Incubators Anonymous

[SewChaos]

Thanks for all the suggestions -

This is the incubator -






It's heavy duty plastic. It's now soaking with vinegar in it - I had to dilute the vinegar, I only had about a 1/2 gallon. I'll pick up more tomorrow. The smell is everywhere. Even the hardware cloth that sits inside reeks of it. - or it did. I scrubbed it with dawn and that took the smell away. I use vodka to get smells out of clothing, but I think my Mr would fire me if I dumped perfectly good vodka in the incubator. I'll try scrubbing it with baking soda, would washing soda work? I've got a big box of that.

 

[DMRippy]

Quote:
YEAH! Hubby is kinda getting turned on to bunnies too... for eating

His project not mine. He also suggested quail... now I am thinking I would like to try quail. You sell a lot of quail don't you? I have heard it sell really well around here... what do you think?

 

[ChickNmamma]

Thanks for all the suggestions -

This is the incubator -






It's heavy duty plastic. It's now soaking with vinegar in it - I had to dilute the vinegar, I only had about a 1/2 gallon. I'll pick up more tomorrow. The smell is everywhere. Even the hardware cloth that sits inside reeks of it. - or it did. I scrubbed it with dawn and that took the smell away. I use vodka to get smells out of clothing, but I think my Mr would fire me if I dumped perfectly good vodka in the incubator. I'll try scrubbing it with baking soda, would washing soda work? I've got a big box of that.

I don't know - I've never tried that. Try it on a small section - if the washing soda turns brown and the plastic looks cleaner, then its working!

 

[Overoberyl]

Just my 2 cents.... the hard water deposits.... try a pomous stone the kind you use on your feed. They will not damage porcelain in a toilet and they WORK. The smell.... I would use the oxine or Odaban. I can find that at Walmart now. When I first bought that product they told me it was the only cleaner that was USDA approved to use around food.... I looked for that on the label and don't see it, but it will remove odors. If you had Oxine you could put that in the bator like you would water for humidity and run the bator till the oxine was gone. I use it in my hatcher water and incubator water all the time, and the chicken's water to keep slime down.

Oxine is 100x more effective than bleach and a waaaaay safer!!! Life becomes lots easier when you use it w/ poultry, from personal experience, lol. Do not use it in activated form, it is only safe without the activator.

 

[Cknldy]

Its an indoor thermometer/hygrometer from walmart. I look it in the bathroom with the shower on and still nothing

I found a Sunbeam hygrometer in the clearance aisle for $2 at walmart. It pretty much reads the same as the one that says 'for reference only' on the bator.

 

[Cknldy]

Pretty sure store bought eating eggs are not fertile, but maybe if they are from an organic farm, who knows? You should be able to see some development tomorrow if they are fertile...

Farm fresh organic does not necessarily mean that happy hens are out in an open field with roosters enjoying the 'country' way of raising. Organic can simply mean they are fed organic labeled food and follow usda regulations. I've read in a magazine how the wording is tricky and ppl push it to the max- free range meaning exposure to sunlight, access to certain amts of outdoor space etc. So while one sees a flock clucking around a yard another sees it as the very limited coop/ run space as free range also. Yeah- either way u gotta have the roo!

 

[Overoberyl]

Farm fresh organic does not necessarily mean that happy hens are out in an open field with roosters enjoying the 'country' way of raising. Organic can simply mean they are fed organic labeled food and follow usda regulations. I've read in a magazine how the wording is tricky and ppl push it to the max- free range meaning exposure to sunlight, access to certain amts of outdoor space etc. So while one sees a flock clucking around a yard another sees it as the very limited coop/ run space as free range also. Yeah- either way u gotta have the roo!

Thanks for the info, but I'm not naive, or ignorant about the meaning of the word "organic". As I said, it's perhaps possible that if the farm is not a traditional commercial facility, there may be a roo present.

 

[ki4got]

So I tried to clean the base of the incubator.

First I just washed it with Dawn. Then let it soak a bit.
then rinsed.
Then Clorox clean up.
then rinsed
Then magic eraser.
then rinsed
Then oxyclean. Both as a paste scrubbed on and a soak.
then rinsed.

Now it's sitting with a towel with fabreeze inside it.

there's to problems:
the main problem is the heavy stale cigarette smoke smell.
there's also crud on the inside, the mineral deposits that happen when water evaporates.

Any suggestions?

the simplest thing for lime scale is white vinegar. won't hurt the plastic any, but will dissolve that lime scale in minutes.

i'd avoid any stronger chemicals as they may damage the plastic.

 

[ki4got]

Quote: yup i think for egg producers 'free range' means they get to set foot on solid ground for at least an hour a day. there is no specification to how many birds are packed in that space, or even that it requires anything but solid concrete under foot.

my birds are truly free ranged... i let them out in the morning, they go back to bed in the evening. and they've got as much room as they want to roam. up to 26 acres of my own and part of my neighbor's 50, tho i rarely see them cross the fence line (2 strand barbed wire).

 

[ki4got]

next time i set eggs, i'm going to have to remember to set the different color eggs on different days. i've got a mixed assortment hatching today.

at least i can tell them apart somewhat... pure dorks will be 5 toes and single comb, half dorking will be 5 toed. half wyandotte is rose comb, half ee is pea comb. from my ee roo, he's got feathered feet and a crest too. oh and the half buff orpington, are hatching out all buff. LOL that's the easy one.

so far i've had 1 blue egg hatch and 2 light browns. of those 2, 1 is buff. all have 5 toes. can't tell on combs yet tho, but i think 1 was rose. so the other would have to be the ee. (wyandotte x ee or orp would have only 4 toes)

good thing i like jigsaw puzzles. LOL putting the pieces together of chick genetics is interesting, to say the least. just hoping i manage to get a pure dork somewhere along the lines.