Little Giant

[cricket-cricket]

We have a lil Giant. I'm pleased with it. The purchase of it last summer salvaged a very special project (was trying to hatch eggs for my 84 year old Mom visiting from MI). When first little incubator died abruptly, I hastilly purchased an LG & transferred our 4 eggs which weren't far along. I was a total beginner.

Despite the projects interruption, the Lil Giant carried forth and we hatched 3 of 4, first try, no fan, no turner, no experience - no problem.

This spring I'm attempting a greater challenged. I have 10 muscovy eggs coming right along.

That said, I agree with the other posters. It takes a patient soul. It took me nearly a week to get it regulated - but once I got - it stays spot-on! I have not adjusted it even one time since I put the eggs in. It is set up in the only room that has no fluctutions - an unheated back bedroom that stays at best, 50 degrees! I have to keep it covered with a thick towel on 3 sides. Still - it holds the temperature beautifully, except ofcourse when you lift the lid to turn the eggs, mist or fill the wells. That's when you have to resist the compulsion of touching that knob! But temps aren't consistent 100% of the time under a hen either. In time, the LG comes right back to temp. I have had no problems with spikes.

I think their are better bators - particularly if you're trying to hatch for commercial purposes and/or can't risk a poor hatch. But if its a home project, purely for your own amazement, and you're not frustrated by some of its more fickle characteristics, it may do you just fine.

 

[WalkingWolf]

The one thing that is imperative with any bator is either keep it full or use water bottles bricks or rocks to stabilize the temp fluctuations. The main gripe I have with the LG is filling the humidity troughs on the bottom they are a pain. I use pint storage containers without the lids filled with sand, if the humidity is low I add water to the sand. If the humidity climbs to high I cover the containers. I use 3 containers and paper egg holders from restaurants and I can load 42 eggs. I use 2 LGs and a homemade. I find the bators do drop or rise by a degree or two between night and day, but so does the hen. Once I get a break I intend to put some decorative glass rocks under the screen, to increase the buffer even more.

I have had good hatches and bad, I think it depends on the quality of the eggs and stress during shipping. So far now that I am incubating my own birds eggs the hatch rate is astounding. So far 100%. But I have had no blood rings, and no blood spots since using my own eggs.

 

[Amador Hill Hens]

I bought a hova bator on Amazon last night and it was $59.99. It was on sale. Check out Amazon.

 

[LilDucky85]

I love mine! I had no problems with mine at all (unless its my fault as a first time hatcher). Most people say they have to "babysit" theirs but I havent had to.

 

[nissa_loves_cats]

I have 3 Little Giant incubators and have had good hatches from them. I recently bought a thermometer with a humidity thing on it to use in the incubator, and found out my humidity was running low and so had to add water and sponges to the water reservoir to get it up. I hadn't heard of using sand in pint containers. I had used a small container of water instead of the built-in water reservoir but evidently that wasn't working well.

I'd advise running the Little Giant about 48 hours before you put eggs in it to ensure that it is at the correct temperature. When adjusting temp, turn very very slightly and then leave it alone for a couple of hours, then check again and make another adjustment if needed.

I also have 2 Brower top hatch incubators which are evil and must die.

They are noisy and the glaring light is a pain in the rear echelons. I haven't had much success with them, either.

 

[cherub78]

I am fairly new to incubating and I have 2 LG still airs. I use the digital therm/hum from walmart everyone talks about instead of the one that came with it.

The first hatch was w/ auto turner- 81% of the chicks hatched (actually 1 more did pip but died in the shell w/o fully hatching).

The 2nd hatch was duck eggs hand turned- all 4 that were fertile hatched- 100%.

The 3rd hatch was the sebbie eggs hand turned- only 1 out of the 5 hatched, but it appeared the other 4 were not fertile to begin with.

I am now doing more eggs in my LGs. I was going to put the 18 call duck eggs I got in one and the 14 sebbie eggs I got in the other, and added a foam collar to raise the height on the one for the sebbie eggs, however due to a last minute crisis, the call and sebbie are together.

The "crisis"- a duck egg that was near hatch and abandoned and the chicken eggs that the broody abandoned and are now hatching are now in one of them. As soon as they completely hatch, I will clean/disinfect it, get things steady w/ temp/hum, and then when the eggs are due for a misting/cooling, will rearrange and split as originally planned I guess.

So far, I am happy with my hatch rate. Quite honestly, I didn't expect that high of a rate from all I had read, and so I set more eggs as a result. And ended up with way more chicks than planned.

 

[BellLisamo]

i have the LG still air, no fan and no turner


First try...
I hatched 3 out of 4 ducks eggs. and 1 out of 1 chicken egg (with the ducks). Pretty darn good

 

[melissastraka]

so here is my update...

I found a hova bator on craigslist for $60! I am super excited so with the extra money...i bought the LG too! It was in my budget to get both so of course i did. Now where do i find a themometer at walmart everyone is talking about?

 

[Crockett]

For your LG, get a round dimmer nob that you would use for dimming lights. When you put it on, make sure to put your other hand on the inside of the LG to keep it from cracking when you apply pressure.

I bougth the AcuRite thermometer at Walmart. It has an inside temperature and an out side temperature with humidity. Cost $11. The outside temperature is gauged with a wire that you can put in a water wiggler. You can find the water wiggler in the kids toy section. If you can't find one, use a plastic bag with a little water in it. Make sure that the bag is zipped shut. Then, take the probe and roll it up in the plastic bag and slip it into an old paper towel roll. Lay the (homemade) water wiggler on the screen beside where the eggs will be.

For you LG, you can pick up a small fan & 12 volt adapter at a computer repair store. I was able to get 3 fans and 3 adaptors for $10. Just explain to the guy what you are trying to do. Usually, they will be willing to assist you. Ask him to show you what wires to connect to what.

Good Luck!

 

[Sparklee]

Quote:
I am hating one of mine. I have two incubators going, 5 days apart.

One seems okay and the one I used last year is giving me fits. I can't get the humidity to sit at around 50-55% and be the right temperature unless I have both ventilation holes open (which are only supposed to be open from day 18 onward).

Last year I didn't have any problem with the static air (no fan) method. Well, the hatch was 25 out of 38. I guess that's not too bad considering we didn't know how the eggs were stored before we got them. The incubation was started by someone else (in this house) and then I took over at around day 12 and started using a hygrometer.

This year, eggs from last year's hatchlings are being incubated in two incubators that have fans working in them.

I am up and down all night long using an alarm and a timer to keep me awake checking on it. Caffeine is helping out a lot. I'm on day 3 and am miserable. I think I've finally got it set though.

However, I hope I've not damaged the eggs since I've had some periods of time when the eggs have been in the 98s for an hour or so and a couple of shorter periods at 102.5 (eek!).

I think some Old English Game hens for dedicated broodies could only be easier than this torture. I wasn't meant to hatch out eggs.

I suppose I should have turned it on, filled it up with store eggs, filled the water reservoirs, and run it until I got it set (but sleeping through the night). Then after 3-5 days, once it's set at 99.5 with correct humidity, toss out the store eggs and put in the hatching ones. Probably next time.