Question 1: What is the difference between the Little Giant incubator and the Hova-Bator incubator?
Answer: Both incubators hold the same quantity of eggs. There are a few differences. First, the thermostats are very different. The Hova-Bator uses a mechanical wafer-style thermostat. It works great but you will need to install it (not very difficult and comes with good instructions) and setting the correct temperature is just a little trickier than the Little Giant. But once it is set, it has proven to be a very good and reliable thermostat. The Little Giant has an electronic thermostat that comes preinstalled and is just a little simpler to adjust. One other difference is that the Hova-Bator comes with an easy to clean sanitary liner for the bottom of the incubator. The Little Giant does not.
Question 2: How much should I turn the thermostat screw to adjust the temperature on my Hova-Bator 1602N egg incubator?
Answer: Turn the adjustment screw one full turn in the direction indicated to raise or lower the temperature depending on which direction you need the temperature to go. Then wait for the incubator temperature to stabilize. See how much the temperature changes and then adjust accordingly.
Question 3: What happens when one chick hatches and the others haven't yet. If the auto turn is on, what do the first couple of hatched chicks do?
This is a great question! How it works is that when hatching eggs, about three days before they are set to hatch, you are suppose to STOP turning them. At that point, you remove the turner and just leave the eggs sitting on the wire mesh floor that is inside the incubator. This is what they will hatch on.
Question 4: What if I have eggs in my incubator that started incubating on different days?
Answer: This is a common problem for people who hatch eggs from their own birds. One solution is to simply remove the egg rack just from the section of your egg turner that has the eggs that need to stop being turned. This will open up some space in your incubator to lay the eggs on the wire screen. As the chicks hatch, they should not be much of a bother to the eggs that are still being turned. Just remove the chicks as they dry and place them in your brooder and let the other eggs in the turner keep on turning!
Question 5:The red light stays on, indicating that the heater is staying on, but the incubator won't get warm enough. What do I do?
Answer: Either the heater is not working properly or perhaps the room temperature is too cold for the heat generated by the incubator.
Question 6: Do I need a forced-air fan for my incubator?
Answer: No. But most folks agree that a fan kit will increase the hatch-rate of your eggs. It does this by keeping the temperature more uniform throughout the incubator. The warm spots and cool spots are minimized so your thermometer is a better representation of the temperature of each egg.
Question 7: I have a forced-air fan...should the fan always be on?
Answer: Yes! This allows the air to continue to move and stay a uniform temperature. It will help the heating and cooling cycle have a lesser impact on the temperature swing inside the incubator.
Question 8: Can I use this incubator to hatch reptiles?
Answer: You bet! Many of our customers use both the Little Giant or Hova-Bator to hatch eggs. Just remember that you do not need a fan kit for reptiles. A still-air incubator is all you need.
Question 9: What if I need replacement parts?
Answer: See our Replacment Parts section or contact us via phone or email. We have most replacement parts in stock. We also have some gently used and parts from less-than-perfect incubators and turners.
Question 10: Is there any kind of warranty for the Hova-Bator egg incubator?
Answer: Our 1-Year Hassle Free Guarantee covers everything we sell!