Little Giant works

[Black Cochin Bantams]

I have 2 LG still air incubators that have worked well for me one of which is almost 20 years old. I recently purchased a hovabator Genesis with turner and an electronic preset thermostat. My new incubator has made it easier to turn eggs when I am busy elsewhere. What it didn't do was raise my live hatch rate. I get the same hatch rates from all of my incubators. I can own 2 LG with turners for the same money as My Hovabator , or 4 without the turners. I have had good results with my LG. I think it wrong to bad mouth the LG when that is all that is available (for many people)in the $50 dollar range. It is an inexpensive incubator that works. There are better incubators out there but all cost more.

 

[Tiff A.]

Thank you for your post. It's unfortunate to read negative comments,especially when some are new to the chicken world. (Like myself!) I do this just has a hobby and it's fun! Negative comments can ruin the experience. Thank you for helping those of us that need help with what we have, instead of telling us what we should have.

Tiffany

 

[stonykill]

I personally like the LG. My hatch rates vary, but I'm sure I'm at fault, not the LG. It is a simple incubator that just plain works.

 

[RedfogsFlock]

I like my LG! I have great hatch rates on ducks! I usually end up with one that doesn't hatch. I've only had two hatches where I've tossed 2 or 3 eggs. They are great, and we made our own egg turner but it's not automatic. lol It's just so if we have a batch in lockdown we don't have to open the bator to turn the others.

 

[Jessiewoodard57]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=512828

Guess I am not the only one that would not buy an LG

 

[hudsonnascarfan]

well im new to hatching out eggs i just got a new lg i also got the egg turner with it i put in a pc fan that im useing my old lg cell phone charger to run it with but im only in to it with tax for 94 dollars and im into day 2 with the eggs in it its been holding the temp i set it at for 5 days so far and alls great i dont know about my hatch rate yet but its doing what it should be doing so if my hatch rate isent great or even fair id say it would be my fault cause its my first time doing it i guess ill learn as time goes by

 

[Black Cochin Bantams]

Quote:
I never figure my hatch rate on the number I set but by the number that are fertile when I candle. I use that as my base line. I often read about poor hatches and such but do not hear if they had candled out the duds. I would guess they did but unless they tell the whole story it is hard to know what and where the problems are.

 

[cmom]

I have an LG and have had great hatches. Now I use it as a hatcher as I have a Sportman incubator.

 

[Black Cochin Bantams]

Quote:
I started this thread because that post was angry and bitter but not explaining what their specific problems were so I could not offer anything more than I have had good luck with my LG. Several LG posts also inflamed others by suggesting they didn't know how to use/setup one properly.

I am not telling anyone to buy one. I am saying that I have had good luck with a $50 incubator. It is one of the options someone has if they are deciding to incubate eggs on a budget. It does require monitoring and manual turning. One of the biggest helps was a digital thermometer that read to .1 degrees. I bought mine at WalMart after a very good breeder recommended one to track temps. From experience I would recommend not adjusting the temp for at least the 1st 36 hrs after the eggs are placed in the incubator , unless the temp is over 100.5. It takes time to get eggs up to temp. I keep mine in the basement which has a stable ambient temperature. Keeping one in the kitchen or any other room that has large temp fluctuations will make it harder to get good hatches but it can be done with monitoring and small adjustments. Sometimes you do not want to adjust but just lift the lid to cool it down.

All of these chicks hatched out in a LG incubator this year.

 

[Mommysongbird]

This is a great positive post! Thanks for starting it.

I purchased our very first incubator, an LG this past Feb. to hatch our very first hatch ever. It was more or less a science project for my son (9 yro at the time) and now we have 10 beautiful 8 week old chicks. We started out with 19 eggs that were given to us by friends and only 1 was not fertile, 1 died early on and the other 7 develop but did not hatch for what ever reason, that's just nature taking course.

So I would say 10 out of 17 eggs is a good hatch, especially for a first timer and in an incubator that gets so much negative feedback.

I believe that for the price and a couple of 'tweeks' of things they are good incubators, you just have to know what is going to work. I got tips from others who have owned the LG and some tips worked and some didn't.

I think for anyone considering an LG you should first off opt for one with a fan (we installed one an it was a HUGE help), also you should get a good (not the most exspensive) thermometer/hygrometer. I had a digital from Wal-Mart about $8.00 and then just before lockdown I purchased the type that you buy at the pet store for reptiles, little round ones, they were great.

Also something else that was a big thing for us was the temp in our house which ALWAYS fluxuates. My fix to that was a large beach towel under the bator so if the temp in the house dropped I could just wrap the bator in the towel and it kept the temp in the bator where it needed to be and instead of 'tweeking' the thermostat all the time, like I have read a lot of people doing and then they complain about it getting too hot or too cold, I just pull plugs and insert them.

In the beginning it was a little rough, mainly because I was new to the whole thing, I don't blame anything on our LG, that is just the way things are. You have to have patience, remember it is still going to be 21 days PLUS to hatch any babies.

LOVE OUR LITTLE GIANT will be glad when my dad decides if he is going to raise some chicks so I can pull it back out and start again.