Incubating African/Toulouse Cross eggs in a Farm Innovators 4200

[mswendeu]

I have a few questions:
First of all I am new to incubating brand new. So this will be my first attempt at hatching. I ordered 6 african/toulouse cross goose eggs and 6 lavender orphington eggs.

I bought myself a little giant 4200 circulated air incubator with the automatic turner. My question on this is I read on another post yesterday that you can remove a turning rail. Is this true? If so can someone instruct me on how to do this? I don't want to break it as it is new. Also in regards to the incubator how is water added during incubating process?

Question number two is can I incubate both the chick eggs and the goose eggs together? If I can't that's fine I will just go buy the still air incubator and a couple thermometer/hygrometer's as back up and maybe order a few more chick and possibly duck eggs (if those can be incubated together).

I am extremely excited about the possibilities. And I am extremely excited about how this process will work. Any and all help is greatly appreciated. And I am excited to read others posts as well.

In brooders I already have 2 pekin ducklings "Daphne" "Velma", 2 Khaki Campbells "Scooby" and "Shaggy" and 6 black sex-links (one is named "Trouble" because it was the first to learn how to escape the chick brooder to visit the pekin ducklings in the next bin). LOL
And 3 Golden laced Wyandottes chicks, 1 Amerucana chick, 4 silver laced wyandotte chicks I bought from TSC.
I am looking forward to growing my farm and adding to them....


Thanks in advance,
Wende

 

[Silkie-Feet]

Little giant doesn't make a model number 4200, they have the 9200, 9300, 10300 and 11300... I believe. However, Farm Innovators has a model number 4200, could this be it? (There appears to be a small knob for temperature and a round thermometer built in) I have only used Little Giants, which appear to be very similar. I assume you would be able to remove a rail, but rather it would break I haven't a clue as I have never had the need to. In a Little Giant, water is added into "water channels" under the mesh of the incubator: simply pour it in. However, keep an eye on humidity. I don't add water until lock-down, unless my air cells are shrinking significantly more than they should. I don't think you're supposed to have geese eggs in a turner, but I'm not sure why or if this is even true. Geese eggs will take much longer to hatch than chicken eggs, and the shifts in temperature and humidity from hatching chicks would decrease hatch of the geese eggs if incubated with chicken eggs. If someone who has hatched geese eggs doesn't chime in, maybe you could try the geese section of BYC.

 

[mswendeu]

Yes you are correct that is my bad. It is a farm innovators 4200 from TSC. I did disconnect one side of one of the rails last night but, I still couldn't get it out all the way. So I didn't want to mess with it any further as it cost a pretty penny to buy. I may just bite the bullet so to speak and go by the still air incubator without the turner just to do the goose eggs in. Better to be safe than sorry right?

Thank you for chiming in I appreciate it.
Wende

 

[Silkie-Feet]

Sounds like a good plan, I hope your hatch goes well! And yes, those turners are costly.

 

[mswendeu]

I hope it works out.. I am totally excited.