cheap/free incubator for classrooms

[kimf]

I am new to chickens (have 7 5 week olds) and have fallen completely in love!! I wanted chickens for years and finally convinced DH to get some. What I want now, in addition to more chickens, is a roo, but DH says NO!! But...I have a plan.

I have my 7th grader's biology teacher wanting to hatch eggs in the spring. She still needs to get approval, but wants to do it.

So, I figure we get 50/50 pullets/cockrels and raise them until maturity. Maybe, just maybe, one of the roos will be "quietish" and I can talk DH into keeping one.

So, now I need to get the teacher an incubator......can I get a free one from anywhere...since it's education, or a discounted one??

 

[JulieNKC]

Check with a local 4-h, they may have one they'd be willing to lend the teacher.

 

[cmom]

I agree or your local FFA too. Good luck...

I have some Roos and they really only crow in the morning. I have asked my neighbors if their crowing bothers them and they all said no they like to hear them crow probably because they mainly do it in the morning (they start about 4:30AM till sunup). Once in a great while they will crow during the day but a neighbor has a Roo that crows so I think when they crow during the day it is because they hear him crowing but it's not too often.

I just sold some chicks for an FFA project.

 

[rancher hicks]

With all due respect and as a spouse, I have to ask. What if the tables were turned? How would you feel? To get a rooster knowing your husband is against it isn't right. When I retired I asked DW what she thought of my getting some chickens. She thankfully agreed. She doesn't take care of them and refuses, she won't even collect eggs. But they are mine and she's only true to our agreement.

So even though I don't think you can get a cheap incubator or a free one, I could be wrong, but to get a rooster when you know your husband doesn't want one could cause more trouble than a rooster is worth.

I have several roosters but so far no trouble, with the neighbors nor DW. Of course the number does ebb and flow. They crow to declare their territory and anything can set them off.

I say give it time and perhaps your husband will come around. Your new to chickens and perhaps in time he'll see the virtue of chickens. If he's a "he- man", he might see a big rooster that strikes his fancy. I have a friend whose husband only cares about their big RIR rooster.

I wish you the best,

Rancher

 

[debs_flock]

Quote:
She didn't say she was going to get one and "husband be d@mned". She said she wanted to hatch some eggs and "Maybe, just maybe, one of the roos will be "quietish" and I can talk DH into keeping one."

Fortunately, my husband and I see eye to eye about animals, we both love them all. If anything, we're a dangerous combo, one could say.........let's get a pet wolverine and the other would smile and say OK! Also thankfully, that scenario hasn't yet been tested. But with our dogs, cat, sheep, alpaca, llama, 100's of tropical frogs, geckos, chickens, mantids, finches...............who knows what is next?

Deb

 

[kimf]

Quote:
I appreciate you point. I would never keep a roo against his wishes. My hope is he will "come around."

When we started the whole "chicken project," as he calls it, he wanted NOTHing to do with the chicks. When they arrived he couldn't leave them alone.

Now that they are feathering he is not quite as smitten, but still wants to give treats and hold them.

My hope is that we get a quieter roo so he realizes not all roos crow all the time. If he still says no, I will stick to day old chicks.....but eggs to hatch would be a bonus!

 

[cmom]

My DH didn't want any boys either but I had ordered some pullet chicks and one of the pullets turned out to be a he but the hatcheries guarantee is 90%. My DH eventually decided he really liked him and even named him. Now we have 3 boys we keep and we sell the boy chicks. We are including another breed in our flocks so I guess we will need a couple of more boys. We were hatching eggs for other people and we still do but now we are also hatching our own eggs which he didn't want to do either but now he asks "when is the next hatch due?" I respect my DH but I need respect too. I don't usually tell him what he can and can't do and originally we both wanted pullets which we got but when they got older and slowed down on their egg production we decided to get more and that is when we got our first boy. Now we keep a flock of around 100 birds (some are for breeding) and people love to come up and see them. My husband loves to take people out to look at them but I am their care giver. He does not clean coops, rake up the poop, feed and water them, or collect the eggs, separate and weigh the eggs for either hatching or for our customers who buy our eggs but he does give them treats.

 

[slim1986]

Murry Mcmurry hatchery has a small 3 egg incubator for $17 and some change idk how much 3 eggs would help, but it is a cheap incubator good for classrooms, and take your husband down to a poultry swap or auction somewhere that does birds, "just to look around" find a beautiful rooster and point it out! That's how I've talked my wife into more ducks and chickens!

if he sees how gorgeous a roo can be he might find one he likes! Problem solved!

 

[blueggsandspam]

You could always make one cheap.

 

[Chris Herzog]

Kim,
I’m new to having chickens also. I’ve had mine now for just over 5 months and I’m waiting to get my first eggs here shortly, very exciting. Personally I never wanted any roosters but I do love the way they look. So anyway with my first McMurray order I ended up with one. I decided what the heck and kept him just to watch him grow. I have a 2yr old little girl and was always a little worried when both she and all the chickens (free ranging) were in the yard together. As a young chick the roo was no different than the pullets and so I thought roosters aren’t to bad and ended up with a second older one someone gave me. This one was about 6 months old. Well with-in two weeks he jumped on my daughter. Didn’t do anything to her but scare her a little, he is now gone. Ironically this past Thursday the other rooster at 5 months old walked up to me while I was bent over petting one of the hens and pecked at the back of my hand hard enough to draw blood. I walked in the barn and my wife asked what happen to my hand when she saw the blood dripping off of it and I said nothing but now that rooster is gone as well. Both of these roos were Easter eggers…calm roos, right, now they are someone else’s problem.

I don’t know if you have kids or not but this is just food for thought since your new like me and the noise really isn’t bad at all, I actually like that part.

As for an incubator, I have a home made incubator that you can have for a class room if you pay the shipping from New Orleans to FL. but it might just be cheaper in the long run for you to make one if the free be thing doesn’t pan out for you. If you’re interested I’ll send you some pics of it. I have not hatched anything out of it but have not tried yet, that is not why I built it. The eggs I had in it are now in another incubator I own with an auto egg turner but it worked well until I moved the eggs.

Chris