little giant 9300 problems . .

[howfunkyisurchicken]

x2!

 

[stevethack]

When you first get the incubator set to more/less correct temps. Leave it for a day or two. Use calibrated or known accurate thermometers to verify the inside more or less bator average. Remember the outside walls are the coolest...shoot for measuring 1/3 the way to the middle in 2-4 spots. Do not add water unless you live in a high desert area until the 18th day...or the room humidity is below 20%. Adding water WILL drop the temp some even if the water is warm. Still don't mess with the temp setting after adding water..leave it! After adding the eggs the temp will drop for a day or so..don't panic...leave temp setting alone. Just be careful to NOT set the probe next to/touching a room temp egg when adding the eggs. That will assure the heater staying on until the eggs pop-up like a toaster! Assuring you of a hot spot right under the heater...even with a fan. After 2 days warming the eggs then fiddle with the temp setting if you just must. Don't get the temp probe wet...don't let it get too close to any water channel where the evaporation cooling will throw off the heater setting. I tape the temp probe to a golf ball and set that in an egg spot in the turner almost directly under the controller..Which I can assure you the distance rocking from tilting one way and back the other will show a 1/3 or maybe slightly more temp difference..leave temp setting alone!
First thing you have to remember is...a hen will adjust outside eggs to the middle in her clutch..and turn them at the same time.. A hen's bottom is warm at 103..the outside areas not covered well and directly not under her can be 98 or so..
In short..don't fiddle with the temp setting a lot after setting it to a stable temp..make small adjustments if necessary over a half day or a whole day.. ALL bators require a short or long time to stabilize after adding water or opening the bator up to do something. The heater in a LG is small, but so is the size of the whole thing.
LGs work...they just require more hands on at setup time. Mine I used last year still works fair....they ARE a cheap incubator...drafts in the room throw them off. I covered mine with a towel most of the time.
Stabilize bator temp to 99.5 to 100 degrees (101 for a still air) for a couple of days...add eggs...leave dial alone for 2 days after adding eggs..(unless temp shoots above 102 for more then 2 hours)..if it's close to 100 plus or minus 1/2 degree 2 days after adding the eggs..leave it alone until the 18th day and then remove the turner..add a channel or two of water...wait 2 days and add another 2 channels of water.. Watch the hatch.
If you feel you **just have** to fiddle with something....gently turn the whole bator 90 degrees left or right (which could remove any of earth's magnetic anomaly's

and you can do this 3 times a day...if needed) and just look inside thru the windows. Don't open it until the 18th day to take the eggs out of the turner and lay them flat.
It's a cheap bator...I think I finally got about a 68% hatch rate from mine last year. But that was from iffy eggs from young pullets... they will do better.

 

[stevethack]

Oppsss, forgot. I take that wonky piece of plastic off of the temp probe ...carefully! remove that staple. And tape the end of the probe to a golf ball with about 1" of the probe tip hanging out in free air. The piece of plastic is the most unstable thing outside of my feet on ice! If it moves 2" from where you set the temp and got it right..it's off again. Just remember that probe is taped to a heavy golf ball when removing the top for some reason...like at lock-down time preferably!

 

[GodofPecking]

[..big post..]

That was a great post ! I have done a few hatches now and each one becomes larger and more successful. I am building an incubator into an old upright freezer, it is so easy to do. I put two glass pieces from old copiers into the door as double glazing for a perve window. I bought 10 programmable temp controllers and 10 humidity switches from china for like $3 - $4 each cause I want to build a few. I have ripped power supplies from things like old stereos thrown out. I have put the lights inside and just need a few more things before it is ready to rock.

The humidity will control a fan in some closed container, inside the freezer, the container full of water with a fan that blows air into the container, according to the humidity switch. I haven't finished the heating element, which could be about anything really.

 

[Islander11]

Great growth in that egg. Cheers!

 

[Chikinluvr]

Does this look like two chicks inside?

 

[GodofPecking]

Does this look like two chicks inside?

PHWooooaarrr !!!!!!

 

[estuaryfields]

I have it. Won't buy it again. Too many problems with probe. I'm still using it until I can afford a better one. In meantime I put probe in corner and I use a different thermometer and hygrometer inside that I go by and adjust settings too. Also that probe becomes another problem if you have a chick hatch and they lay on it..... their body heat tells the probe it's too hot and Bator gets cold and affects the rest of hatch.

 

[Chikinluvr]

So yes?

 

[Chikinluvr]

Thanks for all the advice on this incubator! Its now day 19 and I can hear a baby bird cheeping from within an egg but no pips yet! Anxious!