LittleGiant.

[1924vanhorn]

A lot of folks complain about the little Giant. Is there a real problem?? I am looking at a still air one with turner for $65. Is the Hovabator better?

 

[jessica117]

That is a pretty good price for it. I spent 50 on mine new and that was without the turner. If you have central heat and air it might be ok. We rely on window units so our bator temperature fluctuates. My first batch I only got about a 33% hatch rate and this last one we got none. I am going to rig up a fan kit to make it a forced air before we try again.

If you have the cash to spare, I'd go with the hovabater.

Perhaps with experience, the LG can be mastered, but I obviously I haven't figured it out yet.

Also.... does this price include a hygrometer and good thermometer? You'll need both of those too.

Hope this helps!

Jess

 

[Grindlefamily]

Mine worked fine - I have only done 1 hatch and will do another in it. I do have the turner (for the sake of not having to hand turn). I got 16 out of th 26 eggs at the end (actually there were still 4 questionable ones in there and none of those hatched so I guess I should say 16 out of 22). That's around a 70% hatch rate of those that started to develop. I was pleased with the outcome. I do understand that you need to keep it in a place where there is no accidental bumping of the temperature knob. I actually put a small tupperware cup on top of mine once it was regulated and taped it down with packing tape (easy to remove if I needed to adjust something) and this helped keep accidental bumping from happening.

Good luck with your decision. I paid $60 for my whole set up - it was used just a couple of times by another BYC member.

Louella

 

[RoostersCrow]

Main points on LG's:

Solid state thermostat + small adjustment knob = finicky to adjust. They also seem to drift and require regular adjustment. This makes them a bit tougher to use. I modified mine to make djustment easier by putting an extended length adustment handle on the knob.

LG's use a higher wattage heat element. If the room temp varies too much the cycling can cause what appear as high temps, especially in a still air unit.

I would highly recommend a fan for any incubator but the absolute most important thing is an accurate thermometer. I recommend a remote probe unit. Place it to match the centerline of the egg and adjust for 99.5. This will help prevent the panic that an LG can induce when seing those "top of the egg" temps jump up when that high wattage heater kicks in.

Also when first putting eggs, in resist any temptation to adjust that temp upward for the first 24 hours. Of course this is not just about LG's... this is about thermal loading of any small incubator.

 

[1924vanhorn]

Thanks ALL for your feedback. I will save the money and go with a homemade one. RN has a great post on how to make a home-made one and I am going to give it a try.