# First Time Incubating...Advice???



## Cowgirlchickie (May 10, 2014)

Hi!!  So I finally got an incubator after wanting one for months. It's a Little Giant 9200 Still Air 40 watt incubator. It's awesome! This is my first time incubating, so I need some help. I have it all set up already with eggs in it. There Silkie/Polish eggs. I know, weird lol. But our Polish rooster LOVES my Silkie hens. I have it set at the right humidity,temperature, ect. I know after about 21 days they'll hatch. And I know I have to turn them every 8 hours...is that correct? Any other advice will be greatly appreciated since this is my first time!! 

I have attached some photos of it, with only one egg in there so far.






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~Maddi
Sent from my iPhone using Chicken Forum


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Other than your incubator its very important to know that what you are using to measure temps and humidity is accurate. Too many failures are a result of inaccurate measuring instruments. 

Now you need to keep everybody posted on how your first hatch goes. And just so you know, the hatch after that and the hatch after that is just as exciting as the first.


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## Cowgirlchickie (May 10, 2014)

robin416 said:


> Other than your incubator its very important to know that what you are using to measure temps and humidity is accurate. Too many failures are a result of inaccurate measuring instruments.
> 
> Now you need to keep everybody posted on how your first hatch goes. And just so you know, the hatch after that and the hatch after that is just as exciting as the first.


 Yes, our thermometer is working well. Right temperature, thank you. I will definitely keep everyone posted!! There gonna be some funny looking chicks  lol

~Maddi
Sent from my iPhone using Chicken Forum


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Cowgirlchickie said:


> Yes, our thermometer is working well. Right temperature, thank you. I will definitely keep everyone posted!! There gonna be some funny looking chicks  lol
> 
> ~Maddi
> Sent from my iPhone using Chicken Forum


How do you know its accurate? Did you check it against something is known to be correct. The mineral spirit thermos are notorious for being wrong,


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## Cowgirlchickie (May 10, 2014)

robin416 said:


> How do you know its accurate? Did you check it against something is known to be correct. The mineral spirit thermos are notorious for being wrong,


Yup! It's all good, thank you 

~Maddi
Sent from my iPhone using Chicken Forum


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

Good to hear. Hang on to it, don't let anybody touch it because its so darned hard to find units that are accurate.


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## Cowgirlchickie (May 10, 2014)

robin416 said:


> Good to hear. Hang on to it, don't let anybody touch it because its so darned hard to find units that are accurate.


Hahaha I'll keep it hidden!  

~Maddi
Sent from my iPhone using Chicken Forum


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## LittleWings (Jul 15, 2013)

Do you have a hygrometer?


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## hellofromtexas (Feb 16, 2014)

Good luck. 

Be careful and precise with all the numbers and don't let them drive you crazy. It's simpler on paper than in real life.


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## hildar (Oct 3, 2013)

Is that a good position for the thermometer??? I have always had my thermometer on top of the eggs not along the side like that.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

You're right, Hildar, I didn't catch that. 

Maddi, one of the issues with a still air incubator is that it has hot and cold spots. The outer edge is always cooler than in the center. Its recommended that when turning to rotate the eggs on the outside edge in to the middle and to move the middle to the outside to try to keep development balanced. 

Where you have the thermo right now could very well be a degree or two lower than the center.


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## Hencackle (Apr 30, 2014)

Most everybody has started out with a styrofoam incubator--I did. A Little Giant with no turner or fan. However, have a good quality thermometer and hygrometer will make a world of difference.

I got the wet/dry bulb hygrometer, Brinsea Spot-Chek digital thermometer, and a water weasel. When the probe of the thermometer is inserted inside the water weasel, it the temperature it then measures is that of the egg's interior where it counts the most. The air temperature will be different, of course, but you need to go by the egg temperature. The water weasel itself needs to be at the same level as the eggs also. I ordered mine from this website.

Any styrofoam incubator's temperature will be affected by the ambient room temperature also. That's the reason it's suggested it be placed out of drafts and away from doors or windows. It should be where the room's temperature stays the most stable. A lot of people have put the incubator in a closet or guest bathroom.

When I had my Little Giant, I incubated small batches, around 6-10 eggs at a time, so there was a lot of empty space inside the incubator. Air is a poorer conductor of heat than liquid, so I placed hard plastic "blue ice" packs in the empty areas. Same principal of a full incubator performing better than one that has a few eggs.

A still air incubator should not have those red plugs inserted into the vent holes until day 18. Styrofoam tends to keep the humidity too high during the time the egg needs to lose just enough moisture for the air cell to enlarge to the proper size. I suggest reading Bill Worell's Dry Incubation article. I did not even have to add water to the water wells until day 18 because it tends to be humid in the Spring where I live. (I do have to add water to the hard plastic, forced air incubator that I now use)

Candle the eggs and pencil in the air cell location before you put the eggs in the incubator. That will be your reference point. Google Images for "egg air cell chart" to see what size it should be in relation to to time.

Sorry if I told you stuff you may already know....we never know who might be lurking, hoping to learn something but are too shy to post a question.


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## dado150 (Mar 11, 2014)

You can add a fan from a computer case to circulate the air by getting a cell phone charger & wire it to the fan. Then mount it to the lid . Use a couple small spacers between the lid & fan so it can draw air. Good luck


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## mpgo4th (Apr 19, 2013)

I still use a cheap foam incubator. It the farm innovators not the little giant but they are pretty much the same. I have had great hatches out of this thing. I inserted a meat thermometer through the lid at egg height and that is the one I go by. I know it sounds cheap and too simple but I'm on my 4th hatch this spring and have only had 2 eggs fail late in the game. I keep it in my basement bathroom and add water to one try for the first 18 days, then fill them all up for lockdown.


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## robin416 (Sep 8, 2013)

mpgo4th said:


> I still use a cheap foam incubator. It the farm innovators not the little giant but they are pretty much the same. I have had great hatches out of this thing. I inserted a meat thermometer through the lid at egg height and that is the one I go by. I know it sounds cheap and too simple but I'm on my 4th hatch this spring and have only had 2 eggs fail late in the game. I keep it in my basement bathroom and add water to one try for the first 18 days, then fill them all up for lockdown.


I used my GQF for years with very good success. Nothing wrong with them at all. I switched because I was so over loaded with other things in my life I kept forgetting to check the humidity.


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