Stablising a Little Giant!

[emvickrey]

Quote:
That is what I found is the biggest reason the temp and humidity will not stabilize. The temp of the room it is in. The room needs to stay the same in order to keep the bator stabilized. Our weather took a downward turn and is cooler and my temps have been hard to keep right. So far I lost 3 eggs because of it. The others I don't know abut because they are very dark and I can't see in them. I may be done incubating for the year.

 

[Rainstorm]

QUESTION!

one of my duck eggs has a crack in it! Not sure how it got cracked..
Its not a big crack, small and it doesnt go all the way through, just the hard part cracked a lil.. Is it safe to leave it in the incubator or is it useless now?

 

[Katy]

Quote:
Some people have had success with covering the crack with melted wax or crayon. As long as the membrane is intact you could give that a try. Just keep an eye on it.

 

[FenDruadin]

I crushed about a fourth of an egg one time, on day 18-19, and it was one of the first to hatch. As long as the membrane is in tact it shouldn't be too big a problem. If you're early in incubation, definitely seal it up with something to prevent too much evaporation through the crack. Good luck!

 

[chickenpiedpiper]

Well, I have an LG, and I hate it, but I cant afford to get anything else just yet, so. Heres what I do.

The real key is getting it to the most stable external temp you can, put it in a draft free room, along an internal wall. I keep mine at chest level, on a big piece of furniture. Then, and this is where it gets wierd; I put a heating pad under it. turned on low. This heats the whole unit, so it is less likely to fluctuate quickly. Then I fill the water chambers, and place the eggs, and drape a double folded towel over the whole mess. I have two thermometers inside. one of the little ones that gives you immediate changes, and one of the electronic ones with a hygrometer in it, that takes a reading every couple minutes.

All of these extra steps helps to keep it stable. If I see the humidity getting too high, I pull the towel back away from one of the top holes, and let the air move thru from bottom to top, but only for a little while, then I close things back up. I also check the silly thing every couple hours thru the night, and when ever I can during the day. Sometimes it just seems to spike for no reason. You are not alone in your frustration!

But honestly, as much as I love hatching my own eggs, This will be my last batch with this bator. I have spent a lot of money on eggs and shipping, and gotten 5 chicks out of two hatches. My broody hens were all laying on some of those same shipped eggs, and got 90% hatch rates.

I cant afford to spend any more money on good eggs just have this unreliable LG kill them. I will save the egg turner I bought, and save up and invest in something that takes less work!

I wish you luck, and maybe some of these tricks will help?

 

[Rainstorm]

Quote:
ill definetly try them if I have a problem! I got them in my room with an AC on medium so the temp stays stable and I dont have to burn up, Its been stable since yesterday around 1pm, it only dropped to 99.6 ONCE and that was because I opened it to put part of a sponge in there because my humidity was low(when I thought I was suppose to keep it at 50+), cleared the thermometer, went to bed, and this morning the minium was 100.2 so I think its going pretty good considering I had the AC on all night. (on where it stops when it gets certian cool and turns back on at certain heat)

 

[emvickrey]

Quote:
The shipped eggs could be the largest reason your hatch rate is so low. And if your LG has a fan you really need to let air circulate. Covering it all up may stabilize it but also create germs that get into the eggs. I prefer my LG to the old metal one I had before. It had no fan and it was impossible to stabilize it. My last batch the temps and humidity stayed perfect until it got near hatching time then it got a little off. I had 6 out of 9 hatch and one wasn't fertile, one died about midway in the egg and one pipped but didn't make it. I figure they wheren't meant to anyway.
This time, out weather has changed and gotten cold and my lG temps would go from 89 to 103. I finally got it stabilized but I know i've lost some of my eggs. I know I have 4 good ones out of 10 AO eggs and not sure on the 12 others because they are green and brown. I can't see thruough them with my flash light.
I just cross my fingers and hope for the best.

 

[magikchick]

Hi Rainstom nice to have met you at the swap. Here's my suggestions for the LG. Put it in a closet and keep the door closed as much as possible. Put it on a surge surpessor, fluxes in the power can make it jump too.

Are you doing duck or chicks? The humidity is more of an issue with duck eggs. I've had great success at 25-40% with chicks. Feel free to PM me with any questions and good luck.

 

[Rainstorm]

Quote:
Hi ! it was nice meeting you to, I talked to Sillystunt and she gave me some advice to do both ducks and chicks because someone gave me chick eggs for free so I decided to go ahead and give it a shot, so far ive had perfect stable temperature with it just sitting on my desk, and AC on (shut on and off by itself) to keep room stable temp, so far it has not went up or down cept ONCE when I must have accidently hit High on the ac instead of low, but it only went down to 99.1 and went back up to 100.7 after I put it back on low, ive been keeping my humidity at about 45-52%

 

[thespinningcottage]

Those numbers sound like what I had a great hatch on with my LG! Good luck.