Little Giant 10300

[AmyLynn2374]

End result- 4/19 hatched that made it to lockdown. We cleaned out the LG 10300 this morning and called it a day. Most eggtopsies showed close to fully developed chicks although some were a few days less developed than that.
Hoping for better news from you, Bamadude!

They are adorable.

 

[Highcotton]

Dude, I will be waiting for your results. This is interesting and it will be useful when I start to hatch. My Mallards are laying now. I am getting 3 eggs out of 4 hens. My oldest hen set last year. I would like to let them hatch and raise the ducklings. I plan to hatch something in late February or early March.

 

[bamadude]

Ok. Finally got my computer fixed. Sorry for the delay....I strongly believe that we are drowning our chicks at lockdown with too much humidity. I have 36 more eggs incubating now since Jan 6. I will know for sure this time.

 

[Denwendairy]

Did you have any hatch, Bamadude? What did you end up running your humidity at? Let me ask you this...the temperature probe is on top of the upright eggs dor days 1-18, then lower when you remove the turner and lay them on their side for lockdown and then it gets knocked around during hatch. Do you think that there could be temp fluctuations due to the changes in height? I've given this incubator a lot of thought after our heartbreaking hatch in December.
Am hoping you finally figure out the answers with this batch of eggs...something is definitely a mystery with this incubator!

 

[bamadude]

Did you have any hatch, Bamadude? What did you end up running your humidity at? Let me ask you this...the temperature probe is on top of the upright eggs dor days 1-18, then lower when you remove the turner and lay them on their side for lockdown and then it gets knocked around during hatch. Do you think that there could be temp fluctuations due to the changes in height? I've given this incubator a lot of thought after our heartbreaking hatch in December.
Am hoping you finally figure out the answers with this batch of eggs...something is definitely a mystery with this incubator!

well my new years hatch doesnt really count. My egg turner was unplugged for about8 days. I set 41 eggs on jan 6. Looks like about 10 clears so far.
I wish I had a solution for the aggrivating clearplastic thingy. It does cause major fluctuations in the temp. My only suggestion is to get a good thermometer and hover over it while the chicks are hatching.
I plan to buy a better hygrometer before lockdown. Im almost positive that if you fill up all the water channels at lockdown; you will have a terrible hatch.

 

[StephensonC]

well my new years hatch doesnt really count. My egg turner was unplugged for about8 days. I set 41 eggs on jan 6. Looks like about 10 clears so far.
I wish I had a solution for the aggrivating clearplastic thingy. It does cause major fluctuations in the temp. My only suggestion is to get a good thermometer and hover over it while the chicks are hatching.
I plan to buy a better hygrometer before lockdown. Im almost positive that if you fill up all the water channels at lockdown; you will have a terrible hatch.

I just got to where I just let the plastic thing lay on the floor of the bator for lockdown and hatch. YOU WILL HAVE TO MONITOR IT CLOSELY FOR ABOUT AN HOUR AND ADJUST THE TEMP AS NEEDED. I always go by the drop in thermometer when doing this. It's the only way. The temp on the bator reading will be wrong when the plastic thing is on the floor. I thought the chicks would get tripped up in it as they hatched and started running around, but they did fine.

Bamadude, do you live in a humid area? What have your humidity levels been? Have you tried setting up a dehumidifier in the room? I fill all my water channels up at lockdown and it seems to do fine for me.

 

[bamadude]

I live in southeast Alabama. Its pretty humid here. I plan to buy a better hygrometer this week. I know the one built in is way off

 

[Invision]

I bought the 10300 with fan, and it's keeping temp right under the fan/heating element at 99.5 pretty consistent.

I had some issues with the direction of airflow and I probably killed my eggs. It was installed wrong and was pointed straight down...

My problem now is the temp is fine right under the heater but my corners are almost 5 degrees off... has anyone else had this issue? I don't think the fan is moving enough air so I placed a computer fan blowing air at the side of the bator and it seems to be working a little better. anything else i could do to it? it's still off a few degrees...

It's almost like I need to place the thermostat at the far end of the bator to get it right?

 

[Invision]

I live in southeast Alabama. Its pretty humid here. I plan to buy a better hygrometer this week. I know the one built in is way off

I use the exo-terra humidity machine, works like a champ. For my humidity controller. the little black box in bottom right is a humidity/temp controller i made.

other issue I've noticed is it seems like the lid doesn't sit tight around the edges. Been thinking about sanding it down to make it flush with the bottom. I don't think this hatch is going to survive though because of the temperature varrying so much in the corners and below, just seems like there is not enough airflow to get below the eggs through the turner...

 

[Invision]

This is my setup. I know the thermostat that it came with is accurate because I use that spot check one and they both display the same numbers when both are right next to each other... I just think there is not enough air movement in the bator...