Little Giant Incubator Tricks

[jabowery]

I bought a still-air Little Giant incubator and ended up with so much trouble maintaining the temperature and humidity that this time around I'm trying some tricks.

With the help of others in this thread I'm compiling a list of "best practices" for the LG, given the fact that the reason people go with the LG in the first place is to save money. That means they probably don't want to spend a lot on accessories:

1) Get a 12VDC power adapter and computer fan from some computer nut you know or, failing that, Radio Shack. (Being a computer nut myself, this was easy.) Cut off the connector and splice it to the computer fan. If it doesn't turn when plugged in, try reversing the wires. Use (preferably electricians) tape to insulate the wires from each other. Cut out a little square of cheese cloth slightly larger than the face of the fan. Glue one side of the cheese cloth to one side of the computer fan (hot glue guns work for me but you might get away with superglue) . Pull the cheese cloth tight and glue down the opposite side. Do the same for the remaining sides. Why all this trouble? Hey, if you had the money to buy the expensive LG fan accessory, why buy the LG in the first place?

2) Fill two small jars and, put a sponge in each (Thanks cmom! ) to "wick" the moister up and increase the evaporative surface area and placed it in the incubator. Place them in the two "top" corners of the base. Use a "wash bottle" so you can refill them without opening the incubator (Thanks cmom! ).

3) I took a medical thermometer (not digital!), pushed its top into one of the red caps' concaved areas -- it fits snugly into my thermometer -- so it can't fall through the holes left when the red plugs are removed, and leave it in the one "above" the windows. Do NOT use the hole "below" the windows for this! Both red plugs should be removed.

4) Take the cap from a gallon milk jug, turn it upside down and screw it into the top of that nasty little thermostat "knob" to provide a bigger knob with finer control (Thanks cmom! ). For folks like me who want even finer control (meaning a longer lever arm) leave a pair of pliers on the incubator at all times so when the thermometer indicates an out-of-range temperature, I can grab that little nasty little "knob" with the pliers and turn it from the end of the pliers ever so slightly. However you do it, keep in mind if you don't do VERY slight adjustments, letting the temperature settle for at least an hour with each adjustment, you can't get control of the temperature.

Once I got the temperature within range of not killing the eggs if they experience it for a short time (few hours at most at 98.5 up to 101.5), I put the eggs in and start adjusting the temperature.

Any "adjustment" of the styrofoam lid changes the thermal balance. This means opening it to turn the eggs may require additional thermostat adjustments but those should be pursued only if the temperature has been out of whack for a couple of hours (this is to let the incubator heat back up after losing heat/humidity when you opened it). The practice of turning eggs during incubation remains somewhat controversial but controlled experiments conducted at the University College London in the mid 1950s showed a profound increase in percent hatches with egg turning (Thanks Cynthia! ).

 

[cmom]

I have an LG with a fan. Here are some of my LG tricks, to bring the humidity up at lockdown I put some paper towel under the wire and make sure the reservoirs are filled with water. The paper towel may get wet but that is ok. I also add a half pint mason jar with warm water and a sponge in it. The sponge acts like a wick. Also since you are using a LG incubator the small holes line up perfectly so you can squirt water into the holes and the water will go into the jars to fill them and don't have to open the incubator up. The temp will change and that is ok too don't adjust it just let it settle out. Sometimes I may need to put two jars in the hatcher. I keep the humidity around 35% during incubation and bring it up to around 75% during lockdown. The plugs are out during lockdown. The eggs need the added airflow. If the humidity goes down during lockdown I put a straw in a hole and squirt a little warm water on the paper towel. the moisture will spread out some but that is ok. I did put a milk bottle cap on the thermostat control which works great. Since I have been doing my hatching like this my hatch rate has went up and I have had 100% hatches which i never thought before was possible. Good luck...

 

[cmom]

To calibrate a hygrometer you will need:

1/2 cup table salt
approximately 1/4 cup water
coffee cup
hygrometer
large resealable freezer bag

Place 1/2 cup of salt in the coffee cup, and add the water. Stir for a bit to totally saturate the salt. The salt won't dissolve in this amount of water; instead, the salt should have the consistency of wet sand.

Carefully place the cup containing the salt/water mix in a resealable plastic bag. Place the hygrometer in the bag, away from the cup of salt and water. Note: make sure none of the salt/water mix comes in direct contact with the hygrometer, or the hygrometer may be damaged. Completely seal the bag.

Place the sealed bag aside at room temperature for 8-12 hours. Pick a location free of drafts, out of direct sunlight, and away from heating or cooling vents. The temperature should be fairly constant.

After being in the sealed bag for 8-12 hours, check the reading of the hygrometer. It is best to read it while still in the bag, since if your house air is dry the reading may go down quickly once you take the hygrometer out of the bag.

The relative humidity in the sealed bag with the salt/water mix should be 75 percent.

If yours is the adjustable type, adjust the screw or setting so that it would have read 75 percent. You will have to do this very quickly, or remember how much you need to adjust the setting (e.g. for mine, it read 72 percent when it should have been 75 percent, so I would need to set it ahead by 3 percentage points). You may want to put the hygrometer back in the bag for another 8 hours to double check your adjustment.

If yours is not adjustable (like mine), simply make a note of how "off" your hygrometer reads. If it reads below 75 percent, you will need to add the difference to your actual readings. If your hygrometer read above 75 percent on the calibration, you will need to subtract the difference from your actual reading. Here are some examples to help:
Case 1: after sitting in the bag for calibration, my hygrometer read 72 percent. It should have read 75 percent, so the difference is 3 percent. I will now add 3 percent to the readings I take on the hygrometer (e.g. in a tank) to get the actual relative humidity.
Case 2: after calibrating in the bag, a hygrometer read 80 percent. It should have read 75 percent, a difference of 5 percent. I would have to subtract 5 percent from readings when using the hygrometer to get an accurate relative humidity.

Remember: always give a hygrometer about 2 hours to stabilize before taking a reading, as changes in the relative humidity may take a while to register accurately on a hygrometer.

 

[Shayna]

Interesting idea with not turning the eggs. I do most of those things you suggested, except I put a knob on instead of using pliers. I do keep the plugs in most of the time. I lined the bottom with tin foil and put thin sponges on the bottom to help with humitiy. I use an egg turner so I don't open it until lockdown. To candle prior to lockdown, I just open a window a little and stick a little bendy wire light to see in the eggs. The temperature recovers quickly from this.
I also put my incubator in a wooden box, actually an old drawer had no other use but holds my incubator perfectly. I drape a towel over it also to help keep it insulated. It's working pretty well for me.
I think sharing our experiences will help us eventually master the use of the LG!

 

[Jeffross1968]

Quote:
Unfortunately, this one does not appear to be able to be calibrated. When I originally went into lock down this morning, there was an initial spike to over 80% humidity. It then slowly fell until finally resting now, at 41%. I've tried adding more water, but realistically, it's filled to the brim. I'm now worried about drowning them, completely unawares of what the actual humidity might be.

 

[ChicwannaB]

I will be doing my first incubating as soon as fertile eggs arrive. Lemon Cuckoo Orps.
Im using a LG 9200, still air. Brand new to me. Have been going nuts with three different thermometers, all giving me a different reading (see MYPAGE)
Nervous as a new Mother Hen that too much will go wrong and nothing will go right.

Im set up in a small bathroom (so I can lock out other family critters), thinking when I go to turn eggs I'll jack up room temp with a portable heater and turn on the shower to raise humidity in the whole room. Then when I close the bator it won't take so long for them to readjust?? does this sound feasible or stupid??

Please respond. Thanks

 

[ChicwannaB]

Quote:
WOW, that is amazing, and great to know. Thanx

 

[cmom]

I have a thermometer/hygrometer exactly like yours and I tuck it in as you can see it in the right side of the image. I sometimes use a flashlight to get a good look at it. My hatches have been successful.

 

[cmom]

Is your incubator a circulated air or still air? I have one of each and I just ordered a Little Giant fan for my still air. My circulated air keeps a steadier temp when it's adjusted . I also put a milk bottle cap on the thermostat control. It works great as now I can control how much I turn the knob to adjust the temp.

 

[cmom]

Many people worry about the air flow but I don't worry about that either. I keep the plugs in now during lockdown and the humidity and temp stay much steadier. I think the little holes that are in the top and bottom of the incubators are adequate. This is just my opinion.