Australia - Six states..and that funny little island.

[IamSamSam]

Beautiful Fancy. Love your Quacker (6yo called it)

 

[cwrite]

Great article Lukas

 

[cluckcluckluke]

Great article Lukas

Thank you very much

.

 

[Fancychooklady]

AMAZING pictures!!!!!!!!!!
Those chicks are adorable!!!!

Wonderful pictures but where is his companion???

Don't worry Lucas, Walt is just out of frame. The duck goes into panic mode if it can't see him. Here's Walt checking out the new chicks.

And momma keeping an eye on Walt.

 

[cluckcluckluke]

Quote:
That's good

.
Walt is really getting big there.

 

[my2wings]

Ok.... Incubators...!!!

Looking at getting an incubator.... e Maybe like a 48 egg sized one.... Maybe around the $100 ($150 max) price range.... Any recommendations? Any that I should particularly stay away from? (Newbie... Never hatched before )

I have seen lots on eBay.... One in particular I was looking at...a JN8-48.... Yellow lid with 4 viewing holes in the top, auto turning, etc... But it doesn't look as though you can set the humidity for like 'auto regulating the humidity' like you can with the temp controls. Is this a problem? I'm in SE QLD and humidity can rage wildly within the space of 24hrs let alone 21 days and I can't be sitting there monitoring it throughout the day.... So this is my biggest concern with a model like this... Is that a reasonable concern or am I being too over protective of the whole process? :/

Any suggestions please?

Thank you

 

[Fancychooklady]

That's good .
Walt is really getting big there.

Yeah, now that there is no danger of the hawk getting them they are free ranging in the garden. I thought for sure the duck would have found the river by now.
Walt 's a cool dude, walks all over my feet when I'm feeding them, hops up on my knee. Looks like I'll have to create a cross breeds pen in order to keep him.
Bosom buddies.

 

[Fancychooklady]

Ok.... Incubators...!!!

Looking at getting an incubator.... e Maybe like a 48 egg sized one.... Maybe around the $100 ($150 max) price range.... Any recommendations? Any that I should particularly stay away from? (Newbie... Never hatched before )

I have seen lots on eBay.... One in particular I was looking at...a JN8-48.... Yellow lid with 4 viewing holes in the top, auto turning, etc... But it doesn't look as though you can set the humidity for like 'auto regulating the humidity' like you can with the temp controls. Is this a problem? I'm in SE QLD and humidity can rage wildly within the space of 24hrs let alone 21 days and I can't be sitting there monitoring it throughout the day.... So this is my biggest concern with a model like this... Is that a reasonable concern or am I being too over protective of the whole process? :/

Any suggestions please?

Thank you

I have that one and I wouldn't recommend it. The temp & humidity were fine once it was re calibrated , but the auto egg turner on both of mine packed it in within days of being turned on.
If you decide to buy it , get it through OO online website , at least they honored the warranty and refunded my money.

 

[Bens-Hens]

Very cool Fancy Like feathered Milo and Otis!

@my2wings Incubators are a personal choice, but I often hear negative things about those JN type incubators. It's natural to say that the more you pay now the better product you will have in the long run.

The path we chose was not the cheapest, but it was affordable. We scoured the gumtree and trading post to find a still air incubator, Hova-bator brand was what we started with (manual turn, manual temp). For our first hatch we followed the directions. We got the unit for $70 second hand, got it home, scrubbed it (again) and then spent a couple of days setting it up. I also had to buy a separate thermometer and hygrometer (cheap ones from Jaycar)

We had pretty good success with a batch of local eggs. Second time we used it I modified it with a computer fan, and again had good results, but I was tired of the three times a day turn.

4th hatch I ordered some parts from Incubator Warehouse in the states and a new remote hygrometer/thermometer, cost just over $100 landed. I then made my own foam box, with auto turner and have hatched in that twice now, using the old incubator as a hatcher. Took a while to get there but we made it in the end, if we had have known what we know now, we could have spent about $300 or so on a full auto incubator in the beginning and be in the same place.....just without the fun and satisfaction of making your own chick producing box!

Good luck, once you start it's hard to stop!

 

[Fancychooklady]

Good advise Ben. I wish I had asked around before I bought mine. The best I've ever done with that model was 50% hatch. Kinda turned me off . So I'm back to good old Mother Nature. 100% hatch rate 14 from 14 from this little lady.