Ramblings of an amateur aviculturist

[Karasu]

Unfortunately these are all the photos I have of birds in Japan. I found that most of them moved very quickly and the areas they frequented were blocked off to human access, meaning I had to use quite a bit of zoom on my camera.

 

[Karasu]

Crows are smart birds, obviously they have never been treated poorly by the residents if Japan if they are unafraid. I am going to look into these "jungle crows", generally crows are opportunistic birds and cities are easy food sources. So jungle crows must know something the city crows don't.

I've often hoped I could befriend the local crows but I don't know how to offer them food without just feeding the squirrels. If I'm in sight, they bolt.

 

[TwoCrows]

Here is a couple of interesting articles on Japanese Crows...

https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/g01004/

https://www.google.com/amp/s/japan-...why-japanese-crows-are-the-worlds-wisest/amp/

 

[Karasu]

Here is a couple of interesting articles on Japanese Crows...

https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-topics/g01004/

https://www.google.com/amp/s/japan-...why-japanese-crows-are-the-worlds-wisest/amp/

Very interesting! Thank you for sharing these.

 

[TwoCrows]

I've often hoped I could befriend the local crows but I don't know how to offer them food without just feeding the squirrels. If I'm in sight, they bolt.

It takes a while to gain their trust. I befriended a pair of local Ravens over 20 years ago, I basically had to train them to stay put if they wanted food. I first started leaving out a small bit of dry dog food where I knew they would see it near an electric pole they always sat on in my yard. Once they knew it was there, whenever I saw a Raven sitting on the post, I would go out with a handful if dry dog food, showing it to him as I'm walking out. When he flew away, I went back inside. Of course I didn't get to close to him to place the food, the connection was that he saw the food I was offering. Anyway I never left the food unless he stayed put on the pole. Eventually he trusted me enough to let me come outside with food and leave it. As long as I didn't dawdle after leaving the food, he flew directly in, ate it all before yes, the squirrels ate it. It takes a while but if you are as obsessed with Corvids as much as I am, you go the long mile. And yes, they will sit and even call to you to bring out food.

 

[Karasu]

I thought I would write down where I currently am in the design process for my next incubator build.

The fundamentals of an incubator are simple enough. Temperature and humidity have to be monitored and controlled by some means within a space large enough for eggs to be placed. Ideally, it is also easily cleanable, has viewing ports, and has some easy means of turning eggs whether manual access or automatic.
My full list of criteria are listed below.

• Even temperature and humidity (99.5*F +/- 0.5*F at any given location where eggs are placed, with humidity stable to +/-5% RH across a 24 hour period)
• Control over temperature to +/- 1*F
• Low cost (under $150 for parts, not including labor)
• Long heating cycles (40+ seconds for each phase of an on-off cycle)
• Easy to sanitize and water-resistant
• Has clear visibility of thermometers, hygrometers, and hatching baskets

For an incubator build:

• Has a system for either fully or semi automated turning
• Holds at least 3 dozen eggs in a space efficient manner

For a hatcher build:

• Has a safe space for chicks to hatch in
• Holds at least 1.5 dozen eggs in a space efficient manner

After coming up with my criteria, then I started brainstorming what features would define and help me meet these criteria.

• To keep temperature even, consider geometry of the interior and heat's tendency to rise. Adding a fan is almost essential, as is some form of exterior circulation for a tall incubator. Create turners with even gaps so that air can pass through freely. Other pieces of temperature control include even ventilation and even insulation.
• To keep humidity relatively constant, create water pans that are deep enough that they don't run out of water without warning. Fans help with this too. Consider fan placement when determining how much surface area to use in water pans.
• For temperature control, selection of a thermostat is the most important piece. All thermostats display something called hysteresis, where its state depends on its history. More simply put, when a heating element is in use and a thermostat detects it has hit its ceiling temperature and turns off, it does not immediately turn back on as soon as the temperature drifts by an amount within its resolution (number of decimal places it will read). The thermostat waits a set amount until it hits a lower ceiling and then turns on again. This gap between upper and lower limits determines your temperature range.
• To reduce costs, I used parts that could be sourced easily and had more generic uses, or were parts I already had for other projects. This may involve a bit of creativity, such as using old extension cords for wiring, light bulbs for heating, or drink coolers as a body. I also happen to have access to a 3D printer.
• Heating cycles are determined in part by how powerful the heating element is. If you're using a flamethrower to heat your incubator, it's only going to be on for a few seconds at most before your temperature range is exceeded. I tend to use lightbulbs as a heating element, and if I do this, picking a lower wattage bulb will reduce the number of times the thermostat turns them on and off quickly, which lengthens the lifespan of the bulb. The other half of the cycle, which is cooling, is determined by how much insulation you have. Well insulated builds lose heat slowly and will take longer to bottom out of the specified temperature range.
• For ease of sanitation, I used as many metal or plastic parts as possible with smooth surfaces and minimal recesses. Wood, though easily shaped, is poor for sanitation and it absorbs quite a bit of moisture, leading to warping and a possible breeding ground for bacteria.
• To increase visibility, creating plexiglass windows is the easiest solution. Consider R values (a measure of insulation) when selecting window thickness and material. Ideally, the windows provide insulation capabilities close to that of the body of the incubator, though if the windows are on the top of the incubator this may differ.
• I define semi-automatic turning as being able to turn many eggs at once by physical means, without motors and with minimal time and energy on my behalf. This includes some way of linking eggs together, usually by a tray, so that they can be moved quickly. I might opt to link trays with a two-point connection so that I can move up to three trays with one movement. There are also ways to set up fully automatic turning with kits or motors which I may look into.
• By using multiple vertical racks for eggs, I could keep the footprint of my build smaller. However, I have decided that this is not what I want in a lockdown incubator. I am looking for a way to get as much surface area on my water trays as possible, and while a vertical build would allow many trays of water, it reduces circulation and messes up temperature distribution horribly. Thus, I am going back to a tabletop design.
• I define a safe space for hatching to be one without sharp edges, exposed water pans, or vertical drops. A tabletop design facilitates this as well.

Next.. I will work on sketches and define some "fun" features that I definitely don't need and might not work but want to try anyway.

 

[Karasu]

It takes a while to gain their trust. I befriended a pair of local Ravens over 20 years ago, I basically had to train them to stay put if they wanted food. I first started leaving out a small bit of dry dog food where I knew they would see it near an electric pole they always sat on in my yard. Once they knew it was there, whenever I saw a Raven sitting on the post, I would go out with a handful if dry dog food, showing it to him as I'm walking out. When he flew away, I went back inside. Of course I didn't get to close to him to place the food, the connection was that he saw the food I was offering. Anyway I never left the food unless he stayed put on the pole. Eventually he trusted me enough to let me come outside with food and leave it. As long as I didn't dawdle after leaving the food, he flew directly in, ate it all before yes, the squirrels ate it. It takes a while but if you are as obsessed with Corvids as much as I am, you go the long mile. And yes, they will sit and even call to you to bring out food.

That's amazing! I'm motivated to try again now.

 

[Karasu]

Another project in the works is a finch cage upgrade. This is the preliminary sketch work and estimated dimensions. I have some refinement to do, and I need to decide which ends to put plexiglass on before I specify the wire mesh dimensions.

 

[Karasu]

Rapid prototyping with PLA.

 

[Karasu]

Print test for slicer supports. Did I need to print a bird for this test? No. Did I do it anyway? Absolutely.