Simulated Natural Nest Incubation~Experiment #1 So it begins....

[foxvalleyfarm]

Elorraine52:  Regarding incubating in a house with wood heat.  I did it successfully last spring by putting the incubator in a room distant from the wood stove.  I tucked it at the back of my kitchen counter, so it had walls on 2 sides, kept a bunch of towels handy to wrap it in at night when the temp. dropped.  I did pay a bit more attention to the wood stove, but it was only for 3 weeks. 

Re: water wigglers and feather dusters:  Not every Walmart is equally blessed.  I turned the store upside down in my area looking for both.  My poor husband.  He was following me through the store while I looked for feather dusters, when I didn't find one, I said, well, let's go look for a feather boa instead.  Now, he thought either I'd totally taken a turn around the bend toward crazyville... or his evening was going to get pretty interesting!  When I explained my purpose, he just shook his head, gave me the "look" and said "Uh-huh, that figures!"

So, instead of using a feather duster or a boa for a fake hen in the brooder, I'm thinking of using a bunch of polar fleece strips, loosely fashioned into a hanging chicken belly.  Given the winter that we've had, I think the fleece would be more appropriate!

The last time I checked, incubator warehouse had bimetal thermostat kits for around $16.

I had a similar experience when mine picked me up from the store yesterday. I had a heating pad, feather boa, meat thermometers, dirt, and water ballons. I also had 3 easter baskets. He gave me a questioning look so I said "For the chickens." He just shook his head and said "I shoulda known."

 

[spaceylocust]

Hilarious!! My husband would have wanted me to model said boa and get pictures to boot! This whole experiment has been very interesting and illuminating as well as educational. We're currently stuck in a concrete jungle

but I'm trying to shorten the learning curve for when we set up our homestead.

Bee, and everyone else, thanks for being so transparent in your successes and failures! Your willingness to share is much appreciated.

 

[lazy gardener]

I was planning to use the fleece for a fake broody, in addition to the heat lamp in the brooder. Basically as a comfort for the chicks to snuggle under, not necessarily as a heat source.

I mentioned the bimetal thermostats just in case anyone wanted to make an incubator... totally unrelated events. I wouldn't use the thermostat and mess with the wiring of a heating pad, but have one of the thermostats in my home made incubator. It holds temp well. Hubby did the wiring for me! Yes, we used Rush Lane's tutorial when putting the bator together.

 

[subhanalah]

I guess it just depends whose farm we're talking about.
For instance, I have spare thermostats laying around, but have never in my whole adult life had balloons or water balloons in it.

As for using fleece, keep in mind it's plastic and doesn't breath well at all, and may suffocate your eggs.

 

[lazy gardener]

Fleece would only be used in the brooder after hatch, and then only under direct supervision. My incubator is a standard foam box, kept as sterile as possible.

 

[subhanalah]

I someone else was talking about using it in their incubator, I could be wrong though!

 

[Tomtommom]

Bee, Googling around a bit about woodstove incubating, I found this. Perhaps it gives some more ideas:

"In the early 80's I knew an old woman in Western North Carolina She lived where Fairfield's Apple Valley is today above Lake Lure NC. She used a shoebox slid under a woodstove for an incubator. This is how she did it:
A shoebox with a cut piece of car tire inner tube lining the bottom. About 2 inches of river sand on top of that, water added to make the sand moist. using an egg she would make 2 depressions in the sand for each egg so when she rolled the egg from depression to depression it would turn the egg 180 degrees. In these she put her eggs and put a lid on it. With her bare foot she would feel the floor next to the woodstove. Her bare foot was the only thermometer she ever used. sliding the box to where " It just feels right " . She never used a calendar. She would roll the eggs before Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and before bed. This was her daily ritual until she heard the peeping from the eggs when she would stop turning them. The next day and the day after she removed her chicks with a perfect hatch rate every time.
This Lady was 92 years old when I met her.
She passed away 2 years later at age 94."

 

[coop410silkies]

Bee, Googling around a bit about woodstove incubating, I found this. Perhaps it gives some more ideas:


"In the early 80's I knew an old woman in Western North Carolina She lived where Fairfield's Apple Valley is today above Lake Lure NC. She used a shoebox slid under a woodstove for an incubator. This is how she did it:

A shoebox with a cut piece of car tire inner tube lining the bottom. About 2 inches of river sand on top of that, water added to make the sand moist. using an egg she would make 2 depressions in the sand for each egg so when she rolled the egg from depression to depression it would turn the egg 180 degrees. In these she put her eggs and put a lid on it. With her bare foot she would feel the floor next to the woodstove. Her bare foot was the only thermometer she ever used. sliding the box to where " It just feels right " . She never used a calendar. She would roll the eggs before Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and before bed. This was her daily ritual until she heard the peeping from the eggs when she would stop turning them. The next day and the day after she removed her chicks with a perfect hatch rate every time.
This Lady was 92 years old when I met her.

She passed away 2 years later at age 94."

What a wonderful story and such a timely reminder of how much of our human heritage we are losing every day!

 

[dolfi]

Bee, Googling around a bit about woodstove incubating, I found this. Perhaps it gives some more ideas:


"In the early 80's I knew an old woman in Western North Carolina She lived where Fairfield's Apple Valley is today above Lake Lure NC. She used a shoebox slid under a woodstove for an incubator. This is how she did it:

A shoebox with a cut piece of car tire inner tube lining the bottom. About 2 inches of river sand on top of that, water added to make the sand moist. using an egg she would make 2 depressions in the sand for each egg so when she rolled the egg from depression to depression it would turn the egg 180 degrees. In these she put her eggs and put a lid on it. With her bare foot she would feel the floor next to the woodstove. Her bare foot was the only thermometer she ever used. sliding the box to where " It just feels right " . She never used a calendar. She would roll the eggs before Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and before bed. This was her daily ritual until she heard the peeping from the eggs when she would stop turning them. The next day and the day after she removed her chicks with a perfect hatch rate every time.
This Lady was 92 years old when I met her.

She passed away 2 years later at age 94."

that was a very caching story. I can see my grandparents doing something similar. Good old days. Now with all the technology and we usually don't get perfect hatch

 

[foxvalleyfarm]

When I was a kid my grandma put 4 eggs in an old shoe of my grandpa's and put it by the fire place. She'd turn them when she remembered and believe it or not all 4 hatched.