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

[Woods_Woman]

I have 3 incubators. Little giant w/o fan, older hovabator 1583 w/ fan, and brinsea mini advance. I actually like my LG over the hovabator, I've had better hatch rates in the LG, not sure if it's the incubator itself or what. I use the LG to incubate, and the Hovabator the last 3 days for the hatch, and the first 12 to 24 hrs for the chicks. I've not noticed any problems with spikes etc, it seems to be pretty consistent. I do keep a very close eye on any of the incubators just to make sure there are not problems. I have to say my Brinsea is my favorite, it regulates itself the only thing I have to worry about is keeping an eye on the water levels for humidity. It's a much smaller incubator, but I wanted something smaller since I don't always hatch large batches of egg's. Good Luck with which ever you decide to go with. If your in the market for used and on a budget don't forget to try looking on Craigslist or Ebay.

 

[rayroberts]

Hello Guys
I am so glad I found this topic I have 3 table top bators
Hovabator with auto turn and fan
Ecostat manual turn/ fan
Little giant with auto turn /fan
The Hovobator works extreamly well Temp hardly changes 80-90% hatch everytime
Ecostat works great only problem it is manual turn so I now use it only as a hatcher
Little Giant is rubbish very low hatch rate and temp is all over the place I am pretty sure the problems with the LG is the poor sealing when you place the lid back on there is gaps between the top and bottom a friend has attempted to solve this problem by placing sticky back foam strips between the top and bottom the temp is much more stable still waiting on results of his hatch rate though
Any body having trouble with there LG check the gaps between top and bottom you may be lucky and get one that seals properly
The Hovabator sealing between top and bottom is very good because of the way the top sits down inside of the bottom get the temp and humidity right and you will get good hatch rates from the Hovabator and there is very little differance in the price
Cheers Ray

 

[rancher hicks]

One site that I've found beneficial for this type of incubator is "Amazing Chicken" . You also might like to have a look at "Incubation Problems". Tell me what you think.

 

[mstricer]

I have a hovabator w fan and santa broght me a LG turner mine works great me not so good

 

[cuckoo_orpington13]

I saw this small classroom incubator in the McMurray catalog. It holds about 3 chicken eggs.
Considering the limit for poultry in my neighborhood is 10, it may be a good idea.
It's $18.70, do you think it would work fine? I'll check out those websites and incubators.

 

[poltroon]

I am very pleased with the Brinsea eco 20 - it does a very good job of holding a steady temperature, and if you don't spring for the autoturner, you can turn the eggs yourself without opening the incubator, or you can add it on later. At $99 it's right in the same price range.

 

[rancher hicks]

Quote:
anyone looking to purchase an incu should check out "Incubator Warehouse" first. Had the lowest Genesis price and probably others as well.

 

[Tala]

My first hatch in a Still Air LG

20 eggs went to Lockdown, and 17 hatched!!!!
The eggs that didn't hatch were old, all of my fresh eggs hatched.
Pretty darn good for a newbie!

The only "extra" little thing I did was put a heavy item on top of the incubator to help smoosh the top half down for a better seal.

 

[ginbart]

I have a LG now with 17 silkies eggs in them. So far 13 are good. I did have problems with spikes but once I got the right temp I never touched it again. As a matter of fact I put tape on it so little hands can't turn it.

My last time I had a hard time keeping the humidity up above 55 so if you can buy a better one I would do that.

I'll let you know how I make out with this hatch. They are due on Easter.

 

[Kung Foo Chicken]

I have 10 LG's and they work just fine. I've shut down 6 of them because I have 10 broody hens to work with now.