Little Giant incubator piece of crap

[jvls1942]

just an observation:
In this thread alone, there are people who claim the LG and/or Hova are no good.. then there are people who love theirs..
How can the con-LG people still claim that all LG are no good?

 

[Black Cochin Bantams]

I have a Hovabator Genesis with turner which is the only Hovabator I would buy. They cost almost 4 times as much as a basic LG. I now use my old LG incubators as hatchers and they do that job well also. I find it hard to compare a basic LG that cost $50 at the local feed store with a Hovabator Genesis that cost almost $200 with delivery. The genesis is superior in almost everyway but the LG was a good starting incubator for me. By the way my LG's were built in the USA. One of mine is over 20 years old and still works well. I would recommend buying a Hovabator 1588 (Genesis) with egg turner if you can afford it. Cheaper hovabators (a little over $50) use a wafer thermostat as does the LG does.

 

[primal woman]

Quote:
Love that. You hit the nail on the head; "you have a big tolerance level to failure". Couldn't have said it better myself!

 

[andalusn]

I have read the different threads and when it came to decision time I did not buy the local store LG an ordered a incubator online that had high marks for user friendly and success rate of hatches. I won't even bother to name the brand because it's not relevant to the topic. Point being I chose to spend my money where I would not have a collection of incubators sitting in my garage and use the best of the lot. Every person I have met face to face that gets into hatching on a smaller scale has the LG and always says.. I'm getting better.... but they are quick to start talking about their newest one .. usually used that they're stocking with eggs... It may be a case of they like to buy used and see what happens and hope the hatch rate improves for whatever reason but for me if I was going to explore hatching and trying to do it on as few a $$ s possible I would go with a home made. Seems like the home made bator crowd has a better hatch rate than the LG crowd and for a lot less money.

 

[CatKai]

I had ordered a Hovabator 1588 w/ turner from Incubator Warehouse. I went well over a week waiting on it while being told it was "on it's way" and in the end they admitted it was on back order. So I bought a LG because at that point I had to have an incubator. It took me 3 days to get the temp stable and it's been stable since then.

In those 3 days - I found that my lid fit secure if I did not line up where the cord slot for the top and the turner was at. On mine, when I turned the control for the temp I noticed I could feel a slight tic as I turned and sometimes it was smooth and I could feel nothing. When it turned smooth with no tics, it seemed to turn faster. So I made sure to turn as slow and as little as I could to adjust it and waited a couple of hours before making another adjustment.

I have only had it running a few weeks so I can't say that long term it's a good one but so far, it's been as reliable on temps and humidity as the Hovabator 1588 right next to it.

 

[Duramaxgirl]

I had 2 LGs, and I had luck 23 of 26 eggs hatched! On my first hatch. My hatch rates went down after that. They we're sporadic and I had to babysit those bators non stop including through the night. I home school and have 4 kids so I just didn't have the time. So I bought 3 GQFs cabinets, sold the LGs and now I'm having way better hatches. I also hatch up 100+ eggs at a time so I needed a bigger bator... and DH paid for half of my new bators.
Now....

Id be inclined to say that LGs are junk! But....
My sister has had 100% hatches in hers and she often hand turns! I'm so jealous

and she still does better then me with my GQFs! Grrrr so I've come to the conclusion that I stink at incubating! Its not the LGs it was me! I do know that my sister keeps hers in a back bedroom with stable room temps. I never had a room free for that! So mine where in the kitchen.
I'm sure that there are some badly made LGs from the factory but I think in general bad hatches are user error.
Just my OP

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

I do like my LG. I do not think it is a disservice to anyone to have options, information and success stories plus failure stories.


I purchased mine because I was not sure if I would like hatching. I read that most hated them, had a hard time with temp and then I read about what worked for those that like the LGs.


A stable room temperature……the LG does not adjust itself if the outside room temperature dips down 30 degrees due to a window being open at night or heats up 20 degrees due to sunlight coming in a window. I have mine in the closet we have under our stairs (center of the house, no windows).


A fan and egg turner – I think all incubators should come with them not as on option.


Do not be quick to adjust the temperature and when you do, make super tiny adjustments. Then wait a couple hours for the incubator to level out.


Once you set the eggs, do not adjust the temperature. It takes up to 48 hours for the incubator to heat the eggs you just put in there. Give it time, then in a couple days if you need to adjust….just a small bit and then wait.


Get a thermometer that you trust.



I am not lying, the above has worked for me for two years. I wish I was lucky…………then I would buy a “real incubator” with my lottery winnings.

 

[stormylady]

I do NOT like the little Giants either! Mine got replaced with a much better hoverbator too!

 

[BigDaddy'sGurl]

I guess the several 100% hatches I had in my LGs were just flukes then...

 

[theredroosta]

I have an lg, and am currently hatching an african goose in it. It is pretty bad without the fan but it works nice with one. I don't get temperature problems, I don't get humidity problems. It just took a little tweaking to get working. Anyway I think having a thread to flame on a brand of incubator is against the rules.