Little giant 11300 incubator

[norcalbirds]

Just put eggs in the incubator so we will see how this hot rod does lol

 

[rambotex]

Many say to put another therm and Humidity gauge. Can you get those locally or do you have to order online? Where?

Thanks

 

[MrsBachbach]

Many say to put another therm and Humidity gauge. Can you get those locally or do you have to order online? Where?

Thanks

Check here: http://www.poultrysupplies-online.com/

The Brinsea Spot 100 is ideal for the foam type incubators. Fits right in the little air holes. Doesn't read humidity though. I haven't tried any of the others.

 

[norcalbirds]

I got the gfq digital temp/humidity and it works great! I started with 42 eggs 8 were un fertile the rest are looking great. I'm 7 days away from lockdown so I hope it ends as good as it started.

 

[rambotex]

I got the gfq digital temp/humidity and it works great! I started with 42 eggs 8 were un fertile the rest are looking great. I'm 7 days away from lockdown so I hope it ends as good as it started.

Where did you get it? I'm totally ignorant on this subject so don't laugh. Where do you put these? do you just lay them inside so you can see them through the window or do they have a cord that goes inside?

I have a meat temp for my BBQ pit and you stick it in the meat and a thin wire runs outside to the digital readout; similar?

 

[norcalbirds]

Those are great for temp. This one is battery powered you put it in on top of the eggs and look to see where your at. I got it off amazon it's called the gqf item 3520. It's worked great for me and for $20 you can't beat it

 

[rambotex]

Thanks, both of you

 

[DuginMT]

This is our first time incubating and I decided to go with this model because it had the most features of all the ones I looked at locally. Just put 41 eggs in it yesterday, after running it for two days. I am very concerned with the variability of temperature across the egg bed! I quickly checked egg shell temperatures with an accurate infrared gun, after running it for 24 hours, and they vary about 8 Degrees F, between 94 and 102! The eggs furthest from the heater, near the edge are the coldest. I make sure the top lid fits correctly, and currently have only the vent plug near the heater removed, per the instructions. Also, for some reason, the right half averages almost 2 degrees warmer than the left half. The room is at 71 Degrees, with no significant drafts, and I have no other heat sources near the bator. I don't want to crank it up any higher for fear of cooking the eggs near the heater. I know the fan is working because I can hear it, and I made sure the blades were turning. Does not seem to be much airflow though. We will be lucky to get half of the fertilized eggs to hatch, at this rate.

The incubator's thermostat and temperature sensor seems fairly accurate, reading about 1 Degree high on mine. The thermostat maintains temp within 0.5 Degrees, where the sensor is located (on top of the eggs under the controller, per the instructions).

I am in Montana, with low humidity (now about 15%). I have found that if I put water in the outer two troughs only, the humidity in the incubator rises to 45-50%, and that if I fill both the outer and inner troughs, humidity rises to 60-75%. I use an Acurite temp/humidity gage in the bator and the humidity on the Acurite reads about 10% higher than the unit on my bator.

Anybody else experience this temperature variability problem with this unit? If this hatch turns out poorly I am thinking about adding a computer fan inside this unit to move the air around in a circular fashion, instead of blowing straight down onto the eggs.

 

[cmom]

This is our first time incubating and I decided to go with this model because it had the most features of all the ones I looked at locally. Just put 41 eggs in it yesterday, after running it for two days. I am very concerned with the variability of temperature across the egg bed! I quickly checked egg shell temperatures with an accurate infrared gun, after running it for 24 hours, and they vary about 8 Degrees F, between 94 and 102! The eggs furthest from the heater, near the edge are the coldest. I make sure the top lid fits correctly, and currently have only the vent plug near the heater removed, per the instructions. Also, for some reason, the right half averages almost 2 degrees warmer than the left half. The room is at 71 Degrees, with no significant drafts, and I have no other heat sources near the bator. I don't want to crank it up any higher for fear of cooking the eggs near the heater. I know the fan is working because I can hear it, and I made sure the blades were turning. Does not seem to be much airflow though. We will be lucky to get half of the fertilized eggs to hatch, at this rate.

The incubator's thermostat and temperature sensor seems fairly accurate, reading about 1 Degree high on mine. The thermostat maintains temp within 0.5 Degrees, where the sensor is located (on top of the eggs under the controller, per the instructions).

I am in Montana, with low humidity (now about 15%). I have found that if I put water in the outer two troughs only, the humidity in the incubator rises to 45-50%, and that if I fill both the outer and inner troughs, humidity rises to 60-75%. I use an Acurite temp/humidity gage in the bator and the humidity on the Acurite reads about 10% higher than the unit on my bator.

Anybody else experience this temperature variability problem with this unit? If this hatch turns out poorly I am thinking about adding a computer fan inside this unit to move the air around in a circular fashion, instead of blowing straight down onto the eggs.

It's not good to have the air blowing down on the eggs. It should be blowing up towards the top of the incubator and circulate the air.
Maybe this will help. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/601352/little-giant-incubator-tricks

 

[MrsBachbach]

This is our first time incubating and I decided to go with this model because it had the most features of all the ones I looked at locally. Just put 41 eggs in it yesterday, after running it for two days. I am very concerned with the variability of temperature across the egg bed! I quickly checked egg shell temperatures with an accurate infrared gun, after running it for 24 hours, and they vary about 8 Degrees F, between 94 and 102! The eggs furthest from the heater, near the edge are the coldest. I make sure the top lid fits correctly, and currently have only the vent plug near the heater removed, per the instructions. Also, for some reason, the right half averages almost 2 degrees warmer than the left half. The room is at 71 Degrees, with no significant drafts, and I have no other heat sources near the bator. I don't want to crank it up any higher for fear of cooking the eggs near the heater. I know the fan is working because I can hear it, and I made sure the blades were turning. Does not seem to be much airflow though. We will be lucky to get half of the fertilized eggs to hatch, at this rate.

The incubator's thermostat and temperature sensor seems fairly accurate, reading about 1 Degree high on mine. The thermostat maintains temp within 0.5 Degrees, where the sensor is located (on top of the eggs under the controller, per the instructions).

I am in Montana, with low humidity (now about 15%). I have found that if I put water in the outer two troughs only, the humidity in the incubator rises to 45-50%, and that if I fill both the outer and inner troughs, humidity rises to 60-75%. I use an Acurite temp/humidity gage in the bator and the humidity on the Acurite reads about 10% higher than the unit on my bator.

Anybody else experience this temperature variability problem with this unit? If this hatch turns out poorly I am thinking about adding a computer fan inside this unit to move the air around in a circular fashion, instead of blowing straight down onto the eggs.

I have the old type little giants. I would try plugging the vent over the heater/fan and opening the other vent plug instead or if that doesn't work, closing them both. On day 18 is when you need to remove both of those plugs and you may find you have to adjust temps all over again. You always have some variation in the LG's but it is usually closer like 2 to 3 degrees, not 8. In mine, it's usually the corners that get hot and I always have one area of it that is colder. I try to avoid putting eggs in the cold area.