Little Giant Incubator Tricks

[SunnySkies]

I couldn't resist. I candled the 6 eggs of unknown age that I picked up on the 8th.

There are two I'm just not sure of. The big end is all dark, but I don't see any veins. My guess is they might be dead, but the other alternative is that they are getting close to lockdown.

One we could see the eye and movement! My 7 year old was excited. Another had a dark floater and lovely veins.

Two others looked like something was there. Dark, but not full like the other ones.

One was obviously dead. Blood ring all around and right at the shell.

I am not touching the Silkies or the SFH eggs until like next week. I swear....but it's hard not to!

I am using a little lamp from Ikea that is quite bright and a piece of cardboard with a quarter sized circle cut out, and we stand in our guest bath, which has no incoming lights. Kind of ghetto, but it works.

Kind of worried about when to try lockdown with a couple of these....don't want to shrink wrap them. RH hovers around 29%.

 

[cmom]

You won't always see the veins. I have candled and not seen any veins but marked the eggs in question. Sometimes they hatch and sometimes they don't. 29% on the humidity is ok. I usually keep my humidity around 30% to 40% but mostly between 30% to 35%. Most of the time all but 1 or 2 eggs hatch. I have had chicks hatch in my incubator because I forgot to mark on the calendar when I set them and couldn't remember.

 

[SunnySkies]

I guess what I will do is this then...set up the second LG. let it stabilize. Move the eggs that seem like they are closer to hatching over to the second bator to manually turn them and let the rest rock and roll. This will also get them out just in case they decide to explode and ruin my expensive SFH and Silkie eggs. If they haven't hatched by the last week of the month, I'd say they probably won't ever. I won't worry about boosting RH. And see what happens. Kinda fun really. And I'm already thinking about what I want to hatch next more SFH? Try some Trader Joe eggs? Who knows? It's addictive

 

[Arielle]

You won't always see the veins. I have candled and not seen any veins but marked the eggs in question. Sometimes they hatch and sometimes they don't. 29% on the humidity is ok. I usually keep my humidity around 30% to 40% but mostly between 30% to 35%. Most of the time all but 1 or 2 eggs hatch. I have had chicks hatch in my incubator because I forgot to mark on the calendar when I set them and couldn't remember.

I have this happen too. Last week a duck hatched early!!! Days before I planned to move it to hatcher. Oops. It hatched very fast.

 

[Paul3874]

i've got three lg. Im 73 and have problems. One had the fan installed and two did not. the last was I bought a fan for made I made a few mistakes installing it. I have thirty years as an STSC (ss) but am too shaky. I can not get any reply from little giant' but have asked. I cant afford another one and could use some help.

 

[cmom]

i've got three lg. Im 73 and have problems. One had the fan installed and two did not. the last was I bought a fan for made I made a few mistakes installing it. I have thirty years as an STSC (ss) but am too shaky. I can not get any reply from little giant' but have asked. I cant afford another one and could use some help.

Where do you live? maybe there is a BYC member near you who can help you.

 

[Arielle]

i've got three lg. Im 73 and have problems. One had the fan installed and two did not. the last was I bought a fan for made I made a few mistakes installing it. I have thirty years as an STSC (ss) but am too shaky. I can not get any reply from little giant' but have asked. I cant afford another one and could use some help.

Are you able to disconnect the fan and run it as a still air type until it can be fixed??

 

[thumper4269]

I have a question. This is my 2nd hatch in the incubator. this time i got a turner for it and the eggs have been happily rocking for 7 days. i candled them today and have varying development.. some look like they are 14 days in.. some look like an eye with veins. I have been reading posts and think it could be from hot spots in the incubator? I didnt move anybody around for 5-6 days. Could that be the cause or could momma hen have started them before me with the 95 degree temp and high humidity? I swear I could see a chick in one, little bony thing but the little body quite visible. Anybody ever have this happen? Help!

 

[Arielle]

According to one book I have by Janet Stromburg, the development starts at 90 degrees, not as fasat as 100 mind you m but yes, the egg can start cooking at temps lower than 100 degrees,

 

[cmom]

If your incubator is a still air then some may develop faster than others as the still air incubators have hot spots and cool spots so development can vary especially since you haven't rotated the eggs. I don't candle before day 10 and again when I go into lockdown on day 18. I have installed fans in my still air incubators as I think I get better hatches with the circulated air and the chicks all hatch out within a couple of days. With my still air when I first started incubating I had chicks hatching over a 4 day period. I didn't rotate my eggs and placed thermometers in different places in my incubator and then discovered the differences in the reading in different spots in my incubator. On my next hatch I rotated the eggs every 2 or 3 days. I didn't worry about opening up the incubator as, if a hen is brooding eggs she will get off the nest up to a half hour daily to eat drink and poop. Good luck with your hatch and have fun...