Michigan Thread - all are welcome!

[fuzzybutt love]

Quote:Originally Posted by 1muttsfan I've baked store bought, but this recipe don't work. Store bought i baked at 350. In theory for cakes in cast iron you reduce the temp to 325, but didn't work either; still working the bugs out but i think it's just too much batter for the pan? Tried less batter and then the middle of the cake humped and it was dry. Anyway, if you want to twiddle with it try it in the standard rectangle pan first, so you can see how it's supposed to rise/ look. I have a recipe for an egg yolk cake (used for shortcake and pineapple upside down) that i use mostly.

I am working slowly on a cookbook for cast iron pans that is basic basic from scratch cooking, so i am not gonna give up on trying to get this one *just* right!

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

This was a pineapple upside down cake from a mix. (Batter poured inside a disposable pie tin) The coals on top were way too hot, they should not have been red. But it was easy and good. I've never done it in an indoor oven tho.

 

[chickflick]

Crazy chicken farm had a incubator for sale on her Facebook page

 

[Chambertin]

Looking for a cheap but reliable incubatorr. Who's got one to sell?

I searched and searched, asked and asked.
Never got any good responses.

My advice would be to check out the reviews on here, pick one that looks good and then buy one online from ebay or your best option for price. Plan to spend about 100 for a good one and more for anything that can reliably track temps and humidity.

I just bought this one http://www.gqfmfg.com/store/comersus_viewItem.asp?idProduct=275 with auto turner for $120.
It works ok so far, I dont like the heat adjustment crank and its dry as a bone but everything is looking good thus far.
Had there been something that looked more reliable cheaper, I would have taken it.

I use a digital thermometer (normal one for people) I bought at Meijer to double check the temps of the included thermometer and I'm glad I did. The temps waver a lot, nothing critical, but I'm twisting that temp set knob and adding water a few times a day.

 

[RaZ]

I'm using a borrowed Little Giant (6200) Still Air incubator. The temperature has been holding steady at 99.5 'F since I started.
Today is day 13 since I placed the eggs. I've been turning the eggs manually.

This is my first time incubating eggs, so I am a complete newbie at this.

 

[chickflick]

Crazy chicken ranch

 

[1muttsfan]

Egg yolk cake

 

[Opa]

Woke this morning due to shivering. Yep, to cold to sleep without a heavier blanket covering these frail old bones of mine. I believe the temperature will probably fall into the 40's before the sun finally makes a welcomed appearance. These cooler temperatures should bring the trout and salmon into the rivers where I will once again be waiting to entice them into to striking. I hate the fact that winter will soon be upon us but I am anxious to start some serious fishing.

Yesterday I had the humbling experience of accompanying my old farmer friend to an attorney's office. He asked that I go with him in case the lawyer need someone to verify that he was of sound mind. I think the reality was that it was just an excuse to have me visit him. Not only was my presence not needed, after the initial introduction I was asked to step outside. What made it so humbling was my friend's declaration that I was his best and most loyal friend. I knew that he has come to depend on me but it was still touching to hear him tell someone else about my importance to him.

His nephew had waged a campaign over the last few years to insure that he was the sole beneficiary of the old man's estate. Once the necessary paper work was filed his interest in his uncle well being has markedly fallen. In fact several things have occurred over the last year that have given my friend pause over his nephew's intentions. The nephew recently has started questioning his uncle about his mental state and keeps asking that he be declared guardian over his uncle in all matters. Then his financial advisor called and informed him that the nephew had made several calls to her demanding to know details about his investments.

He is starting to feel as if his nephew is tired of waiting to inherit his estate and he is afraid his intent would be to have my friend placed in a nursing home. Rather than care for his mother he stuck her in one where she lasted less than six months. My friend has asked his attorney to alter his will dramatically reducing the nephews portion and having me and my son granted his power of attorney.

I have advised my friend that I think the best way to handle his nephew's averous intent is to simply outlive him. While it is probably prudent to insure the nephew has no legal controls over his uncle, I would must prefer to keep my friend around for many more years.

My flock reduction efforts are still underway and next week I will take a few more hens to the Nature Center. I feel bad about having to dispatch birds that have served me well for the past two years but maintaining birds that are no longer as productive isn't financially prudent. I guess perhaps I am living a double standard in that I would hate for my son's to hold me to the same standard that I hold my chickens.

 

[wingless]

I searched and searched, asked and asked.
Never got any good responses.

My advice would be to check out the reviews on here, pick one that looks good and then buy one online from ebay or your best option for price. Plan to spend about 100 for a good one and more for anything that can reliably track temps and humidity.

I just bought this one http://www.gqfmfg.com/store/comersus_viewItem.asp?idProduct=275 with auto turner for $120.
It works ok so far, I dont like the heat adjustment crank and its dry as a bone but everything is looking good thus far.
Had there been something that looked more reliable cheaper, I would have taken it.

I use a digital thermometer (normal one for people) I bought at Meijer to double check the temps of the included thermometer and I'm glad I did. The temps waver a lot, nothing critical, but I'm twisting that temp set knob and adding water a few times a day.

I purchased a $100 forced-air styrofoam incubator several years ago, and then later the $40 still-air Little Giant Incubator at TSC. I vastly prefer the cheaper, still-air incubator, especially with the $40 egg-turner inside. Once the temperature is established it is extremely consistent, with little or no need to adjust. I also do not add water to my incubator (we don't use air-conditioning and our house is plenty humid!), although I think I may need to start increasing humidity during the hatch.

After living with a ~50% hatch rate for awhile, I started adding eggs to the incubator as they arrived, instead of waiting to accumulate some magic number of eggs. This has greatly increased my hatch rate, and also meant that I needed to purchase a second incubator dedicated to the lockdown and hatching part of the process. So I have one Little Giant with an egg turner, filled with eggs started at different dates that are marked in pencil on the shell. And then I have a second Little Giant with no egg turner, but rather with an egg carton to hold eggs during lockdown and hatch.

This lockdown incubator has nothing in it that the newborn chicks can slip on, as in my experience this causes splayed leg. So no thermometer, no nice muslin covering the screen bottom, no top of the opened-up egg carton; my lockdown incubator contains only the working (bottom) part of the egg carton and eggs to be hatched. I recently discovered that instead of opening the entire lid of the Little Giant to retrieve chicks, you can easily remove the plastic window to keep other chicks better contained, and to keep the inside space as warm as possible while still accessing whatever is needed.

 

[preciouskitty]

Quote:
Yes! Welcome...beautiful birds! Not too far from you here in Howell!