Hello all.....I am setting up my just aquired little giant with fan. The directions say to remove the red vent plug...But doesnt tell me WHEN!!! LOL......
I lucked into this incubator that came with fan and turner. I found it at a flea market yesterday...I got the whole set up for $20 so we will see how it goes!!!
I hope to set a dozen eggs I also got yesterday...but want to make sure my bator is all ready to go!!
You did luck out as this is a great incubator
I love mine and run it 24/7. However - it isn't as user friendly or "set it and forget it" as the newer ones - BUT, you will have more control over your hatch. I am going to tell you EXACTLY how to use this thing to maximize your hatch rate as far as the climate is involved. Bookmark this for future use, and it is going to be a long one.....
The red vent plugs can stay out 100% of the time. I never have mine in and I have actually drilled two more holes into the top for more ventilation. That's your choice, but this unit has so much water surface area that you'll never be low on humidity (read on)
A lot of new incubators have sliding vents, which allow you to fine tune your humidity. But that is also because they only have one trough for water (a second is available to increase humidity at lockdown). The little giant has 6 water troughs. And I'll explain their relevancy.
Humidity increases with WATER SURFACE AREA, not the total volume of water. So if you have one trough filled completely to the top, your humidity is going to be substantially lower than if you were to have 4 troughs filled 25% full. Same amount of water, but The 4 troughs have more water surface area, and will therefore have higher humidity.
if you look at your LG - you'll see troughs one and six are shaped like an "L" where 2 through 4 are shorter and straight. 1 and 6 have more surface area, 2 through 4 have less.
So follow me here -
1 and 6 are exactly .5 times larger than 2 through 4 in terms of surface area. You will need to run your LG for sometime before putting any eggs in, because you need to learn how many troughs to fill and when. You will only need to do this once, but make sure to take notes.
Before we go any further, you'll want to buy a very good stand alone temp/hygrometer combo unit. This goes for hatching in any hobby incubator. The factory readings are never right, and they are exceptionally bad on the LG. This will not work unless you have a reliable unit (I will link a great, inexpensive one at the end)
Ok - here is what you do.
1.Unplug your LG. Remove the Turner and screen, and wipe out every drop of water. Put it back together. Then the machine on, and let it run dry for at least 12 hours - this will be your zero point.
2.After 12 hours, fill trough #3. Let it run for 2 hours. Come back, and check your humidity level. If this is at your target INCUBATING humidity - you are done with this step. Move to step #4. If the humidity is too low. Repeat step one, and get back to your zero humidity point.
3. Fill trough # 1 (the larger trough) and let it run for a few hours. Check your humidity. If this is again too low, full trough #3. Let it run, and check your humidity. What you are doing now is finding which size combination of troughs is going to give you your desired incubating humidity for me, that is 40% - one large trough.
4. Now that you have your incubating humidity, you'll want to find your lockdown humidity (usually 60-70% for chickens). Repeat the previous steps until you've found your trough combination for lockdown. This is incredibly important, because you don't want to be fiddling around at lockdown. You need to know exactly how many troughs to fill, otherwise - fill too many and you'll be forced to crack the lid to get the humidity down. For me, 2 small troughs (I use 3 and 4) is my lockdown amount. When I remove the Turner, I'll wipe out and dry trough one.
5. After this, note all your settings. You will never need to do this again. I know mine changes slightly as the ambient humidity changes, but the styrofoam container does a great job keeping a lot of what is out from coming in.
ALSO VERY IMPORTANT WITH THE LG!!!! - Your temps are going to vary drastically from when you have the Turner in, to when it is removed because it raises the eggs so much higher, and the heat rises.
- my first hatch failed miserably because I had removed the Turner and didn't account for this - letting it run for 24 hours + way too cold. I have to set my unit almost a full 5 degrees hotter after removing the Turner.
Attached is a picture of my current hatch (quail) and also how I position the eggs with the temp unit.
Anyway, I hope this helps you out.
Here is the Govee unit I recommend.
Limited-time deal: Govee Hygrometer Thermometer H5075, Bluetooth Indoor Room Temperature Monitor Greenhouse Thermometer with Remote App Control, Notification Alerts, 2 Years Data Storage Export,LCD https://a.co/d/12xlgWX
