I often use a still air incubator that's very similar to the little giant, it's just a different brand. I was able to get a couple of 95% hatch rates, so it is a good incubator if you use it correctly.
Keep the temperature at 102 degrees and put the thermometer directly on top of the eggs. Still incubators have layers of heat, so it's important that you measure temperature directly on top of them. Also, make sure that the thermomter is calibrated and that you are using multiple thermometers for comparison and to locate any hot or cold spots.
As far as humidity goes, you need to either keep track of their moisture loss by weighing weekly, or you could compare air cell sizes to a chart. I usually compare air cells when I incubate large numbers of chicken eggs, but I weigh eggs that are more important such as the goose egg that I just hatched. Correct humidities levels will vary with every hatch since it depends on so many factors. Whether or not they were shipped, the thickness of the egg shell, how dirty the egg is, outside humidity, and many others...
I don't feel like typing out how to weigh and compare air cell sizes, so I copied this information from Sally's hatching article. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
What Dry Incubation implies.
Humidity is NOT A SET NUMBER, you need it YES!
However, you use it to "adjust" egg weight loss during incubation. We candle on days 7,10,14,18 To WATCH WEIGHT LOSS IN EVERY EGG! An EGG MUST lose approximately 13-14% of its weight during the incubation process. THIS IS YOUR GOAL!! You can monitor this by marking Air cells and also by weighing. Please refer to CANDLING section of this Article for more Air Cell info.
Size of air cell on day 7, 14, and 18 of incubation
I choose the easier method, keeping a close eye on air cell growth during incubation. You begin by ONLY adding a small amount of water and keep Humidity between 28%-45% and adjusting as you weigh or candle depending on moisture loss. So if your air cells look too large you must add humidity, too small lower it, and if your weighing you adjust as needed. UNTIL DAY 18 LOCKDOWN,
then stop turning and raise humidity to 65-70%
Humidity is NOT A SET NUMBER, you need it YES!
However, you use it to "adjust" egg weight loss during incubation. We candle on days 7,10,14,18 To WATCH WEIGHT LOSS IN EVERY EGG! An EGG MUST lose approximately 13-14% of its weight during the incubation process. THIS IS YOUR GOAL!! You can monitor this by marking Air cells and also by weighing. Please refer to CANDLING section of this Article for more Air Cell info.
Size of air cell on day 7, 14, and 18 of incubation
I choose the easier method, keeping a close eye on air cell growth during incubation. You begin by ONLY adding a small amount of water and keep Humidity between 28%-45% and adjusting as you weigh or candle depending on moisture loss. So if your air cells look too large you must add humidity, too small lower it, and if your weighing you adjust as needed. UNTIL DAY 18 LOCKDOWN,
then stop turning and raise humidity to 65-70%
