Is a Little Giant incubator a good deal or just "Cheep, cheep."?

[rayroberts]

Quote:
Your problem is bator not sealing properly use some foam stips to help with the seal or train your cat to lay on top of it... really a bit of weight on top will push the top down firmly creating a better seal 4 out of 42 is very common with LG Hovabators have much better seal

I am about to build a wooden box and use the workings out of my LG I dont think the workings are the problem just the styrofoam box some of them seal real well and some are shocking
Cheers Ray

 

[trilyn]

Quote:
Your problem is bator not sealing properly use some foam stips to help with the seal or train your cat to lay on top of it... really a bit of weight on top will push the top down firmly creating a better seal 4 out of 42 is very common with LG Hovabators have much better seal

I am about to build a wooden box and use the workings out of my LG I dont think the workings are the problem just the styrofoam box some of them seal real well and some are shocking
Cheers Ray

I agree with Ray, I did the foam strips today on my bator. First I looked to see where the gaps were the worst. Mine was on the left side, way more noticeable than the right. So I put the foam strip on the side of the lip, not the bottom and kind of wedged the lid on after I put the strip on. Lemme tell ya, that sucker is on there now!! heheheh <evil laugh> lol If you can get a fan, that does help regulate the temperature. Country max can order them in for you, so you can avoid the insane shipping costs. It cost 34.99 plus tax, of course!!

I'm really excited this time around, the first time I shrinkwrapped all of the chicks, talk about a real painful lesson on patience or the lack thereof! This time, the hygrometers/ thermometers are in sync or a degree off of each other. The humidity is 40-45% and I know now how to raise it up to 50-60 for lockdown. The first time I did this was definitely a tutorial, not to say that I'm done learning by any means, on the contrary, it makes me want to learn even more! Run the bator for a couple of days beforehand to try and work out some of the kinks, also allow time for the bator to reach temp, and slowly adjust to where it needs to be. If you adjust it, wait 20 min to see what it works out to be. Happy hatching and remember to breathe!

 

[muddstopper]

Quote:
Any incubator that has a humidty controller will cost a lot more than one that doesnt. I have a humidity, temp, turner motor controller in this cabinet that I designed and had built.

Cbiblis designed and built the electronics and so far the temps and humidity are holding rock solid. If your hubby can build the cabinet, you can contact Chris and ask him about his controller. Or you can ask him about building you a complete custom incubator.

 

[happyhensny]

I just installed a Antec 80 mm fan in my LG. $9.99 at Staples. Works great and is quiet and did I mention $9.99?

 

[Sachasmom]

Yeah, I can see "light" along the sides of my bator... Foam strips huh? Errr, where would I find that? Does it have sticky stuff one one side?

I'll let ya know if my husband decides to build me one, I would hate for him to do it and have it not work any better than what I already have.

My husband is not a builder, its times like these I miss my Dad, I could have showed him that pic, and poof, I would have had an incubator.

 

[beckymom3]

I have an LG still air (only thing they had at Tractor Supply) with egg turner, and a Hova Bator forced air (has a fan) also with egg turner. I'm a total newbie, having only had 1 hatch in my Hova Bator that went bad because I moved the whole shebang 30 miles on day 21. I now have over 50 eggs incubating, divided between the 2 and I can tell you this much: the LG does not hold it's temp, is hard to adjust and requires you to put something on top to hold the top down securely or add weatherstripping or some other insulation around the edges where the top meets the bottom. In my opinion, the thing should come ready to use, not needing us to fiddle around and jury rig it. Lots of chicken folks are "fiddlers" and love to fix stuff, improve on designs, etc. But I'm not one of those types. I expect to buy a machine and have it run properly, actually function reliably and consistently from hour to hour, day to day. Those chicks need some degree of stability in order to grow properly. I can tell you I've had many quitters from that bunch in the LG, probably due to huge temp swings even though I was not opening it. And I have 3 thermometers in there, including a water wiggler!

So, you might want cheap, but avoid the LG, esp if you are new to this and are not a fix 'er upper. For styrofoam, Hova Bator seems okay, but I think the programmed temp models like Brinsea, with auto turner would be my choice. Like someone else mentioned, the Brinsea website has a nice sale on for the Eco model, and the autoturning cradle is also on sale, $20 off-- (unlike egg turners for LG and Hova Bator, the Brinsea egg turner actually is a "cradle" the whole incubator sits in and rocks it from side to side). I have spent much of the past few weeks waiting for this batch to hatch researching incubators and realizing I wasted about $100 on that darn LG, when I could have a very nice Brinsea for about $150 including the autoturning cradle. That's not including the lost chicks from eggs that quit!

Have fun! Keep in mind how much you plan on incubating eggs, how much you want to fiddle with them once you start, and what sort of investment aligns with your goals.

 

[muddstopper]

Keep in mine also that the brinsea had 6 flat sides. Even without the auto turner, you just simply turn it back and forth to opposite sides for hand turning. At $99, its a way better buy than the LG. My eco20 does have the turning cradle and I use it as much as my cabinet models. I swear I could paint feathers on a rock and the Eco20 would hatch it.

 

[beckymom3]

Quote:

I have the Brinsea Eco 20 and am going to break it in as a hatcher for my ultra valuable Red Dorking eggs. I already love it. I have an inherent hatred of styrofoam. The rubbing of styrofoam sets my teeth on edge, sorta like fingernails on a chalkboard. Plus they are "leaky" of temp and moisture, a pain to seal. And ain't that Eco 20 so cute and little, just fits anywheres!

 

[Sachasmom]

I got both of my incubators fairly cheap, one of them I traded rabbits for it.

I'm eyeing either the Brinsea or the King Suro (the ones that hold more eggs) but again, if I spend a couple hundred bucks on one of those I start thinking I should just get a Sportsman! They had an older style cabinet incubator at one of the auctions, it went for like 60 bucks, and I would have jumped on it, if only I had 60 bucks to spend! At the last one they had a little giant sans turner that went for 17, I didn't want to waste 17 on that, LOL

The problem is, the eggs I keep killing have to pay for the better incubator, its like a vicious cycle!

I'll try the weatherstriping and see how that goes. I might break down and get the cheaper Brinsea for the more valuable eggs like the Silkies, I keep looking at all those Silkies eggs that did nothing, adding up in my mind how much I lost in chick money.

I have Bantam Cochins, Silkies and Ameraucanas in one, and Duck eggs in the other. So far the one looks good, I just set the ducks though. Its always like the last few days that I seem to have issues, Most times I have eggs full of dead chicks! This last hatch though I had lots that never did anything, so my temp spike killed them early. Most were blue eggs, so I couldn't see thru them to tell if they were still good.