little giant incubator

[abhaya]

Is the little giant a good bator? how hard is it to use and keep temp stable?

 

[BeccaB00]

I use a little giant incubator and I LOVE it! I've had VERY good success with hatching chicks, and in my opinion it holds the temp. very well.

 

[PamB]

I'm new to incubating and I had a very hard time with the LG. I have the still air version. I'm actually going to try to return it today.

 

[sheila3935]

I have a LG forced air and although you do have to watch temp and humdity I love it Ive done 2 hatches first was 99% hatched 22 out of 23 eggs 2nd 100% hatch. Your temps outside the bator tend to influence the inside temps as does the humidity.

 

[Cowgirl71]

A lot of people on BYC hate LGs, and they recommend Brinsea and the Genesis. But, some of us aren't willing to spend that much on a bator. LGs can be good incubators, but are much less beginner-friendly. It'll often times take many attempts before you can get dependable hatches. I definitely wouldn't recommend it for valuable eggs. If you're willing to spend some extra money for a dependable incubator, a Brinsea or the Genesis are excellent incubators. If they are out of your price range, a good compromise would be a GQF 2362N.

 

[Karrie13]

I have a LG Forced Air and I am happy with it on my own eggs... I had a 100% hatch rate but when I had eggs shipped in my hatch rate would be way low. I would get 1 chick out of a dozen. Sometimes none. The most I got was Four. I don't know if the problem came from my LG or just because it was shipped in the mail.

As far as the temp and humidity you will want to make sure it is in a room that has a steady and constant temp/humidity. It will make regulating the incubator a lot easier. Once I got my temp where I needed it, I didn't have to touch it again. The humidity on the other hand was a constant battle. I had fish tank hose and a syringe that I weaved in through the vent holes to add or take away water as needed to help regulate the humidity. That way you don't always have to open up the incubator and risk your chicks during lockdown. Also when it comes time for lockdown you might need to have something else in there to add more water surface to get the humidity where you need it. The reservoirs never seem to be enough. I just add sponges to the wire bottom - 2 or 3 to add more water if it is needed.

 

[Blubrd]

I like mine. It just took practice. My first hatch was awful. My suggestion is take detailed notes. If you make changes write down what you did, why, and what happened. Its good to have to look back on for later hatches. I do recommend getting the fan.

 

[ksct]

^ agreed with most of this post!

we had an lg and it was great. we had never hatched anything before and did fairly well.
def have it in a room with steady temp etc (the manual tells exactly what to do) and i'd say set it up a couple days or more ahead of time just to make sure it's steady. once we got that, (it really only took a day to get it perfect) we didn't have to do anything.


(ps - i say we had an LG only because we sold it and that was only because we no longer have a rooster - otherwise i have a feeling we'd have set another batch in the spring.)

 

[ROC4K]

I'm working with two lg still airs. I've had great hatches and had terrible hatches. I noticed that the seal got worse as time goes by but a book or counter weight adjust it to a good fit. Mine holds temp like a charm though. They are easy to modify and aren't hard to operate. Bang for your buck...it's a solid unit for the money. Of course when you add the fan and turner, modify the water inlet situation and add a temp dial adjuster knob fix. You may be better out of the box with an above mentioned brand. I would imagine it comes down to how far into it your wanting to get. How hands on you want to be and if you like to tinker.

I love my little giant
I would love a sportsman 1202

You will hatch eggs in whatever incubator you get because you found the BYC forum.

 

[flgardengirl]

Here's some pics of how I set up my LG for hatching. I use a automatic turner and computer fan in mine for incubating and run the aquarium tubing into the water wells so they can be filled from outside.