Well....my cabinet had a waffer malfunction, my eggs were piling up so being a hatch aholic and by dogs and I can only eat some many eggs...I ran out to the local TSC and got ANOTHER (Ive had them in the past) LG. I read with facination about DRY incubation, as my past expereinces with LGs have been cruel at best. Ok are you ready for this...here's what I did and I think I broke every rule. I jam packed it with both quail and chicken eggs...mostly quail. When I say jam packed i mean I had so little room that some eggs where kinda perched on others pointy end down. (Like I set them in the cabinet) Day one and 2, the PLUG kept falling out of the wall...so it would be 101 then 80 by the time I caught it. 3rd time this happened Im thinking Im gonna chuck these eggs.cant be any good after this trauma. But I argued with myself that mama's come and go esp the first days when still laying their clutch so I let them set. I only put a small amount of water (about 1/2 full) in the center trough. Normally when using LGs in the past it was FILLER UP and turn turn turn the eggs-3-4 times a day. I only opened and turned once a day if that, skipping days as well-and turning jam packed eggs is next to impossible but I did stir them up a little. I would only ad water once every 4 days if needed and during some cold snaps it would go bone dry. (inside the house humidity is about 45% with ups and downs with the weather-Im in FL so always higher humidities here. Kept temp at around 101-102 measured on top of eggs. I left one plug open the whole time. Got to the point I didnt even bother mixing them up or turning as they were so jam packed tight. Added a LITTLE water on lockdown and no longer bothered to turn not that I really had been-once every couple days. Was worried if they did hatch that they couldnt get out of shells as that how tightly the eggs were packed and there was no pushing one out of the way-no where to push it too. Well they popped like popcorn. OMG Ive NEVER had this kind of hatch in a LG....over 85% and some late bloomers are still pipping so it might go up to 90%. I am now ready to throw out all the rules Ive ever been religious about like humidity, temp and turning. And in a still air LG!?!? UNBELIEVABLE. I demand this kind of hatch out of my cabinet, in a LG if you get 5 eggs to hatch you are having a great day!. Im going to try dry hatching in my cabinet next time and Im going to try this again with the LG to see if I just had a really lucky hatch or if less...in the way of turning and water...is really more. Maybe this will help someone out who is using a lg...Im so impressed and amazed. WOW.
Interesting. I'm putting my first eggs in the incubator in an hour or so and I've been stressing because my humidity and temperature are having ups and downs... seems to have settled at 51% humidity and 99.2 degrees farenheit. This post gives me hope.
If its a Still Air which Im guessing it is...get your eggs in and then put the cheapie thermomoter that it comes with on TOP of the eggs and get your reading from there. Make it about 101.5-102..not over 102. Dont fret over it being EXACT. Temps will go up and down depending on your room temp. I live in an old farmhouse...and mostly the house temp stays around 70-72 winter or summer with the a./c on but I had a couple cold snaps durning this hatch and Id wake up and it would be 55-60 in the house and the temp had dropped in the bator. But as I was half hearted about using the LG I didnt adjust....I just left it be and when the house warmed so did the bator. I am also learning-tho Ive been hatching for too many years that less is more in the way of humidity. Ive drowned my share of chicks. I never CONSIDERED that I live in FL, and tho it doesnt feel humid to me at 45% (tht feels DRY to us who live in humid climates) it is...when I run my cabinet I have all the digital dohickys and it runs between about 38-45% humidity and I cant ever get it higher, not that I want to now. Somewhere on here....seach for it..there is an article on Dry incubation....I read it and it inspired me and I really think it works! But like I said Im going to try it again to be sure as this was AMAZING to me. For me a LG is hatcher...not an incubator-they are THAT BAD. This time around....WOW, Im ready to go buy 3 more! LOL PS..dont fret....fretting is bad for your eggs.
