actually i get great results (see previous posts LOL) on simple picture window hovabators, with added (used) computer fans running off old cell phone chargers... the egg turner for the lg will fit hovabator too...
the key to success with any incubator is learning YOUR incubator's quirks... and having multiple good, reliable thermometers and hygrometers that have been tested and/or calibrated to known standards. they're all going to vary slightly, especially electronic ones. you'll also get different results in different positions of your incubator as well, but want to get as close to where the eggs will be when you get it all set up. and don't be in a hurry to get it set up and running. take a week or more to make sure the temperature is steady. don't adjust the thermostat more than once every 6-8 hours, as it does take that long to get stable IMO, even if you only nudged the thermostat a teeny bit, it still has to settle into it's rhythm.
every incubator, to me, has a personality. you just have to understand that personality and work with it, not trying to force it...
maybe that's why i do so well with mine... i understand their quirks and accept them and run with it... the only one i haven't agreed with so far, (#3) is because i haven't found a fan that it likes. the old ones had vibrations that interrupted the eggs growth, the temperature didn't want to stay steady either because of the vibrating fan... so until i find a new fan that will stay balanced and not vibrate, it's just taking up shelf space. i have 2 others that are reliable (tho #1 tends to hatch about 12 hours sooner than #2 does, even tho the same thermometers measure everything identically.
#4 holds humidity way better than the others, even tho it's the same model (again same thermometers and hygrometers). so it is the dedicated hatcher and gets to greet all the babies.
yeah i know it sounds strange, but if you go about it like i do, you might see better results once you learn what works best for your incubator, it's environment, local weather patterns, etc.
what works best for me, may not work well for someone in south texas, or northern maine... and learning what does work for you, your area, the chosen incubator, etc, may take months to figure out, over numerous hatches. yes some will be good, some won't. but by keeping careful records of what you've done, changed, your results, etc, will tell you what works best. I also recommend doing 'eggtopsies' to see when the chick actually died. if it was fully formed and had internally pipped, or if it died prior to internal pip, etc.
i had one chick, internally pipped, was vocal, but then stopped when he started to zip. upon eggtopsy, i found that he had a loop of intestine wrapped around a leg, so when he started to turn, or the umbilicus closed on it, or something else along that time frame, caused him to die. in that instance, i don't blame anything but nature. but at least i know why it died. if not the actual cause of dealth.
some people find that keeping a steady humidity of 40% during incubation and increasing it to 60 for the last 3 days works great. for me? i had more dead than live chicks. those that did hatch were wet and goopy, those that didn't hatch, were bloated with fluids and died after internal pipping. (again, thanks to eggtopsies) over several months and successive hatches, i learned that, for me, adding water to the incubator at all, was a death sentence for all but the strongest chicks, shipped or otherwise. then i increase it between 55 and 60% when the eggs go in the hatcher. and i hatch upright in egg crates, to keep hatched chicks from rolling the unhatched eggs around and possibly disorienting the unhatched chicks (which i believe contributes to a higher number of dead in shell or shrink-wrapped chicks than you'd otherwise have).
good luck with whatever you do.
