Colorado

[Pozees]

Have the incubator built. Playing with the thermostat still. It's swinging from 96.9 - 103.7 right now... Gonna let it warm up for a few hours then check again.

Nice! Looking forward to hearing what you have to do to stabilize the temp!

 

[wsmith]

Dont forget to tie it down somehow. I can remember when I was in the military the wind would pick up and they would blow over. Made one heck of a mess.4 pieces of rope and some long stakes goes a long ways in preventing this.

LOL. I saw one go over once with someone inside.....

Wherever we put it, if we even get one, it will be secured. We don't call it Windy Ridge for nothing.....

 

[wsmith]

Nice! Looking forward to hearing what you have to do to stabilize the temp!

I've thought about making a cabinet type, but havent' gotten serious about it yet.

 

[wsmith]

Beth and I had a lady at church yesterday come up to us all excited. It seems her husband finally told her to go ahead and start the process to get chickens. Where they live in Fountain, apparently they have to get HOA approval on their coop, then get a buy-off from the city with chicken number restrictions based on how big their lot is. She now wants to learn all about chickens! She plans on attending ChickenFest too!

 

[kmatt87]

i got a special mix for my girls from the greeley feed elevator, which has to come as mash. I haven't really noticed a preference for vs pellet or crumble, but I hate it. It doesn't move through the holes in on their feed bucket very well. The only reason I got a special mix (layer w/o calcium) is so I could put the little girls out with the big girls and not worry they were getting too much calcium. The big girls have a dish for egg shells and oyster shell. I won't deal with mash again unless I have to.

Where'd you go?

I went to northern colorado feeders supply. Its in ft collins off jefferson and linden

 

[Adam7]

So I had to move the thermostat closer to the bulb but I have the temp cycling from 99.5-101.5 now. Not exactly where I want it but its fairly close. Median temp is 100.5. I'm feeling confident that this is going to work. Now I just have to wait for the stupid RTV to dry that's holding in the light sockets. Next time ill find a different material to glue those in with.

 

[wsmith]

Beth and I drew up these rules / guidelines for ChickenFest 2013 participants over the weekend. Please read through them and give us suggestions for making them complete and still friendly and fun.

ChickenFest 2013 Rules and Guidelines​

Rules pertaining to chickens being displayed or sold:

1. All poultry brought onto Windy Ridge Dominiques must be caged or in crates at all times
2. Hands must be washed or sanitized between handling birds from different flocks
3. No sick or injured birds will be accepted
4. Please display on the cage the breed, gender, age, breeder/owner, and price as applicable. Breed info is a good idea as well.
5. Please provide water and feed containers for your chickens in their cages or crates.
6. No poultry other than Windy Ridge Dominiques poultry will be left on the site when ChickenFest 2013 is done.
7. It would be a good idea to bring boxes or crates that can go home with potential chicken buyers. Be sure boxes or crates have adequate bedding and ventilation as necessary.
8. All sales, applicable taxes, or other fees/permits are the responsibility of the sellers and/or buyers, not Windy Ridge Dominiques.
9. Any eggs for human consumption must be refrigerated in accordance to CDA guidelines. Bring your own coolers with ice if this applies to you. The only exception is for fertile hatching eggs.

Advise for potential chicken buyers at ChickenFest 2013:

1. If you are coming to potentially buy chickens, make sure you are prepared to take them home that day, or make arrangements with the seller.
2. Bring your own box or crate if you can to take your chickens home in.
3. Have food, water, and a coop or brooder (young chicks) ready for when you take them home.
4. There will be several experienced chicken keepers and chicken breeders at ChickenFest 2013. If you have a question, ask. There are many different opinions and methods regarding chicken keeping, so listen and then decide which one will work best for you and your flock.

Guidelines for exhibitors and sellers:

1. Do not mislead potential customers. Be honest and truthful
2. Identify your items if you can with labels.
3. Attach price tags as applicable
4. Provide yourself a table or bench, etc on which to display your items
5. Bring a chair to sit on. We have some, but probably not enough.
6. Provide informational literature about your chickens or products if you can. This will help potential customers.
7. Clean up after yourselves.
8. Do not get into arguments or disagreements. Keep this fun.

Games and activities rules/guidelines

1. HAVE FUN
2. Windy Ridge Dominiques will provide chicks as prizes for game participation. If you do not want a chick, or cannot accept one, you will be recognized as the winner of the particular contest, and your chick given to the next highest score if they can accept it, and so on. We just don’t have a budget for prizes.
3. Food judging will be informal. This is meant to be a fun event, so don’t get overly competitive. It’s for fun.
4. Rules for each game/activity will be posted near the game location, or read to the contestants when the game begins.

 

[Adam7]

Now it's to 98.7-101.3. I might leave it there.. That's pretty darn close. Average temp is 100 now.

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

So I had to move the thermostat closer to the bulb but I have the temp cycling from 99.5-101.5 now. Not exactly where I want it but its fairly close. Median temp is 100.5. I'm feeling confident that this is going to work. Now I just have to wait for the stupid RTV to dry that's holding in the light sockets. Next time ill find a different material to glue those in with.

Maybe adding another fan would help? I never built one but it seems the point of the fan is to keep all the air even temp.

Just a thought... :/

 

[wsmith]

Maybe adding another fan would help? I never built one but it seems the point of the fan is to keep all the air even temp.

Just a thought...

That was my understanding as well. Mine is a GQF with circulated air. The temp still varies about 1 degree, but maintains 100 F pretty well. If you are that close, give it a try and see how it works out.

Next time we get some "expired" Pro-Seal sealant at work, I will grab it and give it to whoever wants it (it's not that often we get expired product, as it is VERY expensive, so it is tightly comtroled). It can also take a while to cure, but it is much better than RTV for many applications. We use various kinds of it for sealing Aircraft fuel tanks and the cabin pressure vessel.