California - Northern

[Hangtown Farms]

Gosh, this thread moves so fast that by the time I gather all the quates the conversation has moved on!

Love the idea of put the misters on a timer. So far my gang has been ok but I'm gone all day so what do I know? It must not be too bad, I've had two broodies join their broodie sis. They're all from the same hen, who has never gone broodie but boy do her girls. I opened the lid on the laying box to collect eggs and needless to say, there were no uncovered eggs and a lot of bwaaackin! We'll see who sticks of the two new girls. I'm thinking the other one is due in about a week. Dang, I knew I should have written it down! I don't know why I thought I'd remember!!!

Question on the R-com. I thought those that purchase this incubator were buying it over a equally pricey unit like the Brinsea because it held more eggs, but I'm seeing there is under a two dozen capacity. I am disappointed that I can only get 2 dozen in mine. Those of you who chose the R-com, why? What other brands did you look at and why did you choose R-com?

the R-com Max 20 holds 20 eggs. I got mine do the fact that the unit does not turn when the turner is on. The R-com is also heavy duty everything is in 1 unit. fully automated except I have to hit a button to up humidity on day 19 and hit the button to turn off the turner. People I have emailed that have dark eggs have good hatches even on shipped eggs so I thought I would try it.
Sadly it is still empty as I wait for crele penedesenca eggs from someone I know back east lol

 

[Hangtown Farms]

Good Job!

I have the new misters up and the timers set--I should be ready for the heat!

I need a few misters myself. I can set the hose up on 1 run but need to get something set with timers

 

[Happy Chooks]

Mornin' everyone!

 

[MossyoakLane]

One of my girls started singing an egg song this morning! I was so excited...I ran out looking for an egg.....and got a big old fat....nothing!
Dang chicken got me excited for nothing! They will pay for this!

I couldn't tell who was singing. By the time I slipped my shoes on and ran out there it was over. I have 2 that are 21 weeks (partridge wyandotte, australorp) and 2 that are 18 weeks (EE and SLW). No one is squatting when we come into the coop, and none of the are super red in the comb and wattles.

 

[ronott1]

One of my girls started singing an egg song this morning! I was so excited...I ran out looking for an egg.....and got a big old fat....nothing!
Dang chicken got me excited for nothing! They will pay for this!

I couldn't tell who was singing. By the time I slipped my shoes on and ran out there it was over. I have 2 that are 21 weeks (partridge wyandotte, australorp) and 2 that are 18 weeks (EE and SLW). No one is squatting when we come into the coop, and none of the are super red in the comb and wattles.

They will drive you crazy doing the egg song like that!

I had one, on my day off, sing the egg song 4 times that day with no egg. She laid her first egg the next day while I was at work.

You should have an egg soon!

 

[capayvalleychick]

Thanks for asking that question, Pam. I've been trying to compare the Genesis 1588, the Brinsea Octagons and the Rcoms. I like the way that Brinsea has all the info on their units, easy to read & compare. With the Rcoms, it's difficult to figure out the differences between the different units. What are the differences between the Suro, the Max, the Pro?
I appreciate your input on them, Jason. The fact that they don't hold many eggs is disappointing, makes the Brinsea look a little better. The Genesis holds even more eggs, but temps in my non climate controlled house are always fluctuating and that might be a problem for that unit. ???

Love your new avatar, logo, Hangtown Farms!

Stay cool, everyone! Ron, your birds are doing fine.

 

[HighNDryFarm]

Mornin' everyone!

Good morning to you and to all!

 

[Ali707]

One of my girls started singing an egg song this morning! I was so excited...I ran out looking for an egg.....and got a big old fat....nothing!
Dang chicken got me excited for nothing!  They will pay for this!

I couldn't tell who was singing. By the time I slipped my shoes on and ran out there it was over. I have 2 that are 21 weeks (partridge wyandotte, australorp) and 2 that are 18 weeks (EE and SLW). No one is squatting when we come into the coop,  and none of the are super red in the comb and wattles.

I have got a long wait for any egg song. Everyone is still sort of peeping but I did think I heard someones voice dropping this morning to more of a croak. Perhaps a crower will be popping up soon.

I use sand in my big coop and like it much more than shavings. My big coop is open though. Sand is harder in the closed coops as it can get real dusty in there..

I use about 3" of shavings in the others and clean it out weekly.
Sand I scrap like cat pooh and add a bag every few weeks. will really clean it good after 6 months or so.

So with a closed coop open run it sounds like you might recommend something like.....Sand/sweet pdz on the poo board and shavings on the floor of the coop and sand in the run? I need to figure out a way to get some sand delivered for less than a $65 delivery charge.

On the other hand in my old coop my shavings did get wet in the winter in the coop and the floor paid the price. I have no time left to play with the learning curve on linoleum. My goal is to get these guys out of my garage before 2pm today.

My daughters last day of school was yesterday and her daycare is closed so I HAD to take today off.

Good Job!

I have the new misters up and the timers set--I should be ready for the heat!

Sort of a stupid question, but what kind if timers are you using! I have never bought a timer for anything and am hoping to avoid an hour in Ho Depot researching the options.

 

[ronott1]

Thanks for asking that question, Pam. I've been trying to compare the Genesis 1588, the Brinsea Octagons and the Rcoms. I like the way that Brinsea has all the info on their units, easy to read & compare. With the Rcoms, it's difficult to figure out the differences between the different units. What are the differences between the Suro, the Max, the Pro?
I appreciate your input on them, Jason. The fact that they don't hold many eggs is disappointing, makes the Brinsea look a little better. The Genesis holds even more eggs, but temps in my non climate controlled house are always fluctuating and that might be a problem for that unit. ???

Love your new avatar, logo, Hangtown Farms!

Stay cool, everyone! Ron, your birds are doing fine.

Thanks for the update! I checked on the Crele pene and Blue Egg layer pullets yesterday afternoon and the Creles were not panting. 4 of the Blue egg layers were panting a bit but the fifth one was not panting at all. Very good so far.

If you can afford to, get the Brinsea or rcom. The Brinsea has a two year warranty if you register it with them. Yesterday the turner motor failed, so I sent Brinsea an email. A new motor is on it's way to me. In the mean time I am manually turning the eggs, which means rolling the incubator on to the sides of the Octagon--Very simple to do.

One of the SG Dorking eggs quit at lockdown. The other five are in the hatcher(Genesis 1588) and this morning there was the first pip! It is day 21 and the hatching has started.

 

[debs_flock]

Quote: Jason, first.............love your avatar!

I just ordered my misters from Costco.com. I ordered them on Wednesday night and Thursday I got an email they had been shipped. I bought a couple that were 20 ft and three that were 30 ft. The thirty foot one has 16 misters spaced at 2 ft with a 10 ft line to attach. It includes the brackets for hanging and a brass splitter for the hose bib. The 30 footer was $50. It was basically the same price as from the manufacturer, but it includes shipping and I like the Costco return policy. If I don't like them or they don't work after a few mos, I can just pull them down and take them to a warehouse.

They also were not a kit, but preassembled.

When I was researching them on Amazon, the Misty Mate got terrible reviews (plastic mist heads) and the Orbit got great reviews (brass mist heads). Costco carries Misty Mate, but they are the deluxe version units, all brass mist heads.

People complain about some dripping with these systems, of course that is less of a problem with all of our purposes. Nothing a chicken likes better than a nice muddy wallow on a hot day

I'm assuming they'll show up on Monday, so while I'm finishing my baking for fair, I can send DH out to hang them. I do need to order two more, one over the growout pens and one over the turkeys. Yesterday I was outside wetting down the sand in all the runs. Geesh, maybe I'll get a couple more to go around our decks for US! Of course, when I'm too hot, I just move into the A/C.