what is the difference between an incubator and a hatcher?

[Ridgerunner]

can't I just leave the eggs in the incubator the whole time? Do I have to take them out after the 18 to 27th day?

You can leave them in the incubator the whole time. I do. I’d venture to say that most people on this forum don’t have a separate incubator to use as a hatcher.

Some people use a separate incubator as a hatcher for their own reasons. There is nothing wrong with that, but it is not something you absolutely have to do. It can make clean-up easier or it can make it a whole lot easier to run several different batches of eggs with different hatch dates at the same time.

I see something in your post that raises a red flag, the 18 to 27 day comment. It sounds like you are not doing chickens, turkeys or ducks maybe? The 18 days is lockdown for chickens. If you are not hatching chickens, you probably need to use a different day for lockdown.

 

[tsreeves]

Peacocks

 

[slordaz]

I have actually been having problems hatching my chicks in the little giant 9300 with fan but it's a different set of issues as I am at high altitudes so I am opting to make the cooler bator they have on here and using it as a hatcher. The LG is great up until lock down then when I raise the humidity in it the digital freaks and getting deadly temp spikes, so that is why I am opting to use something else, going with a wafer thermostat in it as it doesn't have electronics that can have issues with humidity. A home made one is another option and the cooler bator would definitely make clean up a lot easier than the styrofoam that LG uses.

Also it works best at least at higher altitudes to stop turning them between day 14 and 15, that has stopped the issues with loosing chicks to mal positions, was recommended by one of the more experienced people here.