Little Giant 9200 Incubator?? for at school project

[chickenlover210]

Ok for a school project my daughter is bringing to school a little giant 9200 (Ithink) with an automatic turner. It's a still air but were adding a muffin fan(from computer) to make it a forced air. There have been recent power outages at some of the local schools, should I wait a week to start incubating the eggs to be safe? IS there anything e;se I should know?

The eggs are from our chickens- 1 blue female, 1 white female and one redish goldy rooster and we know the eggs are fertile.

Any info will be appreachiated (oops)

 

[17roses]

First - you cant know that the eggs are fertile unless you break them open. Out of about 7 eggs I usually have one that isnt fertile and I have 3 roosters. That is not to say that your eggs are not fertile, just that it is not something you can be guaranteed even if you have seen "evidence".

The LG incubator can be a good but has a very difficult time holding temperatures. From what I understand there is a big difference in temps in schools from weekdays to weekends. This could be a problem. I got a 100% hatch last time with mine by the front door so sometimes it works out but it being fall if they turn off the school heating system, the temp could drop too much. The other thing is if possible the humidity needs to be monitored (some people have dry hatched, I have not). I need to wet the sponge every other day. Do you have a really good thermometer and hydrometer?

With all that said, I think you should go for it and hope for sucess.

 

[chickenlover210]

well were getting a thermomiter to moniter the heat and there is a place for water already built in!

I found out that if we want to have the eggs hatch before winter break we have to get them into the school by wenesday!!!! The worst part is we don't have the thermomiter yet!!!! Hopefully I'll get it before that and with two hens we might onlyu get six or seven eggs if were lucky!!! I'm adding a four day kind of extra time for the eggs, is there any way that the eggs could hatch after 25 days because I need to find out how early to start.

 

[chickenlover210]

I know the normal hatch time is 21 days
can I leave them in any longer then that?

 

[17roses]

Quote:
Ok. The place for the water doesnt work very well. I highly recommend a wet sponge. Remember, humitity needs to be around 50% thru day 18 and 70 - 80% after that. Having a sucessful hatch without a hydrometer is unlikely. On day 18, the egg turner needs to come out and the incubator goes into lockdown (dont open it). Before I lockdown, I put in a tuperware container with a sponge and about an inch of water in it. Make sure it is tall enough so the chicks wont drown, I learned that one the hard way. I own the exact model you have and have had a couple failed hatches. I read thru the hatching eggs part of the education center and talked to people to find out what I did wrong. Temp and humitity are very important. I bought my thermometor and hydrometer as a set at the local pet shop in the reptile section. Try not to have the incubator open for more than 10 minutes a day. I dont have a fan so every other day I move the eggs from the front to the back of the turner and visa versa to make sure they get evenly heated. I candle on day 10 to check for developement - infertiles are cast out at that point.

Chicks can hatch from day 19 - 25. I try to wait till everyone is hatched before opening the incubator but will not leave a chick in there longer than 48 hours after hatching. I dont move them for 24 hours.

Please understand, I dont want to discourage you from incubating because it can be the most exciting thrill but it is a science and if not properly executed it can be very disappointing.

 

[evonne]

best bet for a school hatch is to set on wednesday... that way if they come early or late the kids still get to see it...

 

[chickenlover210]

Well, we checked and it turns out the school turns off the heat at night. So were going to have them set so there is a webcam and they can see them at all times. And they will set to be hatched on christmas day

 

[chickenlover210]

how long should the incubator run before putting the eggs in

 

[Chickenaddict]

At least 12 hours but I'd go 24 hours just to be sure the temps stay stable. I too have an LG and they are a real pain to get to the right temp and stable. Question tho, if they hatch on christmas day at the school how are you gonna get them to feed and water when most school buildings will be closed down? also if the school shuts the heat off at night that will really mess the temps in the incubator up

21 days is the normal incubation period however if the temps got too low it can delay the hatch so if you set them on the 18th of this month they are gonna hatch before christmas. Also if the kids are gonna be off for christmas break and the school will be locked up how will you be able to get in to add water to the incubator?

 

[thespinningcottage]

If you're going to hatch when the kids aren't there why don't you just do it at home with the webcam. That way you can monitor everything and the kids can see it all just the same.