Consolidated Kansas

[JosieChick]

Maidenwolf- There is a free Omaha steaks cooler on KC craigslist. It is in KC but I didn't know if your DH worked up that way or if you had a family member in that direction. Figured it was worth mentioning!

 

[ppimf]

Danz says the company is reputable. It LOOKS like a Little Giant with a plastic outer shell. IF it is a L G upgraded, and the temp*control* is the same, then that would be the one possible problem area ( and some reviews Trish found goes along with that); I have some hints on how to deal with that and I am sure Danz does also. If you have the time to monitor it, it could be a nice cheap incubator to use.

My first incubator was a LG still air from an auction I paid $15 for (complete with egg shell remains from hatched chicks). It hatched a LOT of ducks and geese (I didn't know they "wouldn't hatch waterfowl") like people say, so I just put the eggs in, watched the temps, and the eggs hatched, close to 100%.

I used the cheap "baby" thermometors from Dollar General and have NEVER owned or used a hygrometor. I know nothing about humidity percentages. At hatch, I added moisture in various ways until there was condensation on the view windows. Seemed to work well considering the good hatches I have had.

so how do u deal with the temp control. i was thinking that the hard outer sides would help with my flexuating house temps. i would not be around to really watch it other than at 5 am i leave and back at 3pm so it will have to work good enough that, what brand do u think i should get then.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

Well I was at my MIL's this evening and went out to the garage to grab some grocery sacks and there sitting on the floor as if it was there for me to see,, a large styro med cooler. It is the size of the one HEChicken pictured. I grabbed it and asked if she needed it and she said she was just going to have my FIL throw it out today and so now I am the owner of the first piece to my new incubator.. Now hunting down the other pieces.

 

[cherwill]

I need to get a picture of my girls, they're so fluffed out most of the time they look twice as big as they really are. Also, for those of you who remember my worries about Old Sophia, she seems to be better. The consensus was that it looked like some kind of reproductive problem and really all we did was just continue to love her and hope she wasn't in pain. Her abdomen is still larger and hangs lower than the other birds (but she is a larger bird than the other BOs anyway) and she still looks like things aren't quite normal. However, she looks much less rough than she did, the feathers have grown back where her belly had been bare and she's laid the occasional egg.

Oh no!! Have you thought about doing a couple kinds of lasagna? We did that one year for a Christmas work party we hosted. I think we did four 13 by 9 pans of lasagna, a huge bowl of salad, garlic bread and brownies for dessert. It was a huge hit! I think we had 25ish people and still had some leftovers. I went to Sams club to get stuff like a big tub of ricotta and the shredded cheese because we needed so much of it. It was quick to make because we prepped everything the night before and put it in the fridge and cooked it the day of the party. Good luck!!

That would have been a great idea! I wish I'd whined about this earlier!

They wanted something they don't normally get to eat so DH decided on some braised dishes. We have a lot of beef in the freezer and I braise it with onions and beer, and he's been raving over chicken thighs lately and also wants me to do some of those with bacon and onions. Can't argue with that -- bacon makes everything better! We'll add a big tray of roasted veggies and some rolls, and they want blueberry cobbler for dessert. I think that's going to be manageable, but lasagna would have been so nice because it could be done way ahead. I'll keep that in mind for next time, thanks for the idea. Who doesn't love lasagna?

Well I was at my MIL's this evening and went out to the garage to grab some grocery sacks and there sitting on the floor as if it was there for me to see,, a large styro med cooler. It is the size of the one HEChicken pictured. I grabbed it and asked if she needed it and she said she was just going to have my FIL throw it out today and so now I am the owner of the first piece to my new incubator.. Now hunting down the other pieces.

Nice! I love when things start to come together like that, especially when you're not even expecting it.

 

[mommahen10]

Hi all! Life has been way too busy. I'm 275 posts behind, I'll try to get caught back up. My dh just finished his finals, which means I just finished typing all of his papers. We've been trying to get Christmas things together and still have a long way to go on that. The truck broke down on 12/4, just got that fixed today. It's just been one thing after another. Hope everyone is well.

 

[chicken danz]

so how do u deal with the temp control. i was thinking that the hard outer sides would help with my flexuating house temps. i would not be around to really watch it other than at 5 am i leave and back at 3pm so it will have to work good enough that, what brand do u think i should get then.

You really need to find a place in your house where the temp stays as steady as it can...also away from windows and doors...maybe in a bedroom or someplace that doesn't have a lot of open entrance. Once you get the incubator stabilized and holding for 24 hours DON'T mess with the dial. There are going to be some minor fluctuations but if it is in a stable area it shouldn't be that great. Above 96 and below 102 for a little while shouldn't hurt a thing as long as it stabilizes back to 99.5. I would use dual thermometers until I was sure I had one that was accurate. I personally love digitals with a fast readout.

Well I was at my MIL's this evening and went out to the garage to grab some grocery sacks and there sitting on the floor as if it was there for me to see,, a large styro med cooler. It is the size of the one HEChicken pictured. I grabbed it and asked if she needed it and she said she was just going to have my FIL throw it out today and so now I am the owner of the first piece to my new incubator.. Now hunting down the other pieces.

That is just awesome Maidenwolf. You can start your project with the other items until you get every thing you need. I use a cake pan with pieces of broken clay pot in it, and a small mesh hardware cloth on top in the bottom of my hatcher for additional humidity, so rather than using bowls that would be another possibility for humidity. Use your imagination.

I need to get a picture of my girls, they're so fluffed out most of the time they look twice as big as they really are. Also, for those of you who remember my worries about Old Sophia, she seems to be better. The consensus was that it looked like some kind of reproductive problem and really all we did was just continue to love her and hope she wasn't in pain. Her abdomen is still larger and hangs lower than the other birds (but she is a larger bird than the other BOs anyway) and she still looks like things aren't quite normal. However, she looks much less rough than she did, the feathers have grown back where her belly had been bare and she's laid the occasional egg.

That is great news!
Quote:

Hi all! Life has been way too busy. I'm 275 posts behind, I'll try to get caught back up. My dh just finished his finals, which means I just finished typing all of his papers. We've been trying to get Christmas things together and still have a long way to go on that. The truck broke down on 12/4, just got that fixed today. It's just been one thing after another. Hope everyone is well.

So good to see you back!!!

 

[ppimf]

You really need to find a place in your house where the temp stays as steady as it can...also away from windows and doors...maybe in a bedroom or someplace that doesn't have a lot of open entrance. Once you get the incubator stabilized and holding for 24 hours DON'T mess with the dial. There are going to be some minor fluctuations but if it is in a stable area it shouldn't be that great. Above 96 and below 102 for a little while shouldn't hurt a thing as long as it stabilizes back to 99.5. I would use dual thermometers until I was sure I had one that was accurate. I personally love digitals with a fast readout.

As far as the incubator its self what one do u think would be best 1588 or the pro series from farm inv. it is 75 more for the 1588 but i wanna make sure its going to work for me what u think i got a closet that is were it will go but as far as the house it goes from 65 to 75 through out the day.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

You really need to find a place in your house where the temp stays as steady as it can...also away from windows and doors...maybe in a bedroom or someplace that doesn't have a lot of open entrance. Once you get the incubator stabilized and holding for 24 hours DON'T mess with the dial. There are going to be some minor fluctuations but if it is in a stable area it shouldn't be that great. Above 96 and below 102 for a little while shouldn't hurt a thing as long as it stabilizes back to 99.5. I would use dual thermometers until I was sure I had one that was accurate. I personally love digitals with a fast readout.
That is just awesome Maidenwolf. You can start your project with the other items until you get every thing you need. I use a cake pan with pieces of broken clay pot in it, and a small mesh hardware cloth on top in the bottom of my hatcher for additional humidity, so rather than using bowls that would be another possibility for humidity. Use your imagination.
That is great news!
Quote:
So good to see you back!!!

Thank you Danz, I have that stuff, so I have that component too. Now for the fan.... What about something to put the eggs in/on? And what about turning them?

 

[sunflowerparrot]

Thank you Danz, I have that stuff, so I have that component too. Now for the fan.... What about something to put the eggs in/on? And what about turning them?

You could tilt the whole unit back/forth like a Brinsea does...

 

[chicken danz]

ppimf, If I were buying one I would buy the farm innovators pro one just because it has the features you need without having to buy something later. I think a closet would be fine cause it will stay more stable than the rest of the house. If you could leave the door open to let some heat in and some fresh air that would be even better. I would however go to Walmart or someplace and buy a little portable digital thermometer with a prob on it that you could run into it. I have a couple of digital ones that also measure humidity that I used to just sit on top of my eggs that I got for maybe $8 at Walmart. Last time I checked they didn't have the super small ones I had purchased. The ones I've purchased which have been several have all been accurate.
Maidenwolf if the inside of the styro container is big enough I'd just buy a turner for a little giant or one of the other styros. Tractor supply has the cheapest ones I could find and if they don't have them in stock, you can order them and pick them up in the store with no shipping costs. Or the other option is to mark the eggs and turn them by hand. Not something I want to do, but it is okay if you don't have to hatch lots. You are a bit limited by the size of your container with what you can do.
I would find a cheap computer fan that runs on 110. If you have an old computer you can take one out of, it would be a freebee then. If you don't, ask around. Lots of people have old discarded desk top computers. Then wire it up using an old extention cord or a cord off of something that has quit. The $1 shop usually has 6 foot cords as well. I am in the habit of cutting off cords on anything that is trashed just to have them on hand.
The turners are usually about 17.5" X 17.5".
I plan to try to rig up a plastic hatching tray and a mechanism to turn the whole tray at once when I build my daughter's. But I think you would probably need a heavier cabinet to support that. Sunflower if you tilted the whole thing you would spill the water reservoir.