Little Giant Incubator Tricks

[cmom]

AND .....just like that - a problem


temp was pretty steady - turner working - fan running ..... Then I go to check it and the temp- is DOWN to 94.3 ! Been about 2 hours since I checked it since it was steady for days .... turns out the Fan quit !!!

I unplugged to give it a restart - but it won't restart - so I upped the knob for now and will hover over it until I get back up .... it is middle of the night in a rural area - even our Walmart is closed ....

So should I just merge to the still air process from here? Day 3 only ..... auto turner. 25-30% humidity. .... temp was 99.5 to 100 at the bottom and 100 to 101 at the top..... I figure I should try to make it 102 at the top now???? With still air ?

It looks like you don't have any other choice.

 

[Metella]

True .... while I realize the whole hatch could be a fail - What do you think the average chances of a 80% or better hatch now are?

I figured all was going well - I was going to get 90 to 100% ....

Now with still air and uneven temps w/o the fan ....??? did it drop to 50 or 60% ?

Again - I realize the whole experiment could be a total fail - I just am curious.

Temp is holding steady but only at 100 to 101 at top of eggs - while I am nudging up the temps ... also with no fan the humidity plumetted - but I am having no problem keeping it between 25 to 35 % - it is just I am adding a wee bit water ten times faster than I was ...

 

[cmom]

True .... while I realize the whole hatch could be a fail - What do you think the average chances of a 80% or better hatch now are?

I figured all was going well - I was going to get 90 to 100% ....

Now with still air and uneven temps w/o the fan ....??? did it drop to 50 or 60% ?

Again - I realize the whole experiment could be a total fail - I just am curious.

Temp is holding steady but only at 100 to 101 at top of eggs - while I am nudging up the temps ... also with no fan the humidity plumetted - but I am having no problem keeping it between 25 to 35 % - it is just I am adding a wee bit water ten times faster than I was ...

Remember it's not rocket science. A broody will get off of her nest from 10 minutes up to around 30 minutes (at least my broody's have) daily to eat, drink and poop. How does she control the humidity and temperature? I sure you will still have a fine hatch. I had a couple of still incubators I used to use and I still hatch in them. I did put fans in them. I have lost power a couple of weeks into my incubation and the temperature went down to 78ºF in the incubator but I put it on a battery with an inverter and got the temperature back up and still had a good hatch. Another time I took some eggs out that I thought were quitters. The eggs sat in a carton and I left the eggs. Later I went in to check on my eggs and hatch and I heard peeping. I had forgot about those eggs. I looked over to the carton and the chicks were hatching in the carton. I guess they were determined to hatch even though I had taken them out of the incubator. It was quite warm in that room. Good luck and have fun...

 

[Metella]

Thanks ! Yeah, I'm not so much worried about temps in the overall LG. .... I know they can go up and down and still stimulate nature - and the egg holds a temp for long enough for us to fiddle with things and rotate the lid - but I always want the big end up, right ? The turner actually just rocks them slowly back and forth - not "turn" ..... so is the temp differential from bottom to top - ok?

I'm still having pretty good control on humidity .... Temp is steady - but so different from the bottom to the top ! I guess I can just really make sure the top is at 101 to 102 and hope the turner is moving the internal stuff of the egg enough to transfer the heat down .... or whatever Top to bottom temps were only a degree or two off with the fan - they are at least 5 to 7 degrees now!!!! Blah. ... oh well - they are a nice hardy stock - so we shall see ...

I'm only really fussing because 3 people want to buy the peeps from me ..... over a hatchery - and they don't understand the waiting and all that goes into hatching out eggs this early in the year - I'm in Vermont and outside temps were 12 degree this morning !!!! I tell people it is too early here -but if I don't start to hatch now. They will just have them shipped - and a ton end up dead in the box - but no ones seems to realize ..... Well - it sounds like it - but I am not complaining ! Just thinking out loud - and still pretty hopeful I'll get a nice amount of peeps in a few weeks.

I am toying with telling the people waiting that due to cold, drafts and dead fan - they can't count on me - and I won't be mad if they move on to look for chicks elsewhere ....

Thanks for answering - I did all my research considering I had a Fan ! ha ha ha. .... Broodies Rock !

 

[Metella]

Pretty cool eggs just sitting around the room hatched for you ! They must have decided they were too close to give up. .

 

[cmom]

I was a little more than surprised actually. I guess that shows to never give up.

 

[cmom]

Thanks ! Yeah, I'm not so much worried about temps in the overall LG. .... I know they can go up and down and still stimulate nature - and the egg holds a temp for long enough for us to fiddle with things and rotate the lid - but I always want the big end up, right ? The turner actually just rocks them slowly back and forth - not "turn" ..... so is the temp differential from bottom to top - ok?

I'm still having pretty good control on humidity .... Temp is steady - but so different from the bottom to the top ! I guess I can just really make sure the top is at 101 to 102 and hope the turner is moving the internal stuff of the egg enough to transfer the heat down .... or whatever Top to bottom temps were only a degree or two off with the fan - they are at least 5 to 7 degrees now!!!! Blah. ... oh well - they are a nice hardy stock - so we shall see ...

I'm only really fussing because 3 people want to buy the peeps from me ..... over a hatchery - and they don't understand the waiting and all that goes into hatching out eggs this early in the year - I'm in Vermont and outside temps were 12 degree this morning !!!! I tell people it is too early here -but if I don't start to hatch now. They will just have them shipped - and a ton end up dead in the box - but no ones seems to realize ..... Well - it sounds like it - but I am not complaining ! Just thinking out loud - and still pretty hopeful I'll get a nice amount of peeps in a few weeks.

I am toying with telling the people waiting that due to cold, drafts and dead fan - they can't count on me - and I won't be mad if they move on to look for chicks elsewhere ....

Thanks for answering - I did all my research considering I had a Fan ! ha ha ha. .... Broodies Rock !

Even in my cabinet incubator the turner just goes back and forth. I have accidentally put some eggs in with the pointy side up and the chicks still hatched but the pointy end should be down. I have had chicks pip at the pointy end and hatch out ok. Good luck and have fun...

 

[cshma11]

Any tips on how to make the temperature stay more steady? I have the LG 9300 so it has the digital thermometer, and I have the egg turner, quail rails, and fan. If I had known this was such a tricky incubator I wouldn't have gotten it... I'm doing coturnix eggs and the temp was steady but this morning the incubator said it was 100.1 and the external thermometer (probe inside the incubator) said it was 103!!! I opened the lid to lower the temp until it said it was 100 and then closed again and lowered the temp setting to 99.9 from 100.5 -- are my eggs cooked and need to be all thrown out or is there still a decent chance of survival? And how can I keep it from happening again?

 

[duluthralphie]

Any tips on how to make the temperature stay more steady? I have the LG 9300 so it has the digital thermometer, and I have the egg turner, quail rails, and fan. If I had known this was such a tricky incubator I wouldn't have gotten it... I'm doing coturnix eggs and the temp was steady but this morning the incubator said it was 100.1 and the external thermometer (probe inside the incubator) said it was 103!!! I opened the lid to lower the temp until it said it was 100 and then closed again and lowered the temp setting to 99.9 from 100.5 -- are my eggs cooked and need to be all thrown out or is there still a decent chance of survival? And how can I keep it from happening again?

It is not just Little Giant that is tricky, I have 3-4 foam incubators they all have the same problems. I ended the problem by getting a cabinet. However, the foam ones make great brooders for the first few days.
Good luck,

I think if you can hold the ambient temperature extremely steady they will do best.

 

[cshma11]

It is not just Little Giant that is tricky, I have 3-4 foam incubators they all have the same problems.   I ended the problem by getting a cabinet. However, the foam ones make great brooders for the first few days.
Good luck,

I think if you can hold the ambient temperature extremely steady they will do best.

Our house stays between 70-72 all day and night, and I keep the incubator on the kitchen counter where I can monitor it frequently. I will know to stay away from styrofoam incubators from now on. I'm a student nurse and just don't have a ton of time to experiment with trying to get it to work. So aside from ambient temp, is there anything I can do to prevent fluctuations?