I completely dislike these new LG's I got!!

[TennesseeTruly]

A wonderful BYC member sent me 60 various eggs and I had to hurry out and get 2 new incubators because both of mine were being used. So off to TSC to get the LG's. I hate hate hate them!

With my Hovabator, I just plug it in and the temps automatically set for me. I've been fooling around with the 2 LG's for 24 hours and still can't get the temps right!!

Does everyone have this same problem?? UGH!!

I know for certain that as soon as these eggs hatch I'm selling these and going back to my Hovabator! I will never recommend LG to anyone!

Laurie

 

[Chicky Tocks]

Duly noted!

For now I am pleased with my Miss Prissy style homemade bator. We'll see how very pleased i am with it by next Sunday. The temps fluctuate a degree or two but nothing serious. Humidity has been a cinch to bring up or down. Day 14 and all is well.

So If I ever have to buy a bator, it won't be an LG.

 

[farmgirlie1031]

I have a Hova and an LG. I hate my LG. You have to be extra careful and make sure you sit the lid on just right or it doesn't seal right and you loose all the heat and humidity in it. I am really thinking of building a cabinet 'bator as soon as I save up enough money for all the supplies.

 

[TennesseeTruly]

I should have thought about making my own but I was in such a rush because I never expected 60 eggs!! I thought I was getting 25. When the mail lady showed up with 60 I thought "oh no, I have to go to TSC to get 'bators!" Now I'm kicking myself.

Temps up to 120 down to 88 then up to 106, down to 92. I was up almost all night long trying to get them right. I've got one at 102 now and the other is at 98....UGH! And don't talk to me about humidity!

Never ever again!!

Laurie

 

[HobokenChickenEmergency]

I bought my LG originally for dh's snake eggs.

I just finished one batch in it (remaining eggs are in the hatcher as I type this). The temps went up and down a hundred times a day, no matter what I did.

I have my 2nd batch in there now, and it's working like a dream. I think it's sort of a crap shoot; sometimes it'll do fine, other times not.

One thing I did notice is that the temp will fluctuate violently if the room temp changes even a hair. I have it in our bedroom now, which has crappy vents. If I leave the door closed, all is well. If the bedroom door gets left open though, the temp changes to refect the rest of the upstairs temp. Our room is always a tad colder, so it makes sense (to me, anyway!).

I just made sure I trained dh to close the door every time he opens it, and now things seem to have stabilized.

 

[TennesseeTruly]

The door to the room is always kept closed because I have a cat and 3 dogs. I don't want them to go into that room and wreak havoc. I just got the temps where I wanted them, went back in and the one that was the most stable spiked to 106!!

I AM NOT HAPPY! I'm going to check into building my own. These temperature fluctuations are too drastic for me.

I don't know why they can't be like Hovabator and preset at 100. That way you can inch the temp up a bit and be fine but this up, down, up, down, is crazy!

Laurie

 

[Boyd]

What I did to make my LG work great was this.... Added a fan, and place it on the cement floor in the spare bedroom. Even if the room changes temp, it wont vary on the floor and the cement stays a pretty constant temp.

 

[needtohatch]

I am on my second hatch with my LG. It does take some extra care and watching. I have found the key is to hardly move the knob and to add just a little water at a time and then check it 30-60 min later. Somethimes I am not even sure that I do move it till I check it later. It is also greatly influenced by the room it is in. Our humidity is higher now than with my first hatch so I have had to change how much water I put in it this time.
Over all for what it is I am happy with it. I am finding it easier this time around than the first.

 

[Glenda L Heywood]

Read this article
and because those incubators are made in mexico they don't always work????
INCUBATION :
Anthony Kimbrough of http://www.www.G-Kpet.com

Incubating eggs has been around for centuries.
At one time people even paid people to incubate the
eggs on the person. But all that's changed now. The
are Four ways of incubation in today's world. We will
look and examine the pros and cons of each. Each of
the three ways of incubation is purely preference.

In incubation of anything the first start is
prenatal. This is a two way street for birds. Both the
female and male must be well fed and properly fed,
healthy and not extremely old. Too many treats or too
much protein or focus on any one particular vitamin
can cause high infertility or mortality. Their diet
must be a complete diet for incubation to be
successful. With eggs there is also storage atmosphere
and date stored that will be a great factor in
determining successful incubation.

Natural Incubation.
Depending upon the species birds naturally want to
go what is called broody when they feel that they have
enough eggs to set on or "cover". The definition of
Brood is as such.

brood

\\Brood\\ (br[=o]ch), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Brooded; p.pr. & vb. n. Brooding.]
1. To sit on and cover eggs, as a fowl, for the
purpose of warming them and hatching the young; or to
sit over and cover young, as a hen her chickens, in
order to warm and protect them; hence, to sit quietly,
as if brooding.
2. To have the mind dwell continuously or moodily on a
subject; to think long and anxiously; to be in a state
of gloomy, serious thought; -- usually followed by
over or on; as, to brood over misfortunes.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary,

1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

The hen will set on the eggs, turning the
frequently and depending upon the species guarding
them with their very life. To give some examples.
Chickens will usually after a fight desert the nest.
Canadian Geese will both guard the nest and between
the two will fight off dogs and other predators.
Peafowl will usually set on the eggs but like the
chicken will desert the nest before being killed.
Turkeys will usually die before giving up the nests as
will Guineas. There is always of course the exception
to all.

As the hen sets she sweats which adds moisture and
keeps the temperature while turning the eggs. Seldom
will she leave her nest exception to get a brief drink
or bite to eat. Hens seem to have a sort of instinct
as to which are good eggs and which are bad so she
will frequently roll away the bad ones. One of the
plus sides is that it sometimes seem that they can
hatch the bulk of their eggs. Also you have no
electricity to pay for, no humidity to watch after, no
temperature to worry about. After they are hatched
they have an automatic, portable brooder....their mom.
Waterfowl often get off the nest to submerge
themselves in the pond, spring or water source. They
go back to the nest not only refreshed but also with
added and much needed moisture. While the bird is
setting or brooding the eggs moisture is achieved by
two ways. The natural moisture in the ground and as
most of us know, when you place a solid object on the
ground moisture will collect and hold a steady
moisture level. Farmers often pack down tobacco when
the air is dry in order to bring it into case for
grading and baling or tying. The plastic covering it
slows down natural evaporation and thus causes a
collection of moisture. Much of the humidity levels is
achieved by body sweat. The hens sweat and this excess
moisture is held down by the ground.

Some of the disadvantages is the hen and if the
male is near is exposed to danger of predators. Even
the pair of Canadian Geese can be overtaken if a pack
of dogs or coyotes band together and are either
excited or hungry enough. Many of a farmer have bush
hogged a field only to mow over a well hidden turkey
or guinea hen. When placed in a pen or aviary with
other birds an overactive male or other females can
also cause much damage to the brooding hen. Setting on
the eggs also pulls down their system. All in all it
is a beautiful site to see a hen and her chicks or the
proud parents escorting their new green looking
gosling. Brooding hens are used by many pheasant
breeders for incubating. Seldom do breeders let the
same hen set on her eggs due to profitably. There is
always the weather factor to look at. Hens setting on
eggs during cold months have a harder time reaching
and or maintaining the proper temperature needed to
incubate the egg. Likewise in the heat if it is too
hot hens will have a less chance of hatching. Severe
rain can also cause too much humidity which will
reduce successful hatches.

A hen usually goes broody twice a year but will
redo a clutch if one is lost. For this reason many
breeders that use hens to incubate will have different
hens to lay. It is important to note that if this
method is used on pheasant, peafowl or turkeys to
remove the chicks from the hen after hatch as chickens
may transfer lice, mites and chickens are hardy
against many diseases and bacteria that are deadly to
these birds. It is this natural built in survival
instinct that we play upon when collecting the eggs.
By not letting the hen keep them she tries to replace
the ones taken so that she can have enough to set.

One often overlooked aspect is the nest. We tend to
think that it must be attractive, but that is in the
eye of the beholder which in this case is the broody
hen. Many years ago I built nice shelters for my
ducks. They were safe, not bad looking, strategically
located and positioned. Unfortunately the ducks
thought otherwise and nested in spots I wouldn't have
picked out or were as safe. Another wrong thing is to
try and get birds to set on a manmade nest or in a
pen. Most birds will dig an impression into the ground
which is ideal for maintaining temperatures, humidity
and keeping eggs together. The depression will form
sort of a bowl like shape. Peafowl and Guineas will
both nest this way as will pheasants. Others will
build a raised nest while using grass, sticks and hay,
even using their feathers if need be.

The hen will determine the amount to set and when
to set on them. You can not force a hen to set or
entice her by placing her a lot of eggs overnight in a
nest and expect her to just set. I would think that
hens would build up on body nutrition in order to be
able to set for so long, they'd surely have to as they
will go on a crash diet for a few weeks. There are
hens that just don't know when to quit and set until
death unless the eggs and sometimes the nest is
destroyed. There are times you may see two different
birds, sometimes even different species trying to
share the same nest or have built so close it appears
to be one. More often than not the hatch will not be
good from these birds as they compete for eggs and
space. Another scenario would be a duck and a chicken
on one nest or two that has become pretty much one. If
should either one hatch out chickens the duck eggs
will be left behind as chickens hatch out at 21 days
and ducks at 28 days except for Muscovey which is 37
days. It is important to note that if a barrel or
metal or wooden nest is made that you place some dirt
then hay or straw in the bottom so as to attempt to
recreate the effect of a natural nest that will hold
moisture and maintain correct temperature.

There are breeds that are noted for incubating
well like Silkies, Cochins, Game hens and such. Then
there are those that are not so good like Polish. One
species of duck, the Muscovey, has earned the title
"the mother of all ducks" due to their eagerness to
brood or incubate the eggs. Most breeders will tell
you that there are good and bad hatch years and this
also holds true for artificial incubation. Those who
artificially incubate will break the birds from broody
or that is to have the hen lay eggs continuously
without setting. If broody hens are what your after
the last place to look is a commercial hatchery. Most
birds will again go broody but some will never again.
We could go on but any farther would be getting into
brooding the chicks and that's another subject.

The main phrases to learn for the beginner is:

Clutch - A normal setting of eggs and will differ in
amount from species to species.

Sit - Brood - Cover - A bird that is incubating the
eggs to hatch.

Broody - Bird that is ready for setting and incubating
eggs.

Artificial Incubation
There are three types of artificially incubating
eggs....Still Air and Forced Air. Artificially
incubating the eggs has been done for centuries in
many ways and forms. Artificially incubating the eggs
has many advantages and has both speeded up and even
saved species from extinction. The way this is
achieved is by taking the eggs therefore causing the
bird to lay many more than she would if she were in
the wild or free ranging and allowed to set. Beware
that the more expensive birds in certain species are
still not going to lay many but still more than if
allowed to naturally incubate that is why they are
expensive. Eggs should be collected daily and placed
small end down in a tray tilted on one side changing
sides at least twice per day. This applies even if you
are using an incubator that allows eggs to lay flat.
Eggs should not be in a severely cold or hot place or
a too dry or too moist place. Eggs should be set on or
before 7 days, pheasants the sooner the better. This
is not to say that you should not set eggs older than
7 days old if the species is rare but rather attempt
to set as soon as possible to obtain a better hatch.

You will or at least should always keep a check on
your incubator even if it is an automatic as things
can go wrong with mechanical, electrical or the egg
itself. Sudden changes in the atmosphere or
temperature can effect either the incubator or bird.
You will find that incubation and breeding go hand in
hand with one another. If a breeder is stressed or
lacking a vitamin or over extended or distracted this
will effect your hatch and if left unattended you
could find yourself cleaning busted egg remains from
your incubator and loosing surrounding eggs, possibly
even the hatch.

When I set eggs I do not candle until 10 days on
chicken and 12 days if a dark egg like Maran because
it is hard to see with a regular Candler. On eggs that
hatch at 28 or more eggs I usually wait until 14 days
to give the embryo a good start. When you candle you
should see a network or spider like streamers coming
from a red spot. This is the first of the embryonic
development. If the vein goes completely around the
egg the embryo has died. This can result from many
reasons : Stored too hot, too cold, too much
fluctuation in temperature of incubator, too hot, too
cold in the incubator, old egg, something wrong with
chick, breeders in poor health, germs. The first thing
I look at is the incubator and other eggs. Candling
will not harm the embryo unless you get a little too
wild and try it too much. A Candler whether you make
your own or buy one is a good investment.

If you are hand turning remember that this is
critical. Although there have been some articles
written lately on incubating without turning if that
were so I'm sure that somewhere in the centuries of
incubating someone would have tried it and if it
worked we wouldn't be talking about turning or even
turners. The whole object of turning is to keep the
embryo from sticking to the shell or that is being
grown into the membrane. Turning is most important the
first 10 days but still important for the remainder of
the hatch. It is not that the egg be turned completely
around but rather gentle turned from side to side.
Most automatic turners turn at least 6 times every 24
hours. Before these neat inventions in older Kerosene
incubators, the fancier ones had wooden rails that the
tray could be slid out and tilted the opposite way and
slid back in. If turning by hand place an X on the egg
so you will know which side you turned down last.

When the day arrives that the chicks are to come
out as they come this is a good time to learn. If your
temperature has been too high they will come early and
sometimes missing an eye, crooked toes, crossed beak,
retarded or they may not take in the contents in the
egg which will give them the strength to live.
Mortality will be high in a few days of couple of
weeks. If they come out late or not at all that may
mean too low temperature. Many will not come out at
all or start and never finish. Fat fluffy chicks are a
sign of too much humidity and many will start to pip
the shell but never make it out or will come out with
fat bellies, weak and eventually die if they are
lucky. Too little humidity will also stick them to the
shell as they try and get out the membrane will stick
to them hold the already weak, small chick partially
inside, partially outside. Chicks that never pip the
shell or pip and it closes up will have oxygen
deprivation and will suffer neurological damage. These
chicks should not be saved for they're and your sake.
There are times I have helped out a chick but in the
process if you see blood you should stop. There has
been something go wrong with the chick and it will not
survive and what life it will have will be short and
bad.

When hatch time rolls around at 3 days before the
chicks are to come out turning should stop. This will
allow the chick to position itself to start the
pepping the shell. This is where the air sac will be
used as the chick peeps it's way around the shell.
During these three days the humidity is to be raised
but not so much as to cause the chicks to stick to the
shell or membrane. Also in addition to raising
humidity this is also a good time to mist duck or
goose eggs, Guinea eggs will also benefit from this as
the shell is extremely hard and it softens it up a
little. If you are using a cabinet type incubator
store a small mist bottle in the top where the water
will be the same temperature. If using a smaller one
make sure the water is the same or close to the same
temperature before misting. If you are having a hard
time getting humidity to increase, add a pan of water
inside but make sure the chicks can't get into it.

Never place incubators in front of a window as the
sun will increase the temperature. Never place
incubator in or around the vents of your home as this
can dry them. With table top incubators make sure that
there is an air space under the bottom so they can
breath. Most pulls air through the bottom. With table
top incubators you cannot place them in a cold place
as they can only heat so much so keep them in a
controlled environment that is not under 60 degrees.
Cabinet model incubators can be placed in even less
but not much less temperatures. Also do not place any
incubators in extreme heat as incubators are made to
heat not cool air. The harder you force your incubator
to work the less lifespan it will have and the more
chance it will have of breaking down. Before you place
your first eggs calibrate or set your incubator. Make
sure that water is already inside the incubator as
temperature is being set. Run the incubator for a few
days to make sure everything is fine and make any
adjustments needed. If an older incubator is used now
is the perfect time to replace the thermostat wafer.

Still Air Incubators :
Still air has been used for many centuries
in one form or another. One of the disadvantages to
still air is the eggs must be the same size to a
degree, like all standard chicken, quail, pheasant,
goose, duck, etc...together. You will also want eggs
with the same incubation period, i.e. 16, 21, 26, 28,
30, 37. Still air incubation is to an extent better
than forced air on hatching, especially waterfowl.
With the natural air flow the membranes do not dry out
as fast. I am also told that waterfowl does better
without the quick airflow but as always that is
debated regularly. The temperatures of the layers
varies due to size. Most still incubators have only
one tray level because the temperatures of still air
vary in as it is hotter closer to the heat source and
cooler farther away, or towards the bottom of the
incubator. The incubator's thermostat and the
thermometer must be at egg level at the top of the egg
to get correct temperature reading. The temperature
should range from 100 - 103 degrees Fahrenheit not to
exceed 103 or lower than 100. Always check
manufacturers recommendation. Still air is also used
for Reptile eggs along with using a soil, usually
vermiculite as a base in which to place the eggs. No
turning will be done with these. Some newer incubators
like the Hova-Bator have made great success as a dual
incubator like poultry or reptile. One of the older
and still used are the Brower 845 and 846 metal round
incubators. Roll-X is yet another one that you will
find still being used. For the commercial poultry
producer still air is not usually used.

Forced Air Incubators :
These use fans to circulate air evenly throughout
the incubator which allows for a layer of hatching
trays and even stacking of egg racks on the egg trays
on smaller eggs such as Quail. Forced or Circulated
Air Incubators are what most commercial hatcheries
use. They come in a variety of sizes from table top to
cabinet to whole room incubators. These keep an even
temperature and humidity throughout the incubator
pretty much. There are usually dead spaces in them at
some point or another which will vary in size. It may
be a corner or under a fan but you can determine your
spots after only a few hatches. Naturally larger
incubators are more easily controlled in the respect
to humidity than smaller ones and commercial ones are
usually better at this than cheaper ones. I know some
reptile people that now use forced air incubators for
reptile eggs with great success. Humidity is achieved
by blowing the heat over a water reservoir,
controlling water flow and effectively using the air
vents. With some like the Sportsman by GQF, there are
large sponges that are fitted into the water reservoir
that stick up in front of the fan thus increasing
moisture.

Omnitherm TM
This is designed and used by Brinsea. I think this
should be mentioned as the third type. Here is the
description from Brinsea : "Omnitherm heaters are
usually conductive ink printed onto a thin film of
plastic which cover large areas of the incubator wall.
Where the heater covers observation areas of the
incubator, the film is transparent and the conductive
ink is confined to narrow "bars" to minimize
obstruction to visibility. Omnitherm heating of clear
observation areas balances the radiant* losses to
which the eggs would otherwise be subjected. Even at
correct air temperature, an egg exposed to a large
surface of clear "window" will be subject to increased
radiant heat loss due mostly to radiant transfer to
the cool window surface but also to direct radiant
loss through the window. Omnitherm heating covers
large areas of the perimeter of the incubator,
offsetting heat losses where they occur. The low heat
density and large area mean that the heater
temperature is usually only a degree or two higher
than incubator air temperature. This makes very even
air temperature much easier to achieve throughout the
egg space. Omnitherm heaters are exceptionally
responsive to control. This is because they have very
low thermal inertia and very low temperature rise.
Temperature stability of the order of ±0.1° C is quite
achievable with suitable electronic control."

Table Top Incubators :
With the table top incubators the price is usually
quite less than cabinet models but ideal for the
hobbyist and schools. These hatch few eggs but take up
little space and are not as easy to control humidity
as larger ones. Some of the better incubators for
observation are the Top Hatch, Hova-Bator with the
clear top, Turn-X and Roll-X. There are both forced
air and still air available from manufacturers.
Naturally the less expensive ones have little or no
control devices than more expensive ones and usually
interior water reservoirs. Still over the years people
have came up with excellent ideals that work in these
like the Hova-Bator which sometimes due to humidity in
the air can at times have too much humidity inside
when troughs are full. To assist in decreasing the
humidity in them you can either place aluminum foil
over part of the water tray which will decrease water
surface area thus decreasing humidity. Another
effective method is to place Styrofoam pieces in the
water trough that will also decrease water surface. If
this doesn't seem to work you can even run then dry
but beware that if humidity changes unnoticed you may
loose the hatch.

Table top incubators either have an optional turner
or some varieties have it already built in. The ones
that have turners that have to be placed inside must
be taken out before the eggs hatch for safety of the
chicks. There are three basic types, tray turners,
floor turners, tray rollers. In tray turners the eggs
are to be placed small end down and are usually
shifted from side to side 4-6 times per day. Floor
turners have the eggs laying on their sides and move
as the floor itself turns but usually not completely
all around. Roller turners have the eggs laying flat
and roll the eggs.

The material that small incubators are made of have
little effect on their working. The Hova-Bator
Styrofoam incubator has a liner that can be bought and
placed in the bottom that will extend the life of the
incubator and make cleaning easier. The Hova-Bator
does not have enough headroom for larger eggs without
adding the expansion ring. The Top Hatch by Brower
however has enough headroom for eggs as large as Emu.
There are incubators that specifically specialize in
particular species like Brinsea that has appealed to
Cage and Pet bird breeders or Lyon Electric that
appeal to pheasant breeders and reptile breeders.
While these are more expensive and can be used for
poultry they offer forms of humidity control like
water reservoirs and finer temperature settings.
Brinsea also offers a 12 volt which is expensive but
would pay for itself where power is absent or not very
dependable. Basically it all boils down to what you
want and can afford. Smaller incubators than the
traditional 42 egg, with the exception of Brinsea's
Octagon 10 and Octagon 20 are usually not worth it as
humidity and even, regular temperature cannot be
achieved.

Cabinet Incubators :
These vary in size and come in many shapes. There
are many manufacturers of incubators. One thing to
look for is if the manufacturer has been in business
and is secure. When buying an incubator make sure that
you get not only your money's worth but from a
manufacturer that will be there in case parts are
needed. The Octagon 250 by Brinsea is the oddest shape
of all but very attractive and efficient. Lyon
Electric has the Dandy Lyon which is also a very well
built incubator. Khul has a line of large cabinet
incubators that will do even larger jobs then the
others. One of the most popular incubators is the
Sportsman by GQF. Naturally the more you spend the
more the specific details and larger capacities.

The Sportsman is what is mostly out there so we
will dwell on it a bit. The 1502 is the version of the
1202 that at one time was called the 1502E because of
the electronic thermostat. The older 1202's have wider
turning tray than the newer 1202's. These have 3
turning trays and 1 hatching tray. Older 1202's have 2
air holes in the back, one at the top and one at the
bottom. The newer 1202's and 1502's have 6 holes. 3 at
the top and 3 at the bottom. To increase the humidity
in the incubator open the top ones up about 1/2 way
and close the bottom ones all but a little bit. This
forces the air back up through the incubator for a
re-circulation of already moist air. The other option
of increasing humidity is to add the patented sponges
to the water tray. To lower or increase fresh air flow
simply open all the air holes even more. To drop
humidity inside the incubator also open the air holes
and remove the sponges or decrease the amount of
sponges until desired humidity is obtained. There is
also a clip type thing to close off the water line or
slow water flow from the water reserve bucket. I have
never had trouble obtaining or maintaining humidity or
temperature with these keeping them in my basement or
garage.

The Next size is whole room incubators which are
placed into an opening in a special built room. This
is truly for the big boys that are hatching thousands
upon thousands of chicks. Given the fact that on Khul
incubator can hatch over 1800 eggs, imagine how many
would be hatched by need of these.

Incubation is an art and is much fun for children
and adults. So much responsibility comes along with
incubation and learning the many stages of life in
progress. For children I think it is a great thing as
they learn responsibility and respect for life in
progress, math, and how all good things occur with
time and attention. They discover how to nurture a
living creature before it appears and the look of
accomplishment, joy, astonishment and pride when a
successful hatch occurs is one to be experienced but
not explained in words. You should be aware that
seldom is there a 100% hatch so focus on the living
but learn from the dead. One of the best things about
incubation is it can be done with the whole family.
Always remember that it is the private breeder that is
responsible for many breeds that would have otherwise
be extinct now.

Anthony Kimbrough of G&K Exotic Farms &
http://www.gkpet.com

 

[barnwife]

I have a couple lg's...the MOST important thing about an lg is BREAK IT IN. Run it for AT LEAST a week before you set eggs init.

I had a TERRIBLE time keeping temp until about the sixth day...since then I have had ZERO problems with them..and I have three running, lol.

I plan on a cabinet bator soon...but until then, BREAK IN YOUR LG or you will get a HUGE headache with the itty bitty knob!