Advice on Incubators?

[BlackwaterBirds]

Has anyone tried the Little Giant incubator from Tractor Supply? I read the reviews online buy a lot of them seem to be whining rather than reviewing. Would like to hear from someone that has tried them with experience?

 

[mtnviewfarms]

Yes, we first used the LG with the egg turner but w/o a fan - terrible hatch, then we ordered and installed a fan to the unit - better hatches but definitely not good - finally did more research and purchased the Hovabator 1588 that digitally shows humidity and temp in the unit constantly and regulates the temp. Have had several very good hatches with that one. We also got the egg turner. Just set 42 eggs in my Hovabator today in fact, hoping for another great hatch in 21 days!

 

[tristancolli]

ok so alot of people will probably tell you to stay away from the little giants. i myself will be one of them, i had a lg and i just never had any luck with it. So i got my grand mothers old hova bator and it has just died after having great hatches for meandmy grand mother for 15 years. with the lg i have about 65% if not less hatch rate and with the hova bator i have always had atleast 95%. if you are wanting to buy a incubator and only want to have to buy one i would suggest the new Hovabator genisis 1588 that the post above was talking about it is amazingly accurate and a just all around great incubator.

 

[chickenjudy]

I agree with the first two people. Had semi decent luck years ago with a LG but it was a total pain to keep constant temp and humidity. Bought a Genesis 1588 on the recommendation of a friend and LOVE it! Had a great hatch the first batch of eggs I set and it's not wavered at all tempwise since I've had it running. Bought a second one a month later to use as a hatcher and it is just as constant. Search for best price (bought mine through Smith Poultry Supplies) and you can be into one with a turner for only a little more than the same combo of a LG and have a MUCH better incubator.

 

[NYREDS]

An incubator is a box with a heating element & a thermostat. The more you spend the better the incubator but the success or failure of any incubator depends most of all on the operator.
I have owned several of the styrofoam incubators, both Little Giant & Hovabator. Some of the first I had were still air models & I hatched a lot of chicks in them.
Before buying a large cabinet style incubateo I hatched hundreds if not thousands of chicks in the styrofoam units. They will work well for you if you carefully follow the directions.
I switched to a larger incubator strictly because of the size. At one point I was operating 10 of the styrofoam incubatos at a time which took up a lot of room & was unwieldy. Switched to the cabinet incubator to simplify things.