Mini Chick-Bator' vs Little Giant , 9200

[TallChickMagnet]

I have both, and yes, I know that there is no real comparison. I purchased the Mini Chick-Bator' as my first, because it was cheap and I had no idea what I was doing so I didn't want to spend a lot of money. It only cost $12.98 and it cost to much. I couldn't even put the thing together, it had no thermometer, and was very cheaply built. Trying to use it almost made me want to give up the whole idea of hatching eggs.

I gave it a second try and got the Little Giant , 9200 with the auto egg turner. The Styrofoam casing was a surprise to me, but it is way better then the Mini Chick-Bator'. The picture on the box and the web made me think that it had a hinged top, but it didn't, I had to use Duct Tape to make hinges. It cost me about $110 with the turner. I does hold 41 chicken eggs as opposed to the two eggs of the Mini Chick-Bator'. I like it so far.

I want to know what experiences others may have had with these two incubators.

 

[LilyD]

I have a little giant and I also have had a chick bator.

The chick bator has no way to adjust the temp and the way that they have to adjust the humidity is ridiculous since you have to add the water to the legs and if you try and tip the bator like they tell you the water runs all over the eggs. I was not able to hatch at all with this.

My little giant was definitely a step up. I have hatched numerous batches with it with between 75 or 95% hatch rate for eggs that aren't shipped. When I used it my hens were still pullets so the eggs were not as good as they should have been. some things about the LG to remember.

- LG is affected by the temp in the room. If it gets to warm in the room the bator will get hotter. If it gets too cold the temp will drop. Some people keep this bator in the closet to make sure the temp stays the same but in the summer it's hard to keep the temp inside the acceptable temp range.

-If you can add the fan. It's around another 35 dollars to add the fan but it goes along way to eliminate cold and hot spots in the incubator. I highly recommend it.

-use some aquarium tubing run through the back where the power cord goes and a syringe and you can add water without lifting the lid I have these tubes set up and taped down and the less amount of time you lift the lid the greater your hatch rates.

Other than that it's a good starter incubator. I hatched out of mine for two years and then upgraded to the Hovabator 1588.

Now that incubator works really well. It has a digital display that shows both temp and humidity and the temp is spot on within a degree of the temp I have on my regular thermometer. It has a huge clear plastic viewing window and that makes for easier egg viewing. The LG turner fits into the Hovabator so you can use the turner you already have. It comes with a plastic tray insert to put over the styrafoam on the bottom so there is less chance of contamination from hatching eggs as long as you clean it. Some people have said they had trouble with the digital readout getting condensation when they raise the humidity for lockdown but I know when I had a problem with mine I was given a brand new one immediately no questions asked so their customer service works great for me. The new one I have has no issues and I used some hot glue to seal around the digital readout so that it doesn't get condensation when I raise the humidity in case it goes about 65%.

I still do have and use my LG but for days 1-18 I prefer my Hovabator because I don't have to watch the temp as carefully and can hatch even in summer when it's hotter out.

 

[TallChickMagnet]

I have a little giant and I also have had a chick bator.

The chick bator has no way to adjust the temp and the way that they have to adjust the humidity is ridiculous since you have to add the water to the legs and if you try and tip the bator like they tell you the water runs all over the eggs. I was not able to hatch at all with this.

My little giant was definitely a step up. I have hatched numerous batches with it with between 75 or 95% hatch rate for eggs that aren't shipped. When I used it my hens were still pullets so the eggs were not as good as they should have been. some things about the LG to remember.

- LG is affected by the temp in the room. If it gets to warm in the room the bator will get hotter. If it gets too cold the temp will drop. Some people keep this bator in the closet to make sure the temp stays the same but in the summer it's hard to keep the temp inside the acceptable temp range.

-If you can add the fan. It's around another 35 dollars to add the fan but it goes along way to eliminate cold and hot spots in the incubator. I highly recommend it.

-use some aquarium tubing run through the back where the power cord goes and a syringe and you can add water without lifting the lid I have these tubes set up and taped down and the less amount of time you lift the lid the greater your hatch rates.

Other than that it's a good starter incubator. I hatched out of mine for two years and then upgraded to the Hovabator 1588.

Now that incubator works really well. It has a digital display that shows both temp and humidity and the temp is spot on within a degree of the temp I have on my regular thermometer. It has a huge clear plastic viewing window and that makes for easier egg viewing. The LG turner fits into the Hovabator so you can use the turner you already have. It comes with a plastic tray insert to put over the styrafoam on the bottom so there is less chance of contamination from hatching eggs as long as you clean it. Some people have said they had trouble with the digital readout getting condensation when they raise the humidity for lockdown but I know when I had a problem with mine I was given a brand new one immediately no questions asked so their customer service works great for me. The new one I have has no issues and I used some hot glue to seal around the digital readout so that it doesn't get condensation when I raise the humidity in case it goes about 65%.

I still do have and use my LG but for days 1-18 I prefer my Hovabator because I don't have to watch the temp as carefully and can hatch even in summer when it's hotter out.

Great info... thanks... anyone else?

 

[TallChickMagnet]

I found this thread in the forum. It is great and is right on the money: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/601352/little-giant-incubator-tricks