take a photo) of the tray you have?

Well ratz, my reply from last night is gone.

I have the Sportsman with the hatching tray. The third, or bottom, turning tray will dip down into the hatching tray so a lid is not possible on the hatching tray. Mine came assembled, but I suppose that you can take the bottom tray off. We use the large egg trays and the pea eggs lay mostly on their side, I will leave enough space between them so I can flip them over when I have reason to get into the incubator.

 

[bdfive]

Hello, am looking for info after just helping a peachick out of the shell that was stuck and couldn't push the shell apart. Poor little thing was so ready to come out, LOL! Once again the fan dried it just enough. Have another pipped but the shell isn't open enough to let much fan breeze in but will be checking it later to see if it's ok. I love those chicks that pip, zipe and are out in no time. The slow goers are the problems. Breeding season is winding down here in San Antonio, TX area. All but one of my males has lost or in process of loosing train feathers. I have 1 peahen on eggs and maybe a dozen in the incubator.

Believe my hatching of swan eggs was in this thread. I did hatch 9 out of 11 eggs. Cygnets were returned to owner of eggs but I was fortunate to keep Gunther and Gracie that are a hand full. We are working on a swan habitat for them now.

Thanks much for input.

 

[KsKingBee]

I did not use my Sportsman for hatching this year, well, except for a couple that I forgot about...

When I have had 'stickies', I found that the cause was more of my interference than the equipment I was using. First, the humidity during incubating needs to be low so the egg can lose moisture or about 13% to 15% of the eggs total weight. That can be difficult in areas where the humidity is high. I shoot for low 40's and with the rainy spring and early summer we had the humidity kept shooting up into the 50's. This is why you will hear about 'dry' incubating, not adding water to the incubator until hatch time. A wet, oversized chick will have difficulties zipping and getting out.

Second, your interference. There is a reason they call it 'lock down'. Opening the hatcher while the chicks are hatching reduces the humidity in the unit and it is difficult for that humidity to build back up and the egg loses moisture and will get stuck. This is especially true when there is too much fluid in the egg. Eggs that had lost enough moisture will pip and zip in short order most of the time.

This year I ended up using broody chicken hens to set most of my eggs. They are not foolproof by any means but they are professionals. I brought the eggs inside to hatcher in the hatcher. If you are interested in how Leggs Peafowl farm incubates, here is a link to his tutorial.

http://www.leggspeafowl.com/incub.htm

 

[Kedreeva]

I did not use my Sportsman for hatching this year, well, except for a couple that I forgot about...

When I have had 'stickies', I found that the cause was more of my interference than the equipment I was using. First, the humidity during incubating needs to be low so the egg can lose moisture or about 13% to 15% of the eggs total weight. That can be difficult in areas where the humidity is high. I shoot for low 40's and with the rainy spring and early summer we had the humidity kept shooting up into the 50's. This is why you will hear about 'dry' incubating, not adding water to the incubator until hatch time. A wet, oversized chick will have difficulties zipping and getting out.

Second, your interference. There is a reason they call it 'lock down'. Opening the hatcher while the chicks are hatching reduces the humidity in the unit and it is difficult for that humidity to build back up and the egg loses moisture and will get stuck. This is especially true when there is too much fluid in the egg. Eggs that had lost enough moisture will pip and zip in short order most of the time.

This year I ended up using broody chicken hens to set most of my eggs. They are not foolproof by any means but they are professionals. I brought the eggs inside to hatcher in the hatcher. If you are interested in how Leggs Peafowl farm incubates, here is a link to his tutorial.

http://www.leggspeafowl.com/incub.htm

I was getting "lower than desired" hatch rates with the GQF at the start of my season, and I think Leggs is right about the thinner walls being an issue- we found that covering the incubator in a large, thick, dark towel seemed to help. And same as you, the lower humidity during incubation /definitely/ helped.

 

[KsKingBee]

I was getting "lower than desired" hatch rates with the GQF at the start of my season, and I think Leggs is right about the thinner walls being an issue- we found that covering the incubator in a large, thick, dark towel seemed to help. And same as you, the lower humidity during incubation /definitely/ helped.

I may try insulating my unit next year. Care must be taken to not block the vent holes when doing so. Mine sits in the living room so there is not much temperature change to deal with, but any little help may just make a big difference.

 

[Kedreeva]

I may try insulating my unit next year. Care must be taken to not block the vent holes when doing so. Mine sits in the living room so there is not much temperature change to deal with, but any little help may just make a big difference.

We covered the sides/top and part of the front, but left the back vents open. It was backed up to within a few inches of a wall, so it had air flow but the temp was still insulated.

 

[KsKingBee]

Instead of using the metal racks this year I bought the large green plastic trays from GQF. My thinking was that instead of setting 44 eggs per rack I could set 72 using two 36 egg trays per rack. Well the first thing I found was that two green trays do not fit on one rack. There was no warning about this so I put three of the trays on the table saw and cut off about half of an inch off one side. Well that was fine until the trays shifted a bit and started hanging up on the support arms on the end of the unit.

They would bind until sufficient force would make them snap past the support, by the time I figured out what was going on the damage was done but not confirmed until hatch when only about ten percent of the eggs developed and hatched. I ended up trimming more off the trays so they fit and work fine now but the damage was not only done to the hatching eggs but the unit was no longer working properly. Had I not started using broody chickens to set my eggs I am afraid that my season would have been a disaster.

I contacted Darren at GQF yesterday and talked to him about what I had done and how to fix the unit. He said that the trays should have come with instructions to cut one row off, I asked why they would make a tray that did not fit, he said that they do not make the trays but they are available from a third party and they just sell them. Then he had me send him a video of the rack movement after he showed me how to put it in rapid turn cycle. When the rack turns it hits a spot where it will jolt, or jump about an inch and a half, jolting the trays and eggs in them.

Darren determined that the gears in the motor were damaged and decided to sell me a new motor at dealers cost. I guess I am ok with that, $61.00 for a new motor is just a drop in the bucket to what was lost in ruined eggs. So like the eternal farmer and Chief fan I am, I am looking forward to a better 'next year'.

 

[FloydBhere]

I recently purchased a new 1502 incubator and hatcher. During lock down when you raise the humiditiy above 70% does that affect those still incubating on the turners. I know it is only for a short time, but the eggs are trying to loose 15% weight during the first 18 days.

 

[KsKingBee]

I am trying to keep my humidity down to 45% during the entire process, not easy to do, but the results are better than higher humidity.

 

[scootj79]

I know this is an old thread but how was your hatches in 2016 KsKingBee and anyone else? I usually let my bantams hatch eggs but I am down a few bantams and need to add to my flock for this year plus I should have more pea eggs than in the past so I received the GQF from the daughter of a fellow peafowl friend when he passed away on us from cancer this last year. Thanks for any info that you have.