Little Giant Incubator Tricks

[Arielle]

mine were shipped so I have them in cut out cartons and am tilting the bator externally instead of reaching in to turn. I am also NOW rotating the lid when I tilt them and keeping the egg surface temp higher at 102 instead of 99.5. I think the higher temp has already sped up the process )

I tried this and had big temp swings high to low; then I tried putting a wedge under the egg carton to turn the eggs, the did better. Look forward to seeing your results. Hopefully you'll do better than I did!!

 

[chicknadventure]

this is my first hatch ever-since they were shipped i didn't even bother with the egg turner.

 

[Arielle]

The first hatch is very exciting!

 

[cowchick11]

I will be trying to rotate the batch I'm currently working on (started last night). I'll just move them around each day I'm home, about every 2-3 days. I have tried something different with each hatch and keep records of what I do and the results. I just hope I can keep everything steady enough with summer heat fluxuations externally. Especially because I'm hatching for a friend this round.

 

[SunnySkies]

I bought an LG, fan and turner off CL a few weeks ago and my kids talked me into hatching some eggs for a homeschool project. Well, we are moving sometime this month, so I suppose it's OK. We should be moving about the time the eggs hatch, and it's early enough in the year that the chicks might start laying before winter. And if they don't, it's Ok. The kids wanted Silkies, so it's more for pet birds in my mind than egg production anyway.

Anyhow, I bought it knowing its limitations, figuring it would be a good experience for me.

It set up perfectly. For the temp, I found if I turned the temp knob just to where the light goes off, I could easily alter the temp, and I found the sweet spot pretty quickly that way and it's been humming along at 99 degrees all afternoon on a shelf in our family room. Humidity is 37% with nothing added, one plug in. My hygrometer is 4% too low.

The thermometers it came with are horrible, like 5-7 degrees too high. If I was following them and hadn't calibrated them, the eggs would be too cold. This could be why the person who sold it to me had poor hatches and decided to order chicks.

I'll watch it overnight (my thermometer saves highs and lows) and make sure. Eggs are coming probably Friday from a BYCer. I haven't told the kids or DH yet.

Thank you for all the great tips. I read this whole thread twice before proceeding. I think all this really helped!

Next, get a brooder lamp and other chick supplies. I have a large dog crate I can retrofit to keep chicks in and kids out and the new house has a garage or basement said brooder can be in. I remember brooding chicks in mom's kitchen as a kid and now as an adult, I marvel at her patience

 

[Arielle]

My suggestion is to run a dry hatch as the humidity is 37% already. See if you can up the temp to 100. It will speed up your hatchi time, so the chicks arrive before moving. Eggs at the last few days of incubation are more sensitive and you will not want to be moving them if you want a good hatch.

Use jars of water, like a jelly jar or mason jar, filled with warm water, about 100 degrees and put it in for a heat sink.

LG is notoriaous for very high temps at moments for heating purposes. Recoriding the high and low may be a little misleading. I recorded that info for many hatches; just don't let it scare you UNLESS it stays high for hours. THe jars of water will help reduce the effect on the eggs for any unusually high moments. Jars should be squat and wide with a lid ( so chicks cannot fall in) or squarish and laid on side.

Yup no surprise on the LG thermometer!!

Good luck, we all still lurk here should anyone have questions.

 

[SunnySkies]

Easy to up the temp a degree. Do you lay the heat sink jars on top the turner?

I may need to add a dab of water, as the humidity fell to 30% over the last 2 hours. Hmm. I'm going to try plugging the hole about the fan and see what effect that has first.

I'm a scientist by trade and training, so I find this stuff fun, lol.

 

[cmom]

Easy to up the temp a degree. Do you lay the heat sink jars on top the turner?
I may need to add a dab of water, as the humidity fell to 30% over the last 2 hours. Hmm. I'm going to try plugging the hole about the fan and see what effect that has first.
I'm a scientist by trade and training, so I find this stuff fun, lol.

I don't put the jars in until the turner comes out and the eggs go into lockdown. You could put some ceramic eggs or plastic eggs in filled with sand in the turner. I usually incubate at around 35% humidity and kick the humidity up to 70% to 75% during lockdown. I found doing the dry hatch method that I have a much better hatch rate. I have had the humidity drop to near zero for a shot time. I adjust with the vents.

 

[SunnySkies]

Cool. We have millions of plastic eggs around here I could fill up for heat sinks. Good idea.

I added 1/2 T of water when the humidity dropped to 20%, and it's at 52% now, which is more than I think I want. It only came with one of the red plugs, the previous owner having lost one. Looks like I need to come up with something to use in the second hole. I'm a little shocked about the humidity as my house runs at about 45% naturally.

It's holding its temp beautifully at 100, but I wonder how it will drop overnight as the house cools slightly.

 

[Arielle]

Easy to up the temp a degree. Do you lay the heat sink jars on top the turner?

I may need to add a dab of water, as the humidity fell to 30% over the last 2 hours. Hmm. I'm going to try plugging the hole about the fan and see what effect that has first.

I'm a scientist by trade and training, so I find this stuff fun, lol.

Sorry, I forgot you are using the turner. CMOM has a good substitute for the jars: fill eggs!

I don't worry about the RH falling, I'm actually having more problems with it at 35 now that summer humidity has kicked in. My winter hatches are easier. My point is to feel free to not put in water until you have checked the eggs at 7 days of incubation.

If the air cells are getting too bog by day 7 , THEN you can add some water to slow down the air cell development.

Do you know how to candle and track air cell development? Very important when you are first incubating so you learn your local conditions and the LG. THis is a very important part of incubating; a friend has tried TWICE and is not getting the chicks to hatch well because not enough moisture is leaving the eggs. Quite a bit of moisture needs to leave the egg--the air cell needs to be surprisingly large. Here is one diagram that can be printed and kept near when candling.

Diagrams of air cells, duck and chicken:

http://www.poultryconnection.com/quackers/aircell.html