Thoughts On The Little Giant Incubator & Auto Egg Turner?

[smoknz28]

Today I picked up the following for incubating our eggs for hatching:

- Little Giant #9200 Still Air Incubator
- Little Giant #6300 Automatic Egg Turner

This will be my first time incubating eggs and would love feedback on these items. I have not yet opened the boxes...so if there's better recommended equipment, then I can take these back and purchase the better recommendation.

Thank you all for your help.

 

[smoknz28]

Checking back in here on this subject.

I'd like to get some feedback as early as possible as I still have time to return the items I've purchased if there are better recommendations.

Thank you.

 

[mortie]

There is a whole thread on here on LG tips and tricks that will give you a lot of information about poeple's thoughts on it. I have a LG that I am borrowing from someone so it was my only option. I guess it has its flaws but the temp so far has been totally rock solid so I have no complaints at this point. Look up that LG tips thread. There is also a LG incubating cheatsheet thread that is really helpful. Both were great to educate me on the pitfalls of this particular model.

 

[mortie]

Here is the link to the cheat sheet one. I don't have a link to the other one, but if you poke around a little you'll find it. https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/chookschicks-incubation-cheat-sheet

 

[smoknz28]

So far with my reading on the LG incubator, I'm not impressed with it and very hesitant to use it.

I'd much rather have a complete system that is worry free and I don't mind paying more for that peace of mind.

It just seems that there are too many tricks and mods you have to do to have good hatchings from the LG incubator.

Here's another one I'm considering purchasing, "Farm Innovators Pro Series Circulated Air Incubator":

http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/sto...-series-circulated-air-incubator?cm_vc=-10005

 

[blucoondawg]

I also read many horror stories on here about Styrofoam incubators, and for what it's worth I think they are pretty much all the same, LG, Farm Innovators whatever, the only difference is whether you have still air or fan or if you have a turner, I went ahead and got the Farm Innovators which is sold here by Fleet Farm and so far it is working just fine, I don't have trouble with the temp control nor do I have to make any modifications, all that about adding a larger knob to the temp control is fine and dandy but it isn't necessary, it just makes it a little easier to make a very fine adjustment to the temp, without making the knob larger you simply have to be careful to only turn it a very small amount. I have actually found this incubator to be trouble free and minimal maintenance, one thing that I think is true with any of them is you cannot trust the thermometer/hygrometer on any of the cheaper Styrofoam incubators, you will want to get a separate thermometer or 2 and a hygrometer if you want to ad water during your hatch, you can also dry hatch and monitor the size of the air cell. I used the thermometer that came with the unit it is attached to a piece of clear plastic which lays on top of my eggs, I really don't know I can trust it 100% yet but I have not went out and picked up something more trustworthy yet.

The only difference you will have with the Farm Innovators is the fan, it is up to you if you think you need it, fan models are supposed to distribute the heat more evenly throughout the incubators so you don't have hot and cold spots however plenty of people use still airs too, that is up to you. I have a thread on here where I give the Farm Innovator a good review with my use thus far but I don't think you will have a problem with either one as long as you get thermometers you can trust, also I believe it helps a great deal to fill the incubator to capacity or if you are not filling it up to add some sort of thermal mass in the form of ceramic eggs or water bags/bottles, something to hold heat, this will help hold the small incubator at a steady temp as it will take longer for the temp to fluctuate.

 

[mortie]

I agree with what was said here ^

I haven't done any of the mods to my fan circulated LG other than not using the stock thermometer (mine didn't come with it so that was easy!) and it's holding temp just fine and seems to be pretty rock solid.

This is my first hatch though so we'll see what we get.

 

[mulia24]

The still air bator will have hot and cool point inside the bator that said not all room inside the bator have same temperature

The automatic turner one I assume will have fan inside it will ensure heat distributed evenly, if no fan attached, it will just make your job easier than turning the egg manually.

As for me, I made my own bator.

Whichever you choose, I wish you luck with it.

 

[smoknz28]

I also read many horror stories on here about Styrofoam incubators, and for what it's worth I think they are pretty much all the same, LG, Farm Innovators whatever, the only difference is whether you have still air or fan or if you have a turner, I went ahead and got the Farm Innovators which is sold here by Fleet Farm and so far it is working just fine, I don't have trouble with the temp control nor do I have to make any modifications, all that about adding a larger knob to the temp control is fine and dandy but it isn't necessary, it just makes it a little easier to make a very fine adjustment to the temp, without making the knob larger you simply have to be careful to only turn it a very small amount. I have actually found this incubator to be trouble free and minimal maintenance, one thing that I think is true with any of them is you cannot trust the thermometer/hygrometer on any of the cheaper Styrofoam incubators, you will want to get a separate thermometer or 2 and a hygrometer if you want to ad water during your hatch, you can also dry hatch and monitor the size of the air cell. I used the thermometer that came with the unit it is attached to a piece of clear plastic which lays on top of my eggs, I really don't know I can trust it 100% yet but I have not went out and picked up something more trustworthy yet.

The only difference you will have with the Farm Innovators is the fan, it is up to you if you think you need it, fan models are supposed to distribute the heat more evenly throughout the incubators so you don't have hot and cold spots however plenty of people use still airs too, that is up to you. I have a thread on here where I give the Farm Innovator a good review with my use thus far but I don't think you will have a problem with either one as long as you get thermometers you can trust, also I believe it helps a great deal to fill the incubator to capacity or if you are not filling it up to add some sort of thermal mass in the form of ceramic eggs or water bags/bottles, something to hold heat, this will help hold the small incubator at a steady temp as it will take longer for the temp to fluctuate.

Good info and thank you for taking the time out for the write up.

The Farm Innovators model I'm considering is the 4200, which has the following description:

"The Farm Innovators Pro Series Circulated Air Incubator is a complete incubator kit that comes with a built-in fan kit for air circulation and an automatic egg turner. It has a built-in Hygrometer for monitoring both temperature and humidity and an LED operating light to show when it's heating. A durable plastic outer shell protects the incubator and makes clean-up easier. Two large viewing windows allow for easy observation, and an additional thermometer to place inside the unit is included."

This is a complete system with fan and auto egg turner.

This system seems like a good fit for what we want. I really dislike piecing systems together... I'd rather it all be complete rather than mickey-mousing with the system to make it work for what I'm trying to achieve.

 

[blucoondawg]

Yes, that is the same farm innovator setup I have. Just remember not to trust that built in hygrometer or thermometer unless you have confirmed is accuracy. I personally don't even look at it