Little Giant Improvement

[woodenegg]

Thought I would pass this on.  I have preferred the little giant over the hovabator but it has had a couple of drawbacks.  The first is that the hovabator egg turner won't fit and the second is the bottom is to shallow making chick transfers difficult and the water trays are too small.  I have siliconed the bottom and added tubes to allow the use of most of the bottom for water, but it has been an imperfect fix.  I found a source for the old square hovabator bottoms and bought one with the removable plastic tray.  This gave me the depth in the bottom to keep active chicks from jumping ship when I moved them out to the brooder, gave me an easy cleaning solution and good water area for humidity.  All I needed to do to make the little giant top fit was a little light sanding to reduce the tops outside dimension by about 1/8" and then it fits tight as a drum.  This cost me around $12 and is working great.  Now the hovabator turner fits and everyone is happy.

[sp2207]

I remember when the hova-bator didn't have sides on the bottom of their incubators. they were round. thats going back about 25 years.i remember opening the incubator and having all the quail running all over the place.Iam glad that you found a way to figure it out and wish you well with the best hatches you plan. Scot

[RedOakGamebirds]

I remember the round ones too and they were nothing but a problem when it came to getting the chicks out.  The new Hovabators have rounded corners and are much larger now making it nearly impossible for the birds to jump out.  The turners werent meant to be used for the Little Giant but they can be made to work easily by taking a little bit of the foam off at the back.  That was the old style ones, not sure about the new ones.  The new water trays are also larger and every incubator comes with a removable plastic liner for easy cleaning now.  As you can see I prefer the Hovabator over the Little Giant but I'm not putting down the Little Giant either.  They are good quality too.  I've just been using the Hovabator for over 20 years and hatched out hundreds of thousands of chicks with them.  The new ones are better built and the new electronic thermostat models are excellent for those that dont want the hassle of keeping a close eye on the temperature.  Just hard to find parts and accessories for the Little Giant over the Hovabator.  For cabinet incubators Dickies are excellent all the way.  I've sold Hovabators probably 4 to 1 over the Little Giant.  Over the past 20 years I've only had to replace one thermostat in the Hovabator and I have 16 of them running as well as the cabinets and the commercial incubators. 

[deadeye1]

I have 2 hovabatorsand 2 Little Giants and i did have trouble getting the chicks out of both of them as they would jump out b/4 i could get the cover back on.I no longer take the cover off ,but remove the plastic windows and wear light gloves to protect your hands from the heating elements or pull the plug(shut off electric)Don't forget to plug back in or your remaining chicks and eggs will perish.I like them and used them for 5 years.I use the little giants for hatchers mostly and incubation when i am pressed for space.I favor the hovabators for incubation because of the ease of adjusting the wafers and easier to replace when needed.Dave