Anyone who hatches in a Little Giant

[JordanFamily]

I use a LG with great success 90% so far....I use the dry hatching method for still air incubators. I also use an egg turner.
Keep the temp at 101-102 F. Open all vent plugs.
I have a hygrometer/thermometer inside the bator and out of the bator in the room. I try to keep the room humidity at 50%...If you do that then the bator humidity will be perfect. I do not add water unless the room humidity goes under 40%. Then I only add a tablespoon. When I add water I use a long drinking straw through the hole at the top of the LG. I do not open my incubator for any reason...I do not even candle my eggs. You will smell a bad egg long before it explodes so I just put my nose close and snif. If I think one is bad then I will just open it enough to reach in and get the suspected egg, or to get each egg and find out which one is the bad egg to dispose of it. On the rack your temp should be about 98F...Just
above the eggs it should read 101-102F... Turning eggs: I use a egg turner so I do not have to open the bator but if you have to manually turn I would only open the bator a tiny bit just enough to reach your hand in to turn them. Be careful not to get burned on the heating eliment. At day 18 on chicken eggs I then take out the egg turner and place the eggs on the rack. You can also place them in an egg carton to hatch. Close all vent plugs. I then fill the water resivours and place a wet sponge in it to get the humidity up to around 65%... At this point Do not open incubator until all chicks have hatched or you will get some chicks that will stick to their shells!!! Also on day 18 get your brooder ready and set temp at 90 F....I think that is everything...
Good Luck, Kristina

 

[JordanFamily]

Quote:
I have heard that the egg carton method is not best for a LG because it does cause the eggs close to the top to be warmer than the bottom eggs. If you use this method I would only slightly elevate one side of the egg carton. I use an egg turner and that makes the eggs a little higher than the rack and have never had a problem with them over heating... I do not know what incubating the eggs at different levels in a still air would do to hatch dates, Generally if they are incubated at a lower temp it will take them a day or two longer to hatch... If anyone has used this method please let us know your outcome...Thanks, Kristina

 

[jnjross]

MY LG looses .1 degree very hour

i think it's the vibs from the fan.. it's not bad it's manageable.

 

[Mrs MIA]

Hi Jean! Keep us posted on the progress...

good luck!!!
I have a still air LG with a turner.... I use it for incubating because I get zero fluctuations in the temps (it's new... wait a few more years, and we'll see). I can't get the humidity to go up, but it stays around 48% so it's perfect for incubating. Then I move the eggs to one of Miss Prissy's homemade incubators for hatching. I worry about the chicks bonking their heads on the heating element in the LG... seems awfully low!

Can't wait to see your little ones!

 

[wegotchickens]

Mrs. AK-Bird-Brain :

I worry about the chicks bonking their heads on the heating element in the LG... seems awfully low!

That's what I was worried about, for hatching. But someone else in an earlier post mentioned hatching in an egg carton....​

 

[Mrs MIA]

I'm hesitant to try it, even with all the positive feedback about it. I worry about them being confined like that.

The LG is perfect for hatching quail, though... they're small and don't bounce up enough to hit the heating element.

 

[wegotchickens]

So the LG would be good for hatching banties, but maybe not turkeys?

 

[Mrs MIA]

Yep, that would be about right. I don't think I'd try emus in there, either.

 

[wegotchickens]

DH forbade me to hatch emus, anyway

 

[Zookeeper9000]

thanks everyone no pips yet. And humitity is staying between 65 and 80 % driving me nuts LOL