Oh, I'll keep it. I've been wanting a larger incubator ever since the last one went up in smoke when our house burned down in 2012. I don't think it's going to take a lot of work to get it going. The power cord is the only thing that is obviously messed up and everything else is still there-- even the internal wiring. I can't wait to start using it. We have a "don't ask, don't tell" policy around here; I don't ask hubby before I get something and I don't tell him after I do. By the time he discovers my latest acquisition, it's already part of the routine. Bless his heart! I doubt that he had any idea of what he was getting into when he married me!
As far as the massacre, I really don't think it was a dog, for a couple of reasons. I can see a dog leaving them piled up like that, but not carrying off completely 15 or so full grown chickens in the matter of an hour. Also, we live in an isolated spot with no stray dogs around. Our farm dogs are usually pretty alert. At first, I thought it might have been hubby's dog, but there again, she wouldn't have carried off so many without a trace. I'm really leaning toward coyotes. There is a large overgrown field that abuts our property close to where the chicken pen is and they could slip in and out very quickly without being seen. Two days in a row last week there was one walking along the edge of the pond that runs in front of our house about 9:30 in the morning. When I stepped out and yelled at him, I swear he just flipped me off and kept on walking. He was not concerned about me at all. I planned to be waiting for him the third morning with rifle in hand, but ended up having to leave and haven't had a chance to lay for him since. There are bobcats around here, too, but I doubt they would come up in broad daylight. Doesn't much matter what it was, I guess. I just can't let my chickens free range. Period! Stupid predators!