This article will detail our experience with hobby incubators and which we believe is the best, which is the Little Giant Deluxe Incubator (LG).
I have had multiple types of incubators, including a few of the Amazon best sellers. All the incubators I have used would be considered a "hobby" incubator with a capacity of 20 to 40 eggs. The LG incubator is, in my opinion, the best I have ever used, but it does have a few flaws.
I will start by saying that I haven't fully tested the longevity of this incubator. We have a total of five hatches, all barnyard mix eggs from our flock, which, in my experience, are typically the hardiest eggs with the highest hatch rate. In general, this is what we typically hatch so the control between all the incubators is pretty even.
First, the cons. You will see in a lot of reviews if the LG that the hygrometer and thermometer are not accurate. I can confirm that the hygrometer is not accurate 100% of the time. It will fluctuate up and down for 5 to 10 minutes, but it usually does settle on the accurate humidity for the longest period of time. With that said, you will want to check the humidity a few different times within a 30 minute period. We personally just use a high-quality, standalone climate unit that projects to a remote unit to where we don't even have to go to the incubator to check these at the incubator.
Compared to some of the more modern incubators on Amazon, with the LG you will have to regulate how much water you put in to get your desired humidity level. There are six water channels, and you fill those as needed until that level is reached. In our case, that is filling four of the six channels. This is in comparison to something like the Nurture Right 360 (which seems to be the most popular hobby incubator at the moment, and what we will primarily be using for comparison) where there are two different water ports, one you fill during normal incubation and then another you also fill the during lockdown. These two ports typically give you the desired climate. In summary with the humidity, you will certainly need to let the LG run for most likely at least 24 hours until you can dial in the humidity and add your eggs.
** NOTE - humidity goes up or down in this case, based off of the amount of surface water in the incubator, so if you were to fill four channels full in the LG, or six channels, halfway full in the LG the half full six channels would result in a higher humidity because there's more surface area exposed to the air, but will have less overall water volume.
The LG also has one power cord for your control unit and one power cord for the egg turner. Both of them are located in kind of awkward positions and obviously require two plug ins. Most modern incubators with egg turners will have the egg turner plugging in to the control unit and then one power cord from the control unit powers the whole thing. Not a huge deal but something to consider.
Most modern incubators will come with a built in candler. The little giant does not. However, we never used those because they just seemed awkward to use, and you had to let go of the egg to candle, which gives me anxiety
. Id much rather hold the egg in my hand and use a traditional candler.
And the last con, the LG only has two ventilation ports that you can either plug or unplug. This doesn't allow you much control during the lockdown in regulating humidity. Most of the newer incubators will allow you to partially open or close vents with a sliding mechanism.
Now for the pros of the LG. And I'd start with - in terms of cons, the LG will have more by quantity. It is just not as user friendly of a machine. BUT, in the things that really matter (as you will see, the LG excels)
The egg turner is a vertical turner that rotates 30° either way. This allows the air sac to stay where it should stay in the egg, which is at the top. SomethingVERY IMPORTANT if you plan to hatch shipped eggs that are prone to detached air cells. A lot of the newer incubators will roll the egg on its side to turn. We have experienced more failed hatches with the side, rolling incubators.
A LG is generally larger in comparison to most. Which may be not great for some, but a lot of the newer ones when you have eggs filled to capacity, the chicks do seem to be more stressed out as they are more crowded in the area after hatching. The modern incubators also have a majority of the incubator made up of a clear material to allow you better viewing of the hatch. This is great for the first few hatches when things are still new, but I believe when comparing to a natural hatch, where a chick sits under its mother in a dark area, these clear viewing machines add to their stress. The LG has two viewing windows at the top, giving you an ample view, but doesn't expose the chick as the others do. (We find the hatched chicks generally fall asleep for longer periods of time in the LG. This is an important consideration with some larger hatches that can span the better part of 2 days.)
The aforementioned water channels on the LG are very large. We have found ourselves only needing to fill them up or top them off once every three days. The other modern incubators we have used, you typically have to fill them daily.
The LG, is also comprised, mainly of a rigid Styrofoam, which may seem inferior to something like molded plastic or plexiglass, but we have found it to be far superior in keeping things consistent as it is a much better insulated unit. It's also helps if you incubate in something like a garage or somewhere where the ambient temperature is either lower or higher, depending on the time of year.
If you plan to hatch quail or other very small eggs, you will need to purchase a separate egg turner - which has a capacity of 120 quail eggs. We have hatched very small micro chicken eggs in the LG with the standard turner. I am not familiar with the size of a quail, egg, and how it compares to a very small bantam egg -so I don't know if the bantam eggs would work in the quail Turner.
And finally something that we know is very important to Everyone is our hatch rates. Now granted, we certainly are not professionals, and ultimately when it comes down to it, we are hobbyists hatching about six clutches a year. With the little giant, and our five hatches, we have averaged a hatch rate of 93%. With our most recent Amazon incubator, the Nurture Right 360 - we had seven hatches with a hatch rate of 72% combined and at least one chick per clutch that began to hatch and failed. (we don't do any assistance anymore helping chicks out of the egg, unless it is the last chick to hatch. By helping that one chick you can compromise all the others that are still mid-hatch by lowering the humidity in opening the machine and drying up the membrane). Aside from the little giant, the nurture right 360 had the highest hatch rate of the modern incubators.
I hope this helps and I'm sure I left something out, but would be happy to answer any questions you have. Something also that was important to us that we found after we purchased a little giant, is that it is made in America and offers Americans support.
Happy hatching!
I have had multiple types of incubators, including a few of the Amazon best sellers. All the incubators I have used would be considered a "hobby" incubator with a capacity of 20 to 40 eggs. The LG incubator is, in my opinion, the best I have ever used, but it does have a few flaws.
I will start by saying that I haven't fully tested the longevity of this incubator. We have a total of five hatches, all barnyard mix eggs from our flock, which, in my experience, are typically the hardiest eggs with the highest hatch rate. In general, this is what we typically hatch so the control between all the incubators is pretty even.
First, the cons. You will see in a lot of reviews if the LG that the hygrometer and thermometer are not accurate. I can confirm that the hygrometer is not accurate 100% of the time. It will fluctuate up and down for 5 to 10 minutes, but it usually does settle on the accurate humidity for the longest period of time. With that said, you will want to check the humidity a few different times within a 30 minute period. We personally just use a high-quality, standalone climate unit that projects to a remote unit to where we don't even have to go to the incubator to check these at the incubator.
Compared to some of the more modern incubators on Amazon, with the LG you will have to regulate how much water you put in to get your desired humidity level. There are six water channels, and you fill those as needed until that level is reached. In our case, that is filling four of the six channels. This is in comparison to something like the Nurture Right 360 (which seems to be the most popular hobby incubator at the moment, and what we will primarily be using for comparison) where there are two different water ports, one you fill during normal incubation and then another you also fill the during lockdown. These two ports typically give you the desired climate. In summary with the humidity, you will certainly need to let the LG run for most likely at least 24 hours until you can dial in the humidity and add your eggs.
** NOTE - humidity goes up or down in this case, based off of the amount of surface water in the incubator, so if you were to fill four channels full in the LG, or six channels, halfway full in the LG the half full six channels would result in a higher humidity because there's more surface area exposed to the air, but will have less overall water volume.
The LG also has one power cord for your control unit and one power cord for the egg turner. Both of them are located in kind of awkward positions and obviously require two plug ins. Most modern incubators with egg turners will have the egg turner plugging in to the control unit and then one power cord from the control unit powers the whole thing. Not a huge deal but something to consider.
Most modern incubators will come with a built in candler. The little giant does not. However, we never used those because they just seemed awkward to use, and you had to let go of the egg to candle, which gives me anxiety
. Id much rather hold the egg in my hand and use a traditional candler.And the last con, the LG only has two ventilation ports that you can either plug or unplug. This doesn't allow you much control during the lockdown in regulating humidity. Most of the newer incubators will allow you to partially open or close vents with a sliding mechanism.
Now for the pros of the LG. And I'd start with - in terms of cons, the LG will have more by quantity. It is just not as user friendly of a machine. BUT, in the things that really matter (as you will see, the LG excels)
The egg turner is a vertical turner that rotates 30° either way. This allows the air sac to stay where it should stay in the egg, which is at the top. SomethingVERY IMPORTANT if you plan to hatch shipped eggs that are prone to detached air cells. A lot of the newer incubators will roll the egg on its side to turn. We have experienced more failed hatches with the side, rolling incubators.
A LG is generally larger in comparison to most. Which may be not great for some, but a lot of the newer ones when you have eggs filled to capacity, the chicks do seem to be more stressed out as they are more crowded in the area after hatching. The modern incubators also have a majority of the incubator made up of a clear material to allow you better viewing of the hatch. This is great for the first few hatches when things are still new, but I believe when comparing to a natural hatch, where a chick sits under its mother in a dark area, these clear viewing machines add to their stress. The LG has two viewing windows at the top, giving you an ample view, but doesn't expose the chick as the others do. (We find the hatched chicks generally fall asleep for longer periods of time in the LG. This is an important consideration with some larger hatches that can span the better part of 2 days.)
The aforementioned water channels on the LG are very large. We have found ourselves only needing to fill them up or top them off once every three days. The other modern incubators we have used, you typically have to fill them daily.
The LG, is also comprised, mainly of a rigid Styrofoam, which may seem inferior to something like molded plastic or plexiglass, but we have found it to be far superior in keeping things consistent as it is a much better insulated unit. It's also helps if you incubate in something like a garage or somewhere where the ambient temperature is either lower or higher, depending on the time of year.
If you plan to hatch quail or other very small eggs, you will need to purchase a separate egg turner - which has a capacity of 120 quail eggs. We have hatched very small micro chicken eggs in the LG with the standard turner. I am not familiar with the size of a quail, egg, and how it compares to a very small bantam egg -so I don't know if the bantam eggs would work in the quail Turner.
And finally something that we know is very important to Everyone is our hatch rates. Now granted, we certainly are not professionals, and ultimately when it comes down to it, we are hobbyists hatching about six clutches a year. With the little giant, and our five hatches, we have averaged a hatch rate of 93%. With our most recent Amazon incubator, the Nurture Right 360 - we had seven hatches with a hatch rate of 72% combined and at least one chick per clutch that began to hatch and failed. (we don't do any assistance anymore helping chicks out of the egg, unless it is the last chick to hatch. By helping that one chick you can compromise all the others that are still mid-hatch by lowering the humidity in opening the machine and drying up the membrane). Aside from the little giant, the nurture right 360 had the highest hatch rate of the modern incubators.
I hope this helps and I'm sure I left something out, but would be happy to answer any questions you have. Something also that was important to us that we found after we purchased a little giant, is that it is made in America and offers Americans support.
Happy hatching!
Yes, I've read about the previous still air incubators with the deadly heating element on top. Seems like you'd need a license to operate that thing!