Little giant with air circulation

[AceTex88]

Just a quick question... Are the air circulating fans in little giant incubators worth the extra money. I've heard they help stabilize the temperature better( no hot or cold spots), but also heard they do not help anything... Does anyone have experience with them, and if so what are your thoughts.

 

[MusaedQ8]

Adding a fan kit to your still air incubator is a great way to increase your hatch rate

 

[Duck Drover]

I have been wondering the same thing since the incubator was $40, the egg turner was another $40 and the fan kit is an additional $40. I am hatching duck eggs so I am concerned that the fan will dry them out too much. I also recognize that hens incubate from the top without a fan so I can't see how it would be necessary to have a fan blowing the air around in such a small space. If I could find the fan kits for under $10 I would give them a try in order to hatch other eggs. I have read that people use computer fans but I don't have any sitting around to try and they seem to have their own set of problems. The LG incubators I used years ago to hatch chickens had the fans in them already but since the 9200 comes without the fan I have to think it is not essential. I invested in the egg turners because I don't want to turn by hand, however I have read that hand turning can increase hatch rates for ducks. I have already hatched my first Australian Spotted ducklings but I think my temperatures were a bit low since I did not increase the temp for still air (I read about doing that after I was already half way through the hatch so I did increase the temp but not for the beginning stages of development). I know people make a number of modifications to a manufactured incubator but I don't want to have to mess with it to that extent.