Little Giant Incubator Tricks

[CrookdBeak13]

Well...I have come to determine that the LG is not for me! I set 23 eggs on 4/28; discarded 4 clears/blood rings leaving 19 eggs going to lockdown; 1 egg was already questionable as it was so porous I was unable to candle. Day 21---nothing; Day 22 1 hatched but was a cull (deformed skull and feet) the last 4 hatched on Day 23....nothing since then. I candled last night and left eggs in until tonight, but they all appeared with some veining and even one with an internal pip and a peep to confirm, however all dead this evening. I now have 9 eggs in my cooler bator that is holding temps beautifully with 2 small computer fans and homemade turner, so heres to hoping they hatch out. I am keeping track of their weights as well this time so hopefully I will have better luck.

The four living chicks are cute as a button, I will post pictures later. 1 black and white with black beak and black/yellow legs (weird I know, but they appear black and have spots of yellow) ; 1 solid white with yellow legs, and 2 chipmunks with feathered shanks.

The LG held wonderful temps for this incubation period and humidity and ventilation were great and I even invested in the auto turner so I am not sure what went wrong.

I am going to be building an incubator with a 225watt kit from incubator warehouse and a hatcher with the 100w kit as well as the hygrostat and humidifier kit.

Hope everyone else had a great hatch!

 

[Arielle]

Dang! I"m sorry they didn't hatch out. SO many factors can play a role in the successful hatching.

I'm glad you are not giving up. As you construct the new one and work with it, some ideas may come to mind on what went wrong using the LG.

 

[CrookdBeak13]

Quote:
Very true! I'm just glad it was my own eggs this time. My Easter Hatch was devastating. I set about 50 eggs (36 of which were shipped) and out of all of those, I ended up with 2 living chicks! I am not sure what it is with the LG, up until Lockdown,all eggs were progressing like they should have, but it seems like day 21 came and went and the ones that did hatch, hatched out late. The first that hatched ended in a cull, and it was evident early it was a cull because there was a clot of blood where it appeared right beside it and the shell just wasn't like the rest. I really just want to get this all down and get the hatching process "perfected" so that when I set up the breeding pens as I have planned, that I can be successful. I have 25 chicks that should be here Friday that are going to be my Pullets for my Red sex link breeding stock and I am working on obtaining more silkies and BTW japanese bantams from others to improve breeding stock. Thanks for the encouragement! This is a great place and is informative and friendly

 

[quailtrail]

Lock down Saturday! !!! These are my Dominique eggs and looked good at last candle. So hopeful! !!!

Next up Polish. Switched a few things based on suggestions and feel like we are on the right path!!

 

[CrookdBeak13]

Well, I don't know what to think at this point. As I was taking eggs out of the LG, I did as I always do, and decided to open and see if I could see if it was an early quitter, or if the eggs was fully formed and such. Well, the first egg I opened had a live chick in it, emphasis on the "HAD". It lived seconds before it died and appears that it just wasn't ready to hatch yet! I am not sure, but all eggs went in at the same time and they are all on Day 24 today! So, as they were only out of the incubator for less than 5 minutes, I put them all back in. All 10 went back in! So, my question to you all is, how long do I leave them in now?

 

[Spongegirl]

Here's my two cents:


Forget the touching story about the old man and the new trick of the dry method. Had me so scared I was gonna drown my chicks. Not once has a chick of mine drowned but I sure as heck lost about 60 eggs following this procedure because I dried them out too fast. Since I started using water, I don't lose chicks anymore. It also matters how many eggs are in that incubator. If the incubator is not full you will need a lot more humidity than that 35% or whatever that dry method recommends. If the incubator is full, it will take less water. Think of the eggs as surface areas for evaporation. With less than 20 eggs it is gonna pull twice as much moisture from those few than if there were 40 eggs. Make sense?

and standing eggs vertically is not meant for this incubator...lay those eggs down. Roll them with your palm rather than lifting to turn.

shrink wrapping...that word alone is totally deceiving. Shrink wrap is not an instant thing that happens suddenly if you lift that lid. shrink wrap means the chick dried out before hatch...its not a pressure thing...this incubator is not pressurized. The little giant is so small and short that when moisture and heat is lost with the lid lifted, when you close it, it will regain those two things almost immediately. the lock down rule part where you never open during the last few days is crap...you can open and close that lid 50 times on the last day and you will not kill your chicks. What is important is the whole 21 day process. if you had a big cabinet incubator, then yes, you will screw up humidity and heat by opening because those types are so big it takes a long time for moisture and heat to build back up. If you have a big cabinet incubator, then yes, stand those eggs on end, and yes, there will be a separate temp at the top and one at the bottom...those things to not apply to this little giant.

I roll my eggs in my palm. I candle little. I keep water in one cell always and in all the cells after the pips. I keep out both red plugs the whole time. When those babies are in the last couple of days, I check their progress by candling many times a day and they don't die. I even have staggered hatches and things are still great. One time I even took the eggs out to spray off the incubator because it was so filthy after months of continual use...still no deaths.

Personally, I wish I hadn't followed the dry method but I wouldn't have learned like I did. Now though, I have a fantastic hatch rate. I don't think the little giants are notorious for drowning chicks...they are notorious for drying chicks if you don't add water.

 

[CrookdBeak13]

Here's my two cents:


Forget the touching story about the old man and the new trick of the dry method. Had me so scared I was gonna drown my chicks. Not once has a chick of mine drowned but I sure as heck lost about 60 eggs following this procedure because I dried them out too fast. Since I started using water, I don't lose chicks anymore. It also matters how many eggs are in that incubator. If the incubator is not full you will need a lot more humidity than that 35% or whatever that dry method recommends. If the incubator is full, it will take less water. Think of the eggs as surface areas for evaporation. With less than 20 eggs it is gonna pull twice as much moisture from those few than if there were 40 eggs. Make sense?

and standing eggs vertically is not meant for this incubator...lay those eggs down. Roll them with your palm rather than lifting to turn.

shrink wrapping...that word alone is totally deceiving. Shrink wrap is not an instant thing that happens suddenly if you lift that lid. shrink wrap means the chick dried out before hatch...its not a pressure thing...this incubator is not pressurized. The little giant is so small and short that when moisture and heat is lost with the lid lifted, when you close it, it will regain those two things almost immediately. the lock down rule part where you never open during the last few days is crap...you can open and close that lid 50 times on the last day and you will not kill your chicks. What is important is the whole 21 day process. if you had a big cabinet incubator, then yes, you will screw up humidity and heat by opening because those types are so big it takes a long time for moisture and heat to build back up. If you have a big cabinet incubator, then yes, stand those eggs on end, and yes, there will be a separate temp at the top and one at the bottom...those things to not apply to this little giant.

I roll my eggs in my palm. I candle little. I keep water in one cell always and in all the cells after the pips. I keep out both red plugs the whole time. When those babies are in the last couple of days, I check their progress by candling many times a day and they don't die. I even have staggered hatches and things are still great. One time I even took the eggs out to spray off the incubator because it was so filthy after months of continual use...still no deaths.

Personally, I wish I hadn't followed the dry method but I wouldn't have learned like I did. Now though, I have a fantastic hatch rate. I don't think the little giants are notorious for drowning chicks...they are notorious for drying chicks if you don't add water.

With that said, what do you run your humidity at for the first 18 days? Or do you use the same humidity until eggs are pipped? This is my 4th hatch out of the LG and quite frankly I think my first hatch was the most successful, and probably because I do a lot of reading and tend to want to change the way that I do things.

 

[Spongegirl]

I kept the humidity at around 50% until the last few days. if it went up or down some during, then its still ok. At pip, I filled all cells and that makes it about 70%. So see, with the staggered sets even the younger eggs were exposed to that high humidity for a day or so. No drowned chicks.

 

[Arielle]

Well, I don't know what to think at this point. As I was taking eggs out of the LG, I did as I always do, and decided to open and see if I could see if it was an early quitter, or if the eggs was fully formed and such. Well, the first egg I opened had a live chick in it, emphasis on the "HAD". It lived seconds before it died and appears that it just wasn't ready to hatch yet! I am not sure, but all eggs went in at the same time and they are all on Day 24 today! So, as they were only out of the incubator for less than 5 minutes, I put them all back in. All 10 went back in! So, my question to you all is, how long do I leave them in now?

GIve them another week, but don't help them. WHen the timing is off significantly the chick isn' right and doesn't thrive. THe marans are noted for late hatching. I have killed a chick too, and it was 5-6 days after the 21 day due date. I learned on the marans.

Hatching is about co-ordinating the temps and the turning and the humidity during 21 days. It is a challenge. It chaleenges my drive for perfection in a un-perfect world. lol

 

[Arielle]

Here's my two cents:


Forget the touching story about the old man and the new trick of the dry method. Had me so scared I was gonna drown my chicks. Not once has a chick of mine drowned but I sure as heck lost about 60 eggs following this procedure because I dried them out too fast. Since I started using water, I don't lose chicks anymore. It also matters how many eggs are in that incubator. If the incubator is not full you will need a lot more humidity than that 35% or whatever that dry method recommends. If the incubator is full, it will take less water. Think of the eggs as surface areas for evaporation. With less than 20 eggs it is gonna pull twice as much moisture from those few than if there were 40 eggs. Make sense?

and standing eggs vertically is not meant for this incubator...lay those eggs down. Roll them with your palm rather than lifting to turn.

shrink wrapping...that word alone is totally deceiving. Shrink wrap is not an instant thing that happens suddenly if you lift that lid. shrink wrap means the chick dried out before hatch...its not a pressure thing...this incubator is not pressurized. The little giant is so small and short that when moisture and heat is lost with the lid lifted, when you close it, it will regain those two things almost immediately. the lock down rule part where you never open during the last few days is crap...you can open and close that lid 50 times on the last day and you will not kill your chicks. What is important is the whole 21 day process. if you had a big cabinet incubator, then yes, you will screw up humidity and heat by opening because those types are so big it takes a long time for moisture and heat to build back up. If you have a big cabinet incubator, then yes, stand those eggs on end, and yes, there will be a separate temp at the top and one at the bottom...those things to not apply to this little giant.

I roll my eggs in my palm. I candle little. I keep water in one cell always and in all the cells after the pips. I keep out both red plugs the whole time. When those babies are in the last couple of days, I check their progress by candling many times a day and they don't die. I even have staggered hatches and things are still great. One time I even took the eggs out to spray off the incubator because it was so filthy after months of continual use...still no deaths.

Personally, I wish I hadn't followed the dry method but I wouldn't have learned like I did. Now though, I have a fantastic hatch rate. I don't think the little giants are notorious for drowning chicks...they are notorious for drying chicks if you don't add water.

Having hatched a lot of eggs by this time and CMOM far more than I, the humidity that is required is based on what the eggs tell you. THat is the purpose of canding and wieghing the eggs. "Dry Hathichg" really means not assuming that one given % is the right %. I change the % based on winter hatching versus summer hatching; the winter is dry here especially witht he wood stove but sometimes I hang a lot of alundry to dry in the house and that effect the incubator too; by July and August the humidity can be too high and adding no water to the incubator still doesn't result in eggs that have dried down enough.


What works in one house may not work in another house. THe eggs tell me what to do on adding water to the cells.