Recent content by tantor

Agriculture is exempt from the shutdown. If the feed plants shut down, it's because they want to. Ask me how I know. I found out 3-4 weeks ago that I'm an essential employee. Today is 15 days straight averaging 50-60 hours a week. And I've never gotten paid for my eggs either. I raise them for...

Get a cheap LED flashlight, the higher the lumens the better. Sit the egg directly on the flashlight. I have Austrolorps and some of them lay a darker egg than others. It's not perfect, but it works.

As a matter of fact, it does!

Yes, I do too. My incubator is made out of an old Starbucks display cooler. I just took the fan out and turned it around so that it blows into the fridge not against a back wall.

2 40 watt appliance bulbs. I might could have gotten away with 1 but I figure if one goes out the other will work until I can get it changed. I used appliance bulbs hoping they would be a little "tougher" than standard incandescent bulbs. I don't know if they are or not.

I have one in my homemade incubator. I have hatched 2 batches out of the incubator. Yes, Mine seems to be fairly accurate.

I have 20 something Australorps and all the hens are wonderful mothers. If anything, they are too good. I have to keep trying to break them from going broody in the summer. I don't want that many chicks!

It had a little hole in the bottom where a drain line exited. I didn't use the drain but I left the hole there and I drilled a 2" hole in the top right corner so I could run the power cord for the turner and the cord for one of the hygrometers. It also had a couple of small holes for the old...

Thank you. It was a lot of fun to build. I wasn't expecting that good of a hatch rate. Maybe I should quit while I'm ahead!

I don't get on here as much as I'd like to but I lurk from time to time. I just wanted to share my new(to me) incubator and the results. I took an old Starbucks refrigerator and gutted it, saving the wires, the fan and the racks and made my incubator. I used 2 ceramic light sockets with 40 watt...

My coop is an 8x12 building with an 8x20 fully enclosed run arrached on the East end. I have a little pass through door that the birds go back and forth. It is never closed. I have human doors on the coop and the run. I built my coop so I could section off part of it and keep the feed and other...

On another thread, someone had mentioned using a STC-1000 temperature controller. Last week I stumbled across a MH1210F, which I think is the very same unit except it measures in Fahrenheit instead of Celsius. Oh, and they are about $4-$5 cheaper too. I was wondering if anyone had used this one...

I have 3 broodies right now, 1 who should hatch Thursday or Friday, 1 who should hatch Saturday or Sunday and 1 who is about 10 days out, not sure on her date. I also have 1 other who wants too but I keep taking her off the nest. My problem is they play musical nests. 2 are easy to tell who goes...

Well, as an unscientific reply, I have 10 birds at the present, 1 rooster and 9 hens. I have 1 hen due to hatch in 5 days ,one in 8 days, 1 in about 12 days and 1 I keep throwing out of anothers nest or my last remaining nesting box. They are 2 Austrolorps, 1 that I think is a Columbian...

When I built my coop, I installed a male inlet on the outside so I could run an extension cord so that I could run electricity to it in the winter for heated water or any other time for temporary service. After having the girls(and 1 boy) in there for about a month, I realize how dusty it is. I...