Little Giant Incubator Tricks

[Arielle]

Quote: I would love to see you. Family lives on the north shore ( Andover) so maybe we can work something out. I just counted that I have 14 pens. Wish I hadn't counted.

Total birds is FAAAAAAR less than 350! lol

THis last hatch I took out the dividers made of plastic needle point canvas; no decrease in temps this time. That may be effecting the temps as this last hatch held steady temps. ( PC fan installed).

I'm resisting getting another incibator, or making one. I already have too many chicks and, well, another incubator will add to the population.

Sorry it's been awhile since we talked-- what birds are you breeding for SQ? Judges are a great help. Especially when you have a specimen in front of you to discuss.

This is the year of transistion for me. I want to go in new directions but not give up my original girls. I could keep them if I could cultivate more egg customers.

 

[cmom]

Quote: I would love to see you. Family lives on the north shore ( Andover) so maybe we can work something out. I just counted that I have 14 pens. Wish I hadn't counted.

Total birds is FAAAAAAR less than 350! lol

THis last hatch I took out the dividers made of plastic needle point canvas; no decrease in temps this time. That may be effecting the temps as this last hatch held steady temps. ( PC fan installed).

I'm resisting getting another incibator, or making one. I already have too many chicks and, well, another incubator will add to the population.

Sorry it's been awhile since we talked-- what birds are you breeding for SQ? Judges are a great help. Especially when you have a specimen in front of you to discuss.

This is the year of transistion for me. I want to go in new directions but not give up my original girls. I could keep them if I could cultivate more egg customers.

My show birds are my Heritage Rhode Island Reds and my Rose Comb Rhode Island Whites.

 

[Arielle]

very nice !!!!!

I was looking at my SS pullets and boy do these young girls have pounds of growth to go!! My 2 yr olds are 50% wider. These are hatchery based so I am on the fence whether to continue or get a very rare line like you did.

I let my rooster w/ 6 hens out to free range and do they cover ground!! Not sure I could let rare SQ stock free range.

 

[PalmHen]

I bought a still-air Little Giant incubator and ended up with so much trouble maintaining the temperature and humidity that this time around I'm trying some tricks.

With the help of others in this thread I'm compiling a list of "best practices" for the LG, given the fact that the reason people go with the LG in the first place is to save money. That means they probably don't want to spend a lot on accessories:

1) Get a 12VDC power adapter and computer fan from some computer nut you know or, failing that, Radio Shack. (Being a computer nut myself, this was easy.) Cut off the connector and splice it to the computer fan. If it doesn't turn when plugged in, try reversing the wires. Use (preferably electricians) tape to insulate the wires from each other. Cut out a little square of cheese cloth slightly larger than the face of the fan. Glue one side of the cheese cloth to one side of the computer fan (hot glue guns work for me but you might get away with superglue) . Pull the cheese cloth tight and glue down the opposite side. Do the same for the remaining sides. Why all this trouble? Hey, if you had the money to buy the expensive LG fan accessory, why buy the LG in the first place?

2) Fill two small jars and, put a sponge in each (Thanks cmom! ) to "wick" the moister up and increase the evaporative surface area and placed it in the incubator. Place them in the two "top" corners of the base. Use a "wash bottle" so you can refill them without opening the incubator (Thanks cmom! ).

3) I took a medical thermometer (not digital!), pushed its top into one of the red caps' concaved areas -- it fits snugly into my thermometer -- so it can't fall through the holes left when the red plugs are removed, and leave it in the one "above" the windows. Do NOT use the hole "below" the windows for this! Both red plugs should be removed.

4) Take the cap from a gallon milk jug, turn it upside down and screw it into the top of that nasty little thermostat "knob" to provide a bigger knob with finer control (Thanks cmom! ). For folks like me who want even finer control (meaning a longer lever arm) leave a pair of pliers on the incubator at all times so when the thermometer indicates an out-of-range temperature, I can grab that little nasty little "knob" with the pliers and turn it from the end of the pliers ever so slightly. However you do it, keep in mind if you don't do VERY slight adjustments, letting the temperature settle for at least an hour with each adjustment, you can't get control of the temperature.

Once I got the temperature within range of not killing the eggs if they experience it for a short time (few hours at most at 98.5 up to 101.5), I put the eggs in and start adjusting the temperature.

Any "adjustment" of the styrofoam lid changes the thermal balance. This means opening it to turn the eggs may require additional thermostat adjustments but those should be pursued only if the temperature has been out of whack for a couple of hours (this is to let the incubator heat back up after losing heat/humidity when you opened it). The practice of turning eggs during incubation remains somewhat controversial but controlled experiments conducted at the University College London in the mid 1950s showed a profound increase in percent hatches with egg turning (Thanks Cynthia! ).

Jabowery, Could you explain #3 a little more thoroughly? I've been having a problem with getting the temperature steady and need a third thermometer to break the tie between the two thermometers that came with my incubator. Do you take both of the red caps out and just leave them out and adjust humidity and temperature without them in? I'm getting my eggs tomorrow and I'm having a heckuva time getting temp and humidity straightened out.

 

[PalmHen]

If your incubator is a Still Air the temp should be around 101 and Circulated Air 99.5 - 100. The humidity is perfect. I just put some eggs in lockdown tonight. Good luck and have fun...

I thought that the humidity was supposed to be between 55 and 60% while incubating.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: You can, but you are not likely to like the results. THe eggs need to dry out sufficiently to decrease by about 11-15% of it's weight. Either weigh or look at the air cells. I incubated at 19% in March-- thought this was too low, turned out to be perfect. Generally 20-30% works for me. 55-60% I use at hatching.

Cmom will share her view I"m sure. We all do it a little differently, as long as the eggs dry appropriately.

 

[PalmHen]

Ok, and another thing, I read that you could put a sponge in a little glass in your incubator but what if you are using the egg turner? Can you still use the sponge some way? Also, I still am trying to figure out how the one person that mentioned using a thermometer through one of the little red plastic plugs. I like the idea, I just want to find out if I'm understanding it right. I have two different thermometers with two different temps! I still need a tie breaker!
This is fun, and it's a process to get it all right. I like all the tricks and ideas to help make it work. Especially the humidity part. As soon as my water wells begin to dry up, I'll have to get it all right all over again!

 

[cmom]

Quote:
You can ask a dozen different people and get a dozen different answers. I get my best results and highest hatch rates with dry incubation. When I set the eggs in the hatchers then I raise my humidity to around 75%. That is what works for me. You have to figure what works best for you to get the best hatch rate you can. The climate in the area where you live can affect your hatching conditions. I have a hatch going on right now. Come on chickies...

 

[cmom]

Ok, and another thing, I read that you could put a sponge in a little glass in your incubator but what if you are using the egg turner? Can you still use the sponge some way? Also, I still am trying to figure out how the one person that mentioned using a thermometer through one of the little red plastic plugs. I like the idea, I just want to find out if I'm understanding it right. I have two different thermometers with two different temps! I still need a tie breaker!
This is fun, and it's a process to get it all right. I like all the tricks and ideas to help make it work. Especially the humidity part. As soon as my water wells begin to dry up, I'll have to get it all right all over again!

I only put the jars with the sponges in when I take the turner out and set the eggs for hatching.

 

[cjhubbs]

Okay, phew I finally finished reading this whole thread beginning to end. Firstly, thanks everyone for all of the tips and suggestions I greatly appreciate it. I finished modifying my L.G incubator last night and installed a fan, bottle cap on the temperature adjustor nob and added a syringe and straw system that allows me to add water to the incubator without opening it. So I guess I just need to start collecting eggs and then get this hatch on the road .