Little Giant Incubator Tricks

[quailtrail]

I have used this for 2 quail hatches...second not successful but had huge temp and humidity issues...first hatch went strictly by insert instructions and did fine. First time incubating chicks...fingers crossed!!!

 

[CountryGal517]

Newbie here,
these are some very helpful tips I will have to put to work. Thank you to all of you.

 

[EnsignIdonia]

We are using a still air LG for our first hatching, ever. None of the chicks hatched by our broody hens lived more than 24 hours so we are trying this out.
We are hatching some random duck eggs from our mixed flock. We set 17 and on day 8 we Candled them. At day 5 we thought most were not going to develop but we only had to toss three. One quit, according to my references anyway, another was empty since it glowed white. The other was a green tinted egg that we tried to candle but it was likelooking through a dirty website- only specks of light.

We have the Turner and are going by the insert instructions. We're going to purchase a hygro thermometer tomorrow because I am having trouble measuring the air cell in the eggs. I need to make sure we keep the humidity at the right level.

I was able to dial in the temp and find a spot in our house where we aren't getting any real discernable fluctuations. I check a few times a day and once late at night. So far we are right on track for 4/8 hatch day.

I'm still working through reading the old posts on this thread so I can do the best we can with this thing.Thank you for all your help

 

[rayray983]

So I'm trying the tilt the whole incubator this time around instead of turning every egg I had to put a board under the incubator because just tilting the incubator made the temp fluctuate so now I put my prop under the board with the incubator on the board and temps staying just right I'm at one week and every thing looks good

 

[CountryGal517]

To calibrate a hygrometer you will need:


    1/2 cup table salt

    approximately 1/4 cup water

    coffee cup

    hygrometer

    large resealable freezer bag


Place 1/2 cup of salt in the coffee cup, and add the water. Stir for a bit to totally saturate the salt. The salt won't dissolve in this amount of water; instead, the salt should have the consistency of wet sand.


Carefully place the cup containing the salt/water mix in a resealable plastic bag. Place the hygrometer in the bag, away from the cup of salt and water. Note: make sure none of the salt/water mix comes in direct contact with the hygrometer, or the hygrometer may be damaged. Completely seal the bag.


Place the sealed bag aside at room temperature for 8-12 hours. Pick a location free of drafts, out of direct sunlight, and away from heating or cooling vents. The temperature should be fairly constant.


After being in the sealed bag for 8-12 hours, check the reading of the hygrometer. It is best to read it while still in the bag, since if your house air is dry the reading may go down quickly once you take the hygrometer out of the bag.


The relative humidity in the sealed bag with the salt/water mix should be 75 percent.


If yours is the adjustable type, adjust the screw or setting so that it would have read 75 percent. You will have to do this very quickly, or remember how much you need to adjust the setting (e.g. for mine, it read 72 percent when it should have been 75 percent, so I would need to set it ahead by 3 percentage points). You may want to put the hygrometer back in the bag for another 8 hours to double check your adjustment.


If yours is not adjustable (like mine), simply make a note of how "off" your hygrometer reads. If it reads below 75 percent, you will need to add the difference to your actual readings. If your hygrometer read above 75 percent on the calibration, you will need to subtract the difference from your actual reading. Here are some examples to help:

Case 1: after sitting in the bag for calibration, my hygrometer read 72 percent. It should have read 75 percent, so the difference is 3 percent. I will now add 3 percent to the readings I take on the hygrometer (e.g. in a tank) to get the actual relative humidity.

Case 2: after calibrating in the bag, a hygrometer read 80 percent. It should have read 75 percent, a difference of 5 percent. I would have to subtract 5 percent from readings when using the hygrometer to get an accurate relative humidity.


Remember: always give a hygrometer about 2 hours to stabilize before taking a reading, as changes in the relative humidity may take a while to register accurately on a hygrometer.

Thank you so much for this info a great help

 

[rayray983]

So I'm trying the tilt the whole incubator this time around instead of turning every egg I had to put a board under the incubator because just tilting the incubator made the temp fluctuate so now I put my prop under the board with the incubator on the board and temps staying just right I'm at one week and every thing looks good

:-( well I had a 10% hatch rate so I'm going back to my hands on turning I get 80 to 90% that way

 

[Arielle]

We are using a still air LG for our first hatching, ever. None of the chicks hatched by our broody hens lived more than 24 hours so we are trying this out.
We are hatching some random duck eggs from our mixed flock. We set 17 and on day 8 we Candled them. At day 5 we thought most were not going to develop but we only had to toss three. One quit, according to my references anyway, another was empty since it glowed white. The other was a green tinted egg that we tried to candle but it was likelooking through a dirty website- only specks of light.

We have the Turner and are going by the insert instructions. We're going to purchase a hygro thermometer tomorrow because I am having trouble measuring the air cell in the eggs. I need to make sure we keep the humidity at the right level.

I was able to dial in the temp and find a spot in our house where we aren't getting any real discernable fluctuations. I check a few times a day and once late at night. So far we are right on track for 4/8 hatch day.

I'm still working through reading the old posts on this thread so I can do the best we can with this thing.Thank you for all your help

I would consider looking at the well being of the hens and their environment. Do you know why the chicks died??

1. improve the feed quality of the girls: vit/min mix intheir water, use calf manna, give them plenty of greeens.

2. check the girls for parasites: dust the girls and worm them.

3. move the broodies and chicks to a clean area for raising.

Good luck with this next batch.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: Nice experiment. THank you for confirming my suspisions on that method with the LG.

I put the eggs in cartons and turn the cartons when shipped eggs require upright incubating and hatching.

 

[rayray983]

Nice experiment. THank you for confirming my suspisions on that method with the LG.

I put the eggs in cartons and turn the cartons when shipped eggs require upright incubating and hatching.

I'm sure that method would work I've never messed with shipped eggs they scare me haha I currently have 2 lg one for incubating one for hatching

 

[chicNlove]

Hi I'm looking for lock down help. This is my first hatch. What day should I start and then what temp and humidity? Do I unplug the turner? I have the newest model that has held temp and humidity like a charm! Love this incubator! Thank you for your help.