Little Giant Incubator Tricks

[Arielle]

Still air temp should be around 101 degrees.

Is this on the floor?

 

[spatulagirl]

I think it is supposed to be at the top of the eggs.

I just went and bought myself an egg-o-meter in hopes that it will help me get the right temp for the eggs. I am hoping to set eggs for Hatch Attempt #5 (I say attempt because I have killed more eggs than hatched!) on Sunday. I read this thread from start to finish and will read it one more time, including the dry hatch thread. I figure it I can tame the LG, I can handle any sort of incubator!

 

[Arielle]

I think it is supposed to be at the top of the eggs.

I just went and bought myself an egg-o-meter in hopes that it will help me get the right temp for the eggs. I am hoping to set eggs for Hatch Attempt #5 (I say attempt because I have killed more eggs than hatched!) on Sunday. I read this thread from start to finish and will read it one more time, including the dry hatch thread. I figure it I can tame the LG, I can handle any sort of incubator!

I was asking for clarification because my question was what is the temp on the BOTTOM of the LG.

I agree with you, If you can hatch in an LG you can hatch in anything. It is basic and very flexible. I know one person that puts the LG away in the summer months once the house temps start to soar in the summer. THe LG does need a stable environment to work well.

I use fish tank thermometers and give them a basic test. All thermometer can be off or become off, from people reporting the disapointment with their thermometers and needing a new one. That's why I like the plain old fish tank type.

 

[cmom]

I think it is supposed to be at the top of the eggs.

I just went and bought myself an egg-o-meter in hopes that it will help me get the right temp for the eggs. I am hoping to set eggs for Hatch Attempt #5 (I say attempt because I have killed more eggs than hatched!) on Sunday. I read this thread from start to finish and will read it one more time, including the dry hatch thread. I figure it I can tame the LG, I can handle any sort of incubator!

I agree also, if you can master the LG then you can hatch in anything. I have some friends that hatched a few eggs in a Pyrex bowl with a heat lamp. I did put a fan in my still air LG. Now I don't have as much problem with hot and cool spots. Do you use a turner? If turning by hand try rotating the eggs around to different areas. If you have a turner and candle around day 10 I would move the eggs around to different spots.

 

[roadrunner0]

.xz-z-
Got an old one from the neighbor who said he had poor results wit it and it had been sitting in the basement for years.. It came with an egg turner that was bound up and not working but after some straightning and a bit of vasoline to lubricate the pivots it works well.. Had a bit of damage to the foam from mice and no windows in the lid so I spent $3 for glass and some glue.. Added a small computer fan in a way that lets the air circulate slowly.. Too much air flow is a bad idea along with having it blow right on the eggs so I have the small 12 volt fan powered by a 9 volt cube.. It draws the air from the center of the incubator and blows it out into the triangle that ducts it around the top where the heating coil is.. This has made the temperature as stable as a rock in test runs at 100 deg. checked hourly via 2 analog thermometers.. I included a picture of a $3 thermometer we bought that has a humidity Gage on it.. They are not super accurate but I was able to calibrate them with the neighbors science grade weather station.. We need to triple our flock of layers this spring as egg sales have gotten very good and the future demand seems promising.. Found one hen who has been very broody and dedicated but with temperature swings in the weather her hatching skills have proven poor results so we need to give her a hand and hatch out about another 100 or so via the incubator.. Going to build a warm air brooder with 3 24x24 racks as my next project..

 

[Arielle]

Well done!!!! AND welcome to BYC!

I use the same thermometer in my brooder. Use care as the spring of the hydrometer is not protected from damage. Happy hatching!! You should get to 100 chicks in no time!!

 

[cmom]

Good luck on your hatches. I'm a hatch-a-holic. I just hatched out 33 chicks out of 36 eggs. I am leaving the 3 that didn't hatch in for a few more days. I have had hatches on days 23 and 24 before, but I have another hatch next week of around 50 eggs and around 36 more in two weeks. After these hatches are done the incubator is taking a vacation. Also

 

[cowchick11]

I use one thermometer that came with my turner and I purchased two reptile thermometor/hygrometors and take an average. Between all of those I should be fairly close.

 

[cmom]

I keep my temp between 99 degrees and 100 degrees. Sometimes my temp might drop to 98.8ºF and go up to 100.2ºF, but since they aren't too far off I don't worry. Since doing the dry incubation my hatch rate has went up significantly. Now most of my hatches are between 90% and I have had 100% hatches where before they were around 60% to 70%.

 

[Arielle]

I need a little help from the LG experts !!

My Lg has a PC fan added and it still runs a bit like a still air incubator. I just put in eggs to hatch. Floor 98,
1"off floor 99,
on top of eggs in egg cartons102-103

Is this too hot????