Success Rate ~Little Giant Incubators

[Kung Foo Chicken]

I usually get very good hatches with mine in the spring/summer. Recently was the first time I tried during the winter and adjusted up when it was cold one night and forgot to turn it back down and came back later the next day and I was sizzling egg still two hatched. Temps of the room need to be stable.

It helps me out if the room has some humidity too.

 

[mom2fourbebes]

Thank you BRKUK!!!!! My temp is 100.9 and humidity is 52%

 

[EweSheep]

Very poor success with LG and got rid of them. Settled on Genesis Hovabators and loved them!

 

[NateDomRIR]

I just bought an LG w/turner. I haven't installed my pc fan yet. You install it set off of top with spacers and and suck air up from eggs, correct? I turned it on Wed. pm. I put water in thur., yesterday pm. I have Springfield ($5) and an Acurite ($7) digital Temp/humity thermometers from wal-mart with high/low memory. This morning they are at 98*/38% on the top of the turner.
This my first time hatching chickens. I've hatched emu and ostridge in a sportsman.
I was going to build my own from all the great ideas here on BYC...but... I'm building a hatchery, 8x12, I've got eggs coming, mine are laying good. I have to get this maddness started.
I did read somewhere that sometimes it takes a few days to break in and settle, and after that it is constant.
Any ideas on how to fill the water reservoirs "the easy way"? I bought a camping lantern funnel and connected a piece of clear hose, but i can't see when it is full. Someone suggested water color but that would stain the foam wouldn't it?
"And the Hatching begins."

 

[twigg]

Quote:
Fans are generallt installed blowing straight down thro the eggs ... and yes, on spacers

 

[freshegg]

wow I got ripped off I paid 109 then 43 for the turner. I have 5 pips out of 9 eggs today day 20
Quote:

 

[SunAngel]

My still air LG with turner just leaves me confused everytime I use it.

The end of last month I put 16 eggs in the bator, candled at day 7...10 were moving, pitched the rest. A week later I got 10 more eggs from a friend and added those into the bator. Figured I would see what would happen trying to do a staggered hatch.

When it got to day 18 for the first eggs, I took them all out of the bator, put the eggs into cartons, removed the turner and upped the humidity. Left it alone for the 3 days, 2 chicks out of the 10 eggs hatched and then they died. Day 22, I checked remaining eggs, all were dead. That whole 21 days, everything stayed as it should be, temp, humidity, etc. Yet no chicks survived.

So I put the turner back in and put the 10 remaining eggs back in for another week. Candled and all had moving chicks in them...go figure. Despite not being turned while the other chicks were supposed to be hatching and the upped humidity. Then when I went to take the turner out, I discovered I had never plugged it back in

So these eggs stopped being turned for the last 10 days of their incubating and are still alive

One has pipped already on day 19. Now whether any hatch or not, remains to be seen. I will be shocked and confused if they do.

All I do know is, I will not be trying to hatch any more eggs in this stupid LG. I have tried 4 hatches now, about 80 eggs and only have 16 chicks to show for it, plus any I might get from this hatch. Not good enough odds for me. I want a Hovabator!

 

[twigg]

Quote:
Where to start .....

First .... please don't blame the incubator ... my Dad was very fond of telling me that only *a bad workman blames his tools*.

Instead of thinking the incubator is at fault, why don't you test it.

Set it up, empty, or with a dozen cheap store eggs, and adjust it according to the manual. The let it run for 3 weeks, checking temp and RH regularly, and adding water as needed to maintain 50%RH.

Don't forget to plug in the turner.

If this works, then we are good to go. If it doesn't, find out why. One of the most important factors, btw, is stable room temp of around 70F for best results.

Then get some eggs. Follow the instructions, they are there to instruct. Don't try to stagger hatches, it is a recipe for disaster, as you found out. Just set some eggs and hatch them.

Don't put stuff in an incubator that the manual doesn't tell you to. So, no egg cartons, no shelf liner, no paper. When you are able to use the incubator successfully, and repeatedly, then you are in a position to try new things, and understand why they do, or do not work.

LG incubators are finnicky, but they work. If yours isn't working, it is either broken, or it is Pilot Error.

Hope this helps

 

[SunAngel]

My first hatch in the LG, I totally went by the instructions that came with the incubator. 3 thermometers checking the 41 eggs I put in the turner, temp held steady the whole time...not one problem. I was excited for a good hatch, even being my first time. 5 chicks hatched, 1 lived (which I still have). Was pretty much ready to give up!

Second hatch attempt with it, I mixed the included instructions with tips from the 'pros' on BYC...including hatching in the cartons, low humidity through most of the hatch and upping it the last 3 days. 17 hatched, 15 lived, was able to sell some and still have 5.

Attempt 3, first set of eggs were treated just like second hatch attempt, with exception of putting 10 extra eggs on the other side of the turner, which I didn't think should affect the first bunch. Temps stayed consistent, no major spikes or anything. And now with the group that should really have been the ones to fail, all 10 are jumping around in their shells. Which according to most, staggered hatches don't work well, usually for the second group, not the first.

If I was the only one to complain about the LG, than I would totally just blame my own ignorance. But clearly after searching through tons of posts on here, I am either not the only ignorant one, or there is definitely a problem with still air LGs. For sure I am no experienced hatcher, but its also not rocket science. People who have failed miserably with LGs have gone on to have great hatch rates with their Hovabators...I can only hope I will get the same results. But I cannot ask my DH to keep letting me spend money on shipped eggs only to have the hatches fail.

 

[twigg]

Quote:
First off .... some of the *pros* on BYC are nothing of the sort. Try to remember that it is the tone of the conversation, not the quality of the advice that is moderated. Each contributor tends to support their own favoured method, me included. I am, however, keen to help people get the basics right before branching out.

The only real *problem* with the LG is the difficulty people have in adjusting the wafer. Once it's set, however, it's pretty reliable.

In most other aspects, the LG and the Hova perform the same.

Three things are possible in your situation. Either the incubator isn't working correctly, it isn't being operated correctly, or the quality and viability of the eggs is low.

You need to eliminate the first two, methodically, then move onto the third.

If you don't do it this way there is a high probability that you will spend money on a Hova, and be disappointed.

Or, you will spend money on a Hova, which works and you blame the LG, when it was a simple fault with the LG that could easily be corrected.

In any event, trying to stagger hatches in a styrofoam incubator is fraught with danger .... I would recommend not doing it. If you want to stagger hatches there are options.

Get a hova and use the LG as a hatcher .... get a Sportsman and use the LG as a hatcher .... both work well. The eggs remain in the main incubator for 17 days, and 3 days in the hatcher. That gives 4 days to clean the hatcher for the next batch, and the incubator stays clean, needing only disinfecting every, say, 3 months.