Got my bator, some questions.

[dave_Cash69]

I have now obtrained a styrofoam Little Giant still air incubator.
I have a thermomoter/hydrometer inside of it. I am letting it get warmed up. but i have some questions.

1. I have 10 eggs, they were outside most of the day and it is somewhat chilly, will it make them not hatch?

2. how long do i have to let it set to place eggs inside.

3. what do i write the xs and os on it with? pen, marker, pencil?

4.It has some wholes in the top which are plugged, if/when do i unplug them for circulaton

thanks in advance.

 

[dave_Cash69]

OH, and alo. i turned it on full blast, now it was 107 degrees, so i cut it back and the light on it went off. is that normal? and will the light come back on once it reaches a steady temprature?
thanks

 

[gabrielle1976]

Hello
I also ahve a little giant still air.
1..As long as they didnt freez they should be ok.
2.. I would run it for at least 6-8 hours but maybe if you wanted to be extra carefull run it for a full 24 hours.. Make shure its in a room without drafts or temp swings .
3..A pencil will work fine and not damage the eggs , Iuse a mecanical pencil.. I put an X on one side an O on another then the number Im useing to track the egg on the top, then I write whatever info about that egg in a note book under that number.
4..I have one hole unplugged and leave the other one plugged up ,
Did you read youre instuction manual?
look around on this page tehre is a hatching thread thats up on top with info to read.
Once youre little giant gets stable to a temp it shoudnt fuluate to much if the room its in stays a stable temp.

turn it all the way up and then tweek it down in tiny increments till you reatch about 101 or so I turned mine down a tiny bit then waited an hour to tweek it again and so for only took about 2 small adjustments down to reatch a temp that stayed about 100.4-100.9 then it sometimes goes up a degree if its warmer durning the day and down maybe a degree if it goes down a little at night but stays pretty good unless i mess with it.

I have my manual with me ill look and copy some info if it seems important .

 

[dave_Cash69]

it didnt come with a manual

 

[dave_Cash69]

ok THANKS
what about the little red light on top?

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

Dave - the eggs should be fine, I've been gathering and hatching eggs since december - as long as they don't freeze, they'll usually hatch. If ya let them sit overnight while your bator stabilizes temp, then they should be room temp by the time you put them into it.

With a still air, let it run for a good 12 hours or so to set your temp. Once you put the eggs into it, the temp will go wonky for a day - then stabilize --- don't touch the temp control once ya have it set, though, for at least 24 hours - it'll be ok if it goes low - just make sure it doesn't go really high the first 24 hours. If you had it set well before adding eggs, it'll stabilize back to that temp on it's own.

I keep my plugs both in until I stop turning (if the humidity goes too high, I might take one out to let it fall naturally). The last three days I take out one plug - then when they begin to hatch I take out both plugs. I put a fan in my incubator though (computer case fan) so I do my temps a bit differently. I have a paper that came with mine, if ya want me to mail it to you, I can (PM me your address - I had two papers/manuals because I got two of them new).

I use a pencil to write on them with.

meri

 

[katrinag]

Was it a used one? If so you need to disinfect it.
The bator needs to be running and temp stable for 24 hours before you put anything in there.

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

Quote:
The light tells you when it is heating - when it reaches the temp ya want, turn the knob so the light turns off - it'll probably range a temp above or a temp below at times. The little knob is very sensitive, so only turn it slightly til the light turns off.


so -- light on = heating up
light off = stable temp
it will cycle light on/light off to keep the temp steady.

meri

 

[gabrielle1976]

the light comes on when its heating and goes off when its not so it will come on and off alot while it gets and then stays the right temp.. did that make sense ..I hope so im not the most articulate person

 

[jvls1942]

that little red indicates that the heater is on.. when the light goes out the heater is not making heat.

are you checking the humidity as you are setting up??