new little giant incubator

[brigittej]

oops, forgot this question....do i have to regulate humidity as well? I'm just leaving the wells with water in them.....yikes!?

 

[PalmHen]

I've read some good ideas about the Little Giant Incubator. One of them was to add a far with a sponge in it full of water, but the thing is, I have an egg turner in there. Are there any other ideas for maintaining humidity when you use the egg turner?

 

[loveourbirds]

i started with little giants, i never used a jar and sponge. i am in a fairly humid area in southern ohio, this might make a difference.

first off, make sure your thermometer is right, don't trust a digital thermometer as they have room for error too. also humidity and electronics don't mix.

get your incubator up to temp, i ran mine at 100 degrees.

for the first 18 days, leave one red plug in, fill the two straight resiviors. on day 18 take out the second plug and fill the round resivor.

you will have to open your lid to fill the water during lockdown, make it quick.

i found it very beneficial to open the incubator for 15 minutes each day, to simulate the hen getting off her eggs.

if it drops a few degrees for a few hours, don't worry.

 

[PalmHen]

i started with little giants, i never used a jar and sponge. i am in a fairly humid area in southern ohio, this might make a difference.

first off, make sure your thermometer is right, don't trust a digital thermometer as they have room for error too. also humidity and electronics don't mix.

get your incubator up to temp, i ran mine at 100 degrees.

for the first 18 days, leave one red plug in, fill the two straight resiviors. on day 18 take out the second plug and fill the round resivor.

you will have to open your lid to fill the water during lockdown, make it quick.

i found it very beneficial to open the incubator for 15 minutes each day, to simulate the hen getting off her eggs.

if it drops a few degrees for a few hours, don't worry.

That's just it, how do you know if your thermometer is right? The one in the hygrometer is all over the place while the little one that came with the incubator that's stapled onto the plastic is pretty steady at 99.5 with little variation at all. The hygrometer has been from 93.4 - 97.9 and the little one inside just plugs along around 99.5, a little above, a little below. When I tried to keep the thermometer/hygrometer at 99.5, the little one inside was at 101!
Thanks for your tips!

 

[loveourbirds]

i started with 5 thermometers in the same incubator. i averaged the temperatures then took the one that was the closest. i used 2 from that first group.

 

[Duck Drover]

I have four Little Giant still air incubators with egg turners I use to incubate and a fifth one without an egg turner for hatching. Because I am mostly hatching ducks, I fill all the water resevoirs during incubation and then add baby food jars (the smaller ones that meats come in, for heat sinks and humidity. Sometimes a newly hatched duckling gets a drink from the jar while it is drying off. I am not sure the humidity needs to be exact but it needs to be high enough to keep the hatching eggs from drying out.

Every thermometer I got with the incubators was off and did not match the others. I calibrated to a digital thermometer so they would read the same by working the glue loose, moving the thermometers on the strips to read the same temperature as the digital thermometer, and then taping them in place. I set my first two hatches at 99.5 because that was the recommendation but my hatches were late and I had some deaths that may also have been related to the low temperature. I read that the temperature needs to be igher for still air but I was skeptical and did not want to risk overheating my eggs. I am having better success raising the temperature but then I also had hen ducks that had just started laying so that could have effected my hatch rate (I had more infertile eggs than I had expected and now my fertility has improved). The fan kits cost as much as the incubator (mine was $40 new and the turner new was another $40) and I am concerned they will dry my eggs so for now I am sticking with still air.

I set some chicken eggs in one incubator and did not add any water because they do not have the humidity requirement ducks have. When they go in the hatching incubator for lockdown I will fill the water resevoirs but I don't think I will need the jars for extra humidity since I live in the Seattle area in Washington state and the air stays pretty humid.

 

[loveourbirds]

keep in mind that even digital thermometers can be off. they are supposed to list their variance on the back of the package, but im not sure they all do. also digital thermometers that aren't designed for incubations usually will mess up when used in incubators. look for digital with probes if you decide to go this route.

i assume this will work, but i might be wrong. take a good quality mercury type thermometer (like you use when you have a fever) that should get you close. keep in mind a hen does not have a thermometer, a hygrometer or a watch. if you can get it within a half a degree your plenty close enough. if they are to cold they will hatch late. adjust your temp up a half a degree if this happens.

a lot of people fail the first time they hatch because they try to hard. if you become one of these people, don't get discouraged.

 

[PalmHen]

I have four Little Giant still air incubators with egg turners I use to incubate and a fifth one without an egg turner for hatching. Because I am mostly hatching ducks, I fill all the water resevoirs during incubation and then add baby food jars (the smaller ones that meats come in, for heat sinks and humidity. Sometimes a newly hatched duckling gets a drink from the jar while it is drying off. I am not sure the humidity needs to be exact but it needs to be high enough to keep the hatching eggs from drying out.

Every thermometer I got with the incubators was off and did not match the others. I calibrated to a digital thermometer so they would read the same by working the glue loose, moving the thermometers on the strips to read the same temperature as the digital thermometer, and then taping them in place. I set my first two hatches at 99.5 because that was the recommendation but my hatches were late and I had some deaths that may also have been related to the low temperature. I read that the temperature needs to be igher for still air but I was skeptical and did not want to risk overheating my eggs. I am having better success raising the temperature but then I also had hen ducks that had just started laying so that could have effected my hatch rate (I had more infertile eggs than I had expected and now my fertility has improved). The fan kits cost as much as the incubator (mine was $40 new and the turner new was another $40) and I am concerned they will dry my eggs so for now I am sticking with still air.

I set some chicken eggs in one incubator and did not add any water because they do not have the humidity requirement ducks have. When they go in the hatching incubator for lockdown I will fill the water resevoirs but I don't think I will need the jars for extra humidity since I live in the Seattle area in Washington state and the air stays pretty humid.

I'm in Arlington! I went and bought a stick on digital thermometer at PetsMart but it didn't work at all. It wouldn't even register a temp. I also emailed incubator warehouse where I bought the thing and am waiting for a response from the. They must get this dilemma a lot, I think, from us consumers.
I would just like to have my hygrometer replaced. I think it's very inaccurate. I don't want to go and buy something new that I already bought. I guess I'll probably have to just to make sure that my eggs are getting what they need.
You said you weren't adding any water to your incubator. I'm keeping mine between 50 and 60% like the instructions say, and as near to 99.5 on the temp as near as I can figure it. Hope everything turns out alright.
Did you hear about the event down at Puyallup Fairgrounds? It's for chicken keepers, poultry people. If you're interested, I'll get you the link to go and look at the schedule.

 

[PhilH]

I've read some good ideas about the Little Giant Incubator. One of them was to add a far with a sponge in it full of water, but the thing is, I have an egg turner in there. Are there any other ideas for maintaining humidity when you use the egg turner?

I put in several pill bottles filled with warm water. They fit in just about perfect between the turner & the wall.

 

[Duck Drover]

I'm in Arlington!  I went and bought a stick on digital thermometer at PetsMart but it didn't work at all.  It wouldn't even register a temp.  I also emailed incubator warehouse where I bought the thing and am waiting for a response from the.  They must get this dilemma a lot, I think, from us consumers. 
I would just like to have my hygrometer replaced.  I think it's very inaccurate.  I don't want to go and buy something new that I already bought.  I guess I'll probably have to just to make sure that my eggs are getting what they need. 
You said you weren't adding any water to your incubator.  I'm keeping mine between 50 and 60% like the instructions say, and as near to 99.5 on the temp as near as I can figure it.  Hope everything turns out alright.
Did you hear about the event down at Puyallup Fairgrounds?  It's for chicken keepers, poultry people.  If you're interested, I'll get you the link to go and look at the schedule.

The digital thermometer I have has a probe on it so it will measure indoor and outdoor temperature by putting the probe outside. I put the probe inside my incubators to check the thermometers that rest on the eggs. It got pretty hot in the house today and I had three ducklings hatch so the temp in my hatching incubator may have killed three eggs. I am not seeing movement in them tonight but the other three are doing well so I don't know if it was the heat or not.

I have not heard of any events in Puyallup. I was acually in Puyallup picking up a used Little Giant incubator with egg turner and fan kiit for $50 so I can try the forced air and compare it to the still air on a second batch of eggs I got from the same person. I don't have time to attend an event this weekend but it would be interesting to know more about it.