Little Giant with bad hatch - Any experinces?

[Shifty Joe]

So, posting for my brother regarding his Little Giant, not sure of the model but it holds 50 eggs. He recently decided he wanted to start raising chickens, so I've sent him a few dozen eggs from my flock to hatch out. I know my eggs to be good due to my own successful hatches with a homemade incubator (based off of designs on BYC).... however out of 26 eggs, he only got three chicks AND those were three days late in hatching. He says he has two thermometer in the unit and that it stays steady at 100 degrees. He has the egg turner but no fan.

They only thing I've gather from talking with him is that humidity might be an issue. Apparently the directions say just to fill two trays on the bottom of the unit and let it go. He didn't get a humidity reader, however I think I have him talked into one now.

Does anyone have first hand experiences with these units that I could share with him that might help increase his hatch rate? I can understand losing 50% due to shipping, but only three chicks is just painful.


Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jen5680]

Tell him to get something to test the humidty. Those little giants are just not good at all! 3 seemed to be the only number that I could ever get to hatch in mine too. Weird! Lol!
But from what I found out about them humidity is the big issue with them.
They are a pain in the butt!
Tell him good luck!!

 

[Chickenaddict]

Ditto to what jen said. LG's SUCK!!!! I had quite a few bad hatches in mine beofre I sold it. I stick to my natural incubators from now on (broodies). Tell him to try a wet sponge or wash cloth on top of filling the bottom slots with water, check every 2 days or so. I had all the bells and whistles in mine and still had crappy hatches.

 

[thespinningcottage]

I must have a good one - I have great hatches in mine, I installed a pc fan and got the auto turner and temp and humidity stay constant. I do monitor the humidity regularly and have found that you can manipulate the % easily if you do a combination of covering/uncovering the ventilation holes and adding a wet rag when necessary, especially at lockdown. When I haven't had good hatches it has been an issue with fertility. Good luck!

 

[Shifty Joe]

Quote:

This is "which came first, the chicken or the egg?" senerio. Once he gets a flock started, he'll have hens that can go broody. Till then, LG is all he's got.

 

[Kittymomma]

I have an lg still air, no turner and had 22/24 for my first hatch. Is he taking the temp from the top of the eggs? A hygrometer is a must and make sure to tell him to calibrate it. I have to hand turn so I move the eggs around the bator when I turn them to offset the hot/cold spot issues you get with a still air, not sure if that is practical for him since he has a turner, but it's a thought.

I don't think the lg's suck, but they are very touchy and do best in a room that has no drafts and very stable temps. Mine was rocking along great and a sunny day brought the temp. in the room up about 10 degrees and suddenly it was 104 in the bator so they do have to be watched pretty closely.