Little Giant Still Air Incubator... Are they ok to use???

[tail_feather]

15 years ago this was all I had to use and did realtively well. I have a great shipment of eggs on the way. I just bought the Little Giant incuabator and the turner at TSC. But, I have been reading all of these posts about Brinsea and so forth. Now I am REALLY questioning what kind of incubator, thermomator, and humidity reader I need. Like I said before, it has been years since I have done this. LOL!!! Its like riding a bike, and I have raised hundreds of birds when I was a teenager. Now im in my 30's, and there is a whole lot more "stuff"? I REALLY need some feedback please!! My eggs will be here in a day or two!!! Will the Little Giant be ok??

 

[perrym1962]

They can do fairly well, but are much better with fan for the air movement. As far as temp, humidity and so forth there are hundreds of posts on this forum for all that.

 

[monarc23]

i've hatched deciently and poorly in mine just be pacient and follow the requirements on here and on the instructions and i am sure you'll be fine

good luck

 

[ChickenCop]

you will be fine....i went by WalMart and picked up a "digital humdity and temperature control" monitor for 7 bucks and Im hatching away!
The incubator is touchy with the thermostat but once its set and you got it in a area where there's not alot of draft to be concerned about you will again just fine....Good Luck!

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

!!! I have two LG's and a Hovabator. I'm one of the few on here who hate the Hovabator. It's back in the box. I find the LG's much easier to adjust the temp and I've had alot of good hatches in them. I have since bought a cabinet incubator but still keep my LG's as backups and hatchers. The turner is a definite plus and works well. On day 18 I remove the turner and set the eggs in cardboard egg cartons (with the lid and sides trimmed) and the chicks hatch so much cleaner. Also don't have to worry about them rolling the other eggs around as they are hatching.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Lilralphieroosmama- does your LG have a fan? I'm also trying to decide whether or not to get an LG. It's about a third the cost of the Hovabator...

 

[william9792]

i have lg's and do real good with them, but i put a pc fan in mine to make it a forced air bator. i hatch with about 95 to 100% hatch rate. you need to have it going at least two days before your eggs get there to make sure the temp and humidty are stable, and when you are adjusting it make real small turns with knob. if i can be of any help just pm me. william

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

I don't have a fan in mine and I think my best hatch was about 78% (without checking my notes). I think the fan definitely makes a difference. Since I got my cabinet bator, my hatches have been 99% but it could also be the eggs so I can't say for sure.

 

[tail_feather]

Thank you soooo much!! I think I am going to go ahead and get a fan. Seems like a lot of you are having good luck with the fan. Now, I will say that the whole "egg carton" situation for them to hatch in kind of freaks me out a little. LOL! But a lot you use them as well. So, I may have to give that a whirl too!! The humidity and Therm reader at Wal-mart really works well? That's awesome!! The BYC crew is AWESOME!!! Thanks again for all the help!!

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

Try the egg carton and I think you'll be very pleased. I hatched once (maybe twice?) without and was devastated when chicks would pip and then the eggs got rolled over and they drowned. I only hatch in egg cartons now or in the racks that I use to incubate them in. They pip, they zip, they hang out in the shell and climb out when they're ready. Very clean and easy to clean up too.

Oh - in the LG I used the thermometer/hygrometer combo deal from Walmart for around $7-8. They don't all read the same so be prepared. I had 3 in there at one time and freaked because they all read different. Haven't found one yet that is accurate, but then again I never calibrated them either. There are instructions on here to do that.