So I've bought myself some 'new' (to me) incubators. One is homemade and the other is a Leahy cabinet incubator, model number 416 (I think they were called Favorite Incubator?). Anyway I've been looking for restoration projects but haven't found any where it was easy to follow and or went completely through to the end so I'm going to make my own thread as I go along refurbishing these two incubators.
The incubators themselves I'm a little ashamed to say came from a very bad place. I found them online and decided to go look at them. When I got there I drove onto a really shabby-run-down looking place but it's not uncommon in our area to have old farms that don't farm anymore look so... let go. Outside I could hear many roosters crowing in a barn that we didn't go into because there was a really mean dog that seriously meant to take my *** off. Anyway, I looked at the incubators and they seemed to work, covered in about an inch of dust and some dirt but they functioned. On the inside I could just see at the front a little eggshells and stuff which I guess is normal in an incubator... so I loaded them and home I brought them home. The next day I felt curious about the little signature at the end of her email that I saw "DC Heritage Poultry" and I googled it. I was horrified down to the bones... I never went in the barn because of the dog. I would have never gave them my money. in 2013 they were the center of the largest puppy-mill bust Canada has seen - 500 dogs seized on that small property with those two small barns. And now, only a few years later, they are doing the same thing again - but with chickens. I kept reading reviews of sick birds and chicks that are in poor health. And I believed it - both incubators were a mess. What I couldn't see until I had removed all the trays at my home - years of caked-on yolk, blood and eggshells from chicks hatching; I seriously doubt that came from one hatch and left because they weren't going to use it anymore. That must have been from years of use and never cleaning it out. No wonder I kept reading about sick chicks coming from this place, with an incubator that dirty those poor babies must have been ill before they even hatched. When I found out that I had given them money... supported them and their unethical facilities. I new it I realized it when I read that that indeed stunk of mill. My heart sunk and I physically became nauseous. I'm still not over it. So as a warning please avoid DC heritage poultry at all costs, and please research who you are buying from if you do. The only thing that makes me feel a bit better is knowing that for once in their life these incubators will be treated with respect and used in a noble manner to ethically breed sound, healthy, happy birds and not in an animal mill.
Phew... now that that is off my mind here is a link to a dropbox where I add photos as I work on this project. It will make it easier to follow my progress as I go through this project. However I will still be uploading most pictures here and describing what I am doing so that those who have a similar project at one point have an idea about what this process involves.
Here is the dropbox link
As soon as I remember how to upload pics I will start describing what I have done so far..
The incubators themselves I'm a little ashamed to say came from a very bad place. I found them online and decided to go look at them. When I got there I drove onto a really shabby-run-down looking place but it's not uncommon in our area to have old farms that don't farm anymore look so... let go. Outside I could hear many roosters crowing in a barn that we didn't go into because there was a really mean dog that seriously meant to take my *** off. Anyway, I looked at the incubators and they seemed to work, covered in about an inch of dust and some dirt but they functioned. On the inside I could just see at the front a little eggshells and stuff which I guess is normal in an incubator... so I loaded them and home I brought them home. The next day I felt curious about the little signature at the end of her email that I saw "DC Heritage Poultry" and I googled it. I was horrified down to the bones... I never went in the barn because of the dog. I would have never gave them my money. in 2013 they were the center of the largest puppy-mill bust Canada has seen - 500 dogs seized on that small property with those two small barns. And now, only a few years later, they are doing the same thing again - but with chickens. I kept reading reviews of sick birds and chicks that are in poor health. And I believed it - both incubators were a mess. What I couldn't see until I had removed all the trays at my home - years of caked-on yolk, blood and eggshells from chicks hatching; I seriously doubt that came from one hatch and left because they weren't going to use it anymore. That must have been from years of use and never cleaning it out. No wonder I kept reading about sick chicks coming from this place, with an incubator that dirty those poor babies must have been ill before they even hatched. When I found out that I had given them money... supported them and their unethical facilities. I new it I realized it when I read that that indeed stunk of mill. My heart sunk and I physically became nauseous. I'm still not over it. So as a warning please avoid DC heritage poultry at all costs, and please research who you are buying from if you do. The only thing that makes me feel a bit better is knowing that for once in their life these incubators will be treated with respect and used in a noble manner to ethically breed sound, healthy, happy birds and not in an animal mill.
Phew... now that that is off my mind here is a link to a dropbox where I add photos as I work on this project. It will make it easier to follow my progress as I go through this project. However I will still be uploading most pictures here and describing what I am doing so that those who have a similar project at one point have an idea about what this process involves.
Here is the dropbox link
As soon as I remember how to upload pics I will start describing what I have done so far..
