April Hatch-Along!!!!!!! Whos with me?????

[nickie]

I also use a little giant. I keep the whole setup in my understair cubby where my water heater is and wrap it in towels. I have an autoturner and fan. During incubation I have both plugs out and fill one water thingie. I did mist daily after day 10 and did a 10 minute cool down (also used that opportunity to shine a flashlight on them). For lockdown I filled all the water thingies and used the red plugs to fine tune my humidity. Also during lockdown I had a paper towel under the open (where the fan is not) plug to wet down if I needed a fast quick bump.

 

[Cr8z4ducks]

I decided to experiment with my set up and see what happens. I had one of the plugs out, per the incubators instructions, and decided to plug it this afternoon to see if my humidity would rise. My humidity has went up to 50%. The temp did rise a little so I've adjusted that as well. Been reading a ton of posts on this issue and it seems I'm not the only one. Once again everybody does it differently. I'm worried about the ventilation, but there are those small holes?

 

[nickie]

I decided to experiment with my set up and see what happens. I had one of the plugs out, per the incubators instructions, and decided to plug it this afternoon to see if my humidity would rise. My humidity has went up to 50%. The temp did rise a little so I've adjusted that as well. Been reading a ton of posts on this issue and it seems I'm not the only one. Once again everybody does it differently. I'm worried about the ventilation, but there are those small holes?

I found this thread to be very helpful with my LG.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/601352/little-giant-incubator-tricks

I have fantastic hatches in mine. Although I have found I always lose 2 for whatever reason. With the ducks I know exactly why I lost those 2 and I wasn't expecting them to hatch from the git.

Try not to overcomplicate it... Stabilize your temp (i use 2 thermometer/hygrometer combos one digital one standard and it has to maintain temp for 3 days). Set your eggs. I set on a day where I can check it frequently the next day to fine tune temp. Leave it alone and don't fiddle with it. Candle when you need to. Lock it down. Sit on your hands and wait. that is basically all I do. Constant fiddling with the LG is a no no.

 

[Goin Quackrrs]

Final tally: 3 cayuga, 1 khaki campbell.

This is out of over three dozen shipped eggs that the post office played volleyball with.

 

[Cr8z4ducks]

I found this thread to be very helpful with my LG.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/601352/little-giant-incubator-tricks
I have fantastic hatches in mine. Although I have found I always lose 2 for whatever reason. With the ducks I know exactly why I lost those 2 and I wasn't expecting them to hatch from the git.
Try not to overcomplicate it... Stabilize your temp (i use 2 thermometer/hygrometer combos one digital one standard and it has to maintain temp for 3 days). Set your eggs. I set on a day where I can check it frequently the next day to fine tune temp. Leave it alone and don't fiddle with it. Candle when you need to. Lock it down. Sit on your hands and wait. that is basically all I do. Constant fiddling with the LG is a no no.

That's funny for you to recommend that thread because that's the same one I've been reading.
Last night after I plugged the other hole, my humidity did spike up pretty fast, so I unplugged it and only covered half the hole. Now my humidity is staying around 53% and my temp is staying the same as well. Phew...and I will be following your advice about sitting on my hands. That's probably another problem I had before. It's tough to not candle everyday to see what's going on. I'm starting to relax and maybe everything will go better this time. Fingers crossed.

 

[nickie]

I found this thread to be very helpful with my LG.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/601352/little-giant-incubator-tricks
I have fantastic hatches in mine. Although I have found I always lose 2 for whatever reason. With the ducks I know exactly why I lost those 2 and I wasn't expecting them to hatch from the git.
Try not to overcomplicate it... Stabilize your temp (i use 2 thermometer/hygrometer combos one digital one standard and it has to maintain temp for 3 days). Set your eggs. I set on a day where I can check it frequently the next day to fine tune temp. Leave it alone and don't fiddle with it. Candle when you need to. Lock it down. Sit on your hands and wait. that is basically all I do. Constant fiddling with the LG is a no no.

That's funny for you to recommend that thread because that's the same one I've been reading.
Last night after I plugged the other hole, my humidity did spike up pretty fast, so I unplugged it and only covered half the hole. Now my humidity is staying around 53% and my temp is staying the same as well. Phew...and I will be following your advice about sitting on my hands. That's probably another problem I had before. It's tough to not candle everyday to see what's going on. I'm starting to relax and maybe everything will go better this time. Fingers crossed.

Good luck, keep me posted.

Eta: what is the recommended humidity for a duck hatch? I ran at 40%, but I don't know what others do.

 

[hfchristy]

I'm getting ready for a Friday lockdown.
It's a still-air incubator, so I've had a thermometer laying across the top of the eggs. How does that work for hatching? I'm thinking that as soon as one egg hatches, or even starts moving much, the thermometer will slide to the floor.

christy

 

[Chriswardens52]

Well guys here's an update.out of 10 shipped eggs 8 hatched 1 zipping as we speak and the other nothing yet... 90%hatch on shipped eggs? Yea I'd say I got lucky! Will post pics soon!

 

[Cr8z4ducks]

Good luck, keep me posted.
Eta: what is the recommended humidity for a duck hatch? I ran at 40%, but I don't know what others do.

Sure will!

What I've read is while incubating it should be between 55% and 65% and for hatch 70% - 80%. Mine is fluctuating between 45% and 55% depending on the humidity outside. I'm in South Georgia and our humidity will be high one day then not the next.

 

[Cr8z4ducks]

Well guys here's an update.out of 10 shipped eggs 8 hatched 1 zipping as we speak and the other nothing yet... 90%hatch on shipped eggs? Yea I'd say I got lucky! Will post pics soon!