Well, two more dead this morning, so that's at least 21 attributable to my water issue. Hopefully these are the last though.
I got a response from Frank Pearce, the founder of
Brinsea. It was a little underwhelming. I told him things were fine with the humidity pump, but wanted to know how the Ova 100 could work without one. He said it was a matter of experimentation...hmm...so
Brinsea hasn't experimented with their own product? I said, in response; "I guess what I am asking is, can this thing work without a humidity pump? And, with 100 eggs, do you have to have a dehumidifier in the house...as in, what is the target intake air humidity to handle 100 eggs with no tray, block, or pump??" When I put eggs in there the humidity is going to rise because of the eggs alone. I have no idea how much 100 eggs are going to increase the humidity in the bator, but if your indoor humidity + humidity created by eggs losing moisture is > 40%, you aren't going to be able to maintain a reasonable RH...humidity pump or not.
I am waiting till I have 100 eggs (close, but not there yet) and I am then going to put them in for 1 day just to see what they do to the humidity. When I do, I will remove the block and pump hose...as an experiment. When I asked the
Brinsea Florida people if they could try this themselves, they admitted they couldn't because their ambient humidity was too high...hrrrmmm...all experimenting is done in their office in England.
I'll be honest, I expected better answers.
I disassembled one brooder and reassembled it in the main flock run, but my other two brooders are going to go into my green house for the winter. That should reduce the amount of time the heat lamps need to run, as the greenhouse can get to 90F+ in the middle of winter on a sunny day. The walls will prevent any wind chill, so it should be great, I only wish I had thought of it before I put that one in the main coop...doh! I have to figure out how to handle April and May, though, as the brooders will be in the way when I want to put starting plants in the greenhouse.
Processed my 3.5 yr old pure red sex-link layers...they were less than 1Kg...lolz, not worth the cost of processing. My 22 week roosters ended up no bigger than 2.14Kg, smaller than the layer's mates I bought as chicks from the hatchery. It would seem the genes I am creating are definitely less than the "special dual purpose" the hatchery sold me. Their males were 2.5Kg on average at 16 weeks, mine are at most 2.14Kg at 22 weeks, I need to come up with a new strategy. Someone once said to me, "Dual Purpose is no purpose"...I'm getting what they were talking about.
I am currently getting between 5 and 7 eggs a day. On paper, I have 14 who are old enough to lay. They are from 2 different settings (7 and 7) which explains why I am getting eggs in 2 different size ranges. But it suggests they are all laying every other day...not a great lay rate. I am definitely not getting 50% darker eggs, so my first hatch will definitely be based on quantity, not quality. Its a learning experience, after all. On 12/22 I have another 13 layers that should start laying, so hopefully that will tip the scales in my favor.
So, got my shopvac out, cleaned out both trays, and have added that job as a once a month chore. Meanwhile, both waterers will be checked every day from now on.
