Little Giant Incubator Tricks

[Arielle]

@Arielle Thanks for all the advice. My 1st to hatch, with the splayed leg and curled toes, passed over night ; (

Dang it. This year I have noticed that the first to "hatch" are having the most problems. HOw to get everyone to hatch on time together is something I ponder . . . . .or how to manage the first chick out differently . . . IDK.

 

[quailtrail]

Thanks...its sad. Looked really good yesterday

 

[Sylviaanne]

I opened my bator to quickly check for pipping. Day: 19 and discovered one of them has what looks like some seepage. Should I remove it and candle it later? So far there is no pipping, no rocking and no noise. Sylvia

 

[fastbird]

I opened my bator to quickly check for pipping. Day: 19 and discovered one of them has what looks like some seepage. Should I remove it and candle it later? So far there is no pipping, no rocking and no noise. Sylvia

Smell the egg, if it is bad, you will then know for sure, but with seepage, it isn't likely to be a viable egg.

 

[Sylviaanne]

Smell the egg, if it is bad, you will then know for sure, but with seepage, it isn't likely to be a viable egg.

Thank you. I checked both incubators last night and found an egg in the other incubator with a huge crack running through it. It wasn't visible before and I couldn't see through the egg when I tried to candle it. This morning after reading this post, I took a sniff of both eggs and removed them. I had hoped that the cracked egg meant that it might be hatching as that egg was one from an abandoned nest. You probably saved me from a messy clean up with that cracked egg. Sylvia

 

[Arielle]

Thanks...its sad. Looked really good yesterday

One of the secrets to nursing animals is be hopeful when they are holding on or improving . . but don't hold your breathe. . . .

You did your best.

 

[quailtrail]

One of the secrets to nursing animals is be hopeful when they are holding on or improving . . but don't hold your breathe. . . . 

You did your best. 

Thanks.

 

[Pyxis]

Well after my last awful hatch I've been keeping a close eye on the humidity in the incubator. So far it goes between 25% and 20% depending on whether the air conditioner is running. It drowned almost all of the last hatch so I'm keeping an eagle eye on it and on the air cells.

 

[Arielle]

Well after my last awful hatch I've been keeping a close eye on the humidity in the incubator. So far it goes between 25% and 20% depending on whether the air conditioner is running. It drowned almost all of the last hatch so I'm keeping an eagle eye on it and on the air cells.

You should have at least a fair hatch then.

WHen I was first thinking of hatching I read repeated lyof the failed hatches , but couldn't figure it out-- and I kept reading. Eventually did determine the issue was too much humidity. THe humidity is just as important as the turning and the temp.

 

[jabowery]

Taking cmom's trick of sponges soaked in water cups to keep the humidity up, I discovered that store-bought sponges are exactly the right width to fit in the spaces around the water reservoirs. The lengths, end to end, aren't quite right on two of the sides so I shortened them a bitand placed the fragments at the other side of the bottom airholes.

I've been using this set up for lockdown only thus far. The red LED numeric display is from another thing I'm trying: a Digital AT8001 All Purpose Temperature Controller that I got off E-Bay for $15.

I don't have anything to report on how well this works yet because I constructed a larger DIY incubator using the AT8001 and the hatches have been low -- only about 30%. I'm trying to figure out where the problem is but it is likely with the DIY incubator as I've double checked the temperature on the LG lockdown independently and I'm pretty sure the humidity is very good.