Getting the flock out of here - a diary of a crazy chicken man

[SusanRenee]

may the flock be with you

well done!!

 

[ozexpat]

SFH!!! I have 4 due to hatch this week, trying to get more. I love them, it's like a box of chocolates, so many colors!

I have 6 SFH out, 4 more Pipped, another 6 or so stringing me along

I came home to a power outage in So Cal - not supposed to happen but I can sure attract power issues. The pippers were still chirping, the chicks huddled in the bator but alive and well. We shall see what develops. Lots of interest in the SFH I need at least 12 to hatch.

I will candle later ans see whats cooking with the rest

 

[ozexpat]

Well as fate would have it, I had to get ride of my flock and will be relocating back to PA. This pic is a few years old but I pretty much haven't changed except for some more grey hair and a few more wrinkles. Oz great to hear the adaption process is steaming ahead although slow for every bodies liking.

thanks LF

getting rid of your flock must be tough

where in PA?

 

[ozexpat]

he ya go http://www.texaspoultry.com/foam.htm
it's not cheep but who wants broken eggs?




piglett

thanks for pinch hitting Mr P

I package any eggs I take overseas in that foam as I think it minimizes damage from vibration. I have not had an egg break in the foam. I just got some for quail. Last time I had them packed in shredded paper but lost 8. to breakage,

i also re-use

 

[hillfloweranch]

he ya go http://www.texaspoultry.com/foam.htm
it's not cheep but who wants broken eggs?




piglett

Thank you piglett!!!

 

[perchie.girl]

Foam is not difficult to work with If you could find out what the durometer is of the material you are having success with then you can buy blank sheets and fabricate what you want. Durometer is the measure of the hardness of foam or rubber materials. 0 being dead soft 100 being close to that of metal. The deal is with eggs you need to allow them to move a little without coming to a dead stop against something hard.... Like another egg or the side of the box. (yep I did packaging design once in a past life)

So the Hole in the foam with the foam base and top is in my opinion the perfect packageing for this type of application. That being said... you can make it yourself if you are handy.

Most foams can be cut with a plain old electric knife.... Or a box knife but in order to cut with a box knife you have to compress the foam completely in order to keep it from tearing. Electric knife is the best easiest. Then for the holes for the eggs you need a specific tool. The packaging people will just make a steel rule die to cut the foam then all the holes will be cut at once. But most people don't know how to make one. So go to a place where they sell leather working tools. and get a hole punch. I believe you can get them ranging in size from half inch all the way up to two inches in diameter. They are sold individually and can be sharpened when needed.

The way you use it is place the foam on a work surface that is either made of wood or plastic so that when the hole cutter goes through the foam it will sink into the work surface completing the cut without dulling the tool. Just press the die down till it bottoms out then give it a couple of whacks with a mallet. Id choose a cutter smaller than the egg by a bit. And then the nice part about this is you can take the plug out and cut it in half to help center the egg in the hole.

Now if you wanted to put it in a Cherry lock box I could design that for you as well.... LOL... But the beauty of making it yourself is you can cut the foam to fit something like..... say .... a golf bag?

deb

 

[ozexpat]

Foam is not difficult to work with If you could find out what the durometer is of the material you are having success with then you can buy blank sheets and fabricate what you want. Durometer is the measure of the hardness of foam or rubber materials. 0 being dead soft 100 being close to that of metal. The deal is with eggs you need to allow them to move a little without coming to a dead stop against something hard.... Like another egg or the side of the box. (yep I did packaging design once in a past life)

So the Hole in the foam with the foam base and top is in my opinion the perfect packageing for this type of application. That being said... you can make it yourself if you are handy.

Most foams can be cut with a plain old electric knife.... Or a box knife but in order to cut with a box knife you have to compress the foam completely in order to keep it from tearing. Electric knife is the best easiest. Then for the holes for the eggs you need a specific tool. The packaging people will just make a steel rule die to cut the foam then all the holes will be cut at once. But most people don't know how to make one. So go to a place where they sell leather working tools. and get a hole punch. I believe you can get them ranging in size from half inch all the way up to two inches in diameter. They are sold individually and can be sharpened when needed.

The way you use it is place the foam on a work surface that is either made of wood or plastic so that when the hole cutter goes through the foam it will sink into the work surface completing the cut without dulling the tool. Just press the die down till it bottoms out then give it a couple of whacks with a mallet. Id choose a cutter smaller than the egg by a bit. And then the nice part about this is you can take the plug out and cut it in half to help center the egg in the hole.

Now if you wanted to put it in a Cherry lock box I could design that for you as well.... LOL... But the beauty of making it yourself is you can cut the foam to fit something like..... say .... a golf bag?

deb

you are amazing deb.

i will try and find hole punch vendors lol

 

[maryhysong]

you are amazing deb.

i will try and find hole punch vendors lol

the amazing things I have learned on BYC

 

[perchie.girl]

Look on amazon..... Hollow Punches for leather or Gasket.... you can get singles or sets. The one set I saw was thirteen hole sizes that went up to 1 1/4. for 31 bucks.

INdividually they are about nine or ten bucks. A set would let you experiment to find out what size you need. If there is a Harbor Freight near you they may have them. If you havent discovered Harbor Freight you need to big time. http://www.harborfreight.com/storelocator/location/map Listings show three stores possibly in your area.

deb

 

[ZielinskiFarm]

the amazing things I have learned on BYC

Exactly. I just finally caught up it took me a LONG time, too (been lurking for weeks

).. This thread is amazing, and everyone on it! I've learned so much in the last month on this site. It was especially cool to see the pics, so now I can put a face to the names.