She said/He said Who's right? Who's wrong? No one!

[scflock]

In 2012, when I built this house, I purchased a 15KVA (Whole Home) generator with an automatic transfer switch. It cost me C$5000, and another $1000 to have it installed. It should be much cheaper in the U.S., and you may not have to pay as much as I did to get it installed since my house was still being wired. Anyway, now I don't even know the power goes off anymore (I have Uninterruptable Power Supplies on all my electronics).

You can get a good fully automatic system installed in my area for $2500-3000. I'm really thinking about it, not so much for the incubator, but for the fish tank. 8 hrs without power could cost me thousands of dollars. We don't get much snow here, but we do get freezing rain, and that's when the trees start coming down

 

[scflock]

OMG that's a gross thought. So sorry for your loss. I hope you find the culprit!

Good deal! Where are the pics????? You know you have to share pics....

I'm thinking of setting a minnow trap/snake trap. If it's a king, I will let it go and improve my coop. If it's a copperhead, which I fear because of the mark on the neck, I will beat the flock out of it

I was situating the new babies until dark last night, but I will post pics as soon as I get some. I'm so excited about the purebreds! I've had EEs, and love them, but I have wanted pure Ameraucanas since I learned there was a difference

I don't regret selling the Polish at all. They weren't selling, and Damien was the only rooster I had with an attitude. I warned the buyers about him, and the said that was fine. I think they plan to breed him, then try to raise a calmer rooster

 

[AmyLynn2374]

Final count. 14 shipped eggs from sea level to 5k ft. All fertile. 11 hatched. 1 quit at estimate 12 days. 1 at 16 or 17. 1 fully developed. Pic below.

I ran at 50% humidity to get more oxygen to the developing chicks throughout incubation. 70%-65% during lockdown. I had my vents (I have them now) open the whole time.

I'm very happy with the results and I think Frankenbator is ready for prime time.

The good:


The Bad:


And the ugly:

Great job. Congrats!

Thanks! I just looked up when and where exactly the tornado hit, having only heard bits and pieces on the news. It hit a mile or so from the intestate that I was travelling on "shortly after 7:30 pm". I sent my hubby a text at 7:39 saying I had just made it off the interstate safely. I had to stop to collect my nerves. 80 mph winds. It was unreal. Our place is west and it hit east, so luckily I was going the right direction. Some trees down our way, and some roads blocked with water, but nothing major. My son's house is closer to where it touched down, but they are ok too, and my birds too!! So we are all fine.

I'm glad you're ok.

That sounds like a really successful hatch! Congrats, they're all adorable(even ugly lol).

I am looking for a no fuss bator for about 100 bucks(give or take a few dimes). I think we have settled on the hovabator something thousand and something. Does that sound like a smart move?

I've been thinking about going with a Hoverbator next spring if I am still doing chickens.

I have heard good things about the HOvabator but I would not get one without auto egg turner. And that's over $100. :-(

I think the turners are over rated. I did the last two hatches w/o the turner and actually they were my best two hatches yet. Not saying it was hand turning that made them the best hatches, just that the automatic turner hadn't given me a better hatch rate than hand turning. Now, if you aren't able to turn 3xs a day then yes, of course it'd be better to have the turner.

Alright, cool. Thanks for the advice. We have two little giants with egg turners. I wonder if those would work in it.

I THINK that the LG turners will fit in the Hovabator- but I could be wrong.

That's what I did my 1st 3 hatches in, a 1588 with automatic egg turner. +1 hatch slightly above 50%, #2 was terrible, but it was my fault...#3 is going on now, with a hatch in a Brinsea Octo 40 ADV EX 10 days later...as a comparison. Amy loves Styro, I'm trying to do this comparison as a testimony to Amy and SC's different views...we shall see.

LMAO- Amy never said she loves Styros. It's just what my sister had when she offered it to me. If someone gave me a Brinsea I'd be in heaven...lol

I could believe there is one person in one post office, but this thought really doesn't sound realistic IMO.

A lot of people have this notion. I've heard it time and time again....

So here's my question of the day!: what kind of watering system does everyone use? Is the nipple system the way to go? Can anyone recommend one for me to buy?

I just use the normal TSC waterers.

 

[scflock]

I've been thinking about going with a Hoverbator next spring if I am still doing chickens.

I think the turners are over rated. I did the last two hatches w/o the turner and actually they were my best two hatches yet. Not saying it was hand turning that made them the best hatches, just that the automatic turner hadn't given me a better hatch rate than hand turning. Now, if you aren't able to turn 3xs a day then yes, of course it'd be better to have the turner.

I THINK that the LG turners will fit in the Hovabator- but I could be wrong.

LMAO- Amy never said she loves Styros. It's just what my sister had when she offered it to me. If someone gave me a Brinsea I'd be in heaven...lol

If you're still doing chickens?

You're bitten, you can't walk away now

I would die without a turner, but I'm lazy

Like you, I think the LG turner will fit in the Hovabator.

I think a Brinsea would drive you nuts. Do you think you could actually set a batch of eggs and walk away?

 

[WVduckchick]

In 2012, when I built this house, I purchased a 15KVA (Whole Home) generator with an automatic transfer switch. It cost me C$5000, and another $1000 to have it installed. It should be much cheaper in the U.S., and you may not have to pay as much as I did to get it installed since my house was still being wired. Anyway, now I don't even know the power goes off anymore (I have Uninterruptable Power Supplies on all my electronics).

Funny this would come up today, but our power went out at work at some point over the weekend and our UPS is showing that it needs a new battery. Its an old one, and I have no idea how old the battery is. But I just looked it up and a replacement battery is $359.99!! Ouch. Glad its not my money. But it sure would have saved me some headache if I had noticed that it needed replaced before now!

 

[AmyLynn2374]

If you're still doing chickens?

You're bitten, you can't walk away now

I would die without a turner, but I'm lazy

Like you, I think the LG turner will fit in the Hovabator.

I think a Brinsea would drive you nuts. Do you think you could actually set a batch of eggs and walk away?

I say if, cause my future is so uncertain with taking care of my dad and everthing, if something happened to him and I have to go back to work full time, there's a chance I'd have to move and nothing saying I could find another place to rent where I could have my chickens. And I'm a little scared what the winter will bring ....lol

I probably wouldn't know what to do with a Brinsea. I'd still candle and be a meddler, but I'd be lost not having to adjust and no reason to be checking every half hour to an hour...lol

 

[scflock]

I say if, cause my future is so uncertain with taking care of my dad and everthing, if something happened to him and I have to go back to work full time, there's a chance I'd have to move and nothing saying I could find another place to rent where I could have my chickens. And I'm a little scared what the winter will bring ....lol

I probably wouldn't know what to do with a Brinsea. I'd still candle and be a meddler, but I'd be lost not having to adjust and no reason to be checking every half hour to an hour...lol

Yeah, I know you have a lot on your plate. Maybe I can let the little things go for a while...

My chicken operation has gotten so big (at least for me) that it sometimes feels overwhelming, but I still have the time and the room to do what I want, I just wouldn't want any more... I know, I know, that's what I said last year. Did I tell you I bought 17 chickens yesterday?

I had never had any desire to keep chickens until those first 4 pullets, and I had no idea how much I would enjoy it. It's just so therapeutic. I think even if I weren't breeding and selling, I would still keep a small flock. I call them my "therapy chickens". You know that brother you talk about? I bet you don't think about him at all when you are working on coops and taking care of chicks

 

[scflock]

I see you...

 

[Kraftcrazychick]

Well poor little Tiny Tim passed away last night. First night I wasn't there and he didnt make it. At least I didnt have to cull him myself

Sorry about your loss. At least he won't have a lifetime of problems.

I just have absolutely zero desire to build an incubator. Just sold the coop, though

Had an older retired man call and ask about it. He asked if I could put wheels on it, and I thought that was a fantastic idea. Only cost me about $30 in parts and 15 minutes labor. I think I'm going to start adding wheels to my builds

Awesome on selling the coop. Making it a package deal (chicks and coop) would probably be very appealing. If it's less setup time more people may consider chickens. We know they like easy.

Maybe diversify?

Is that chick ordering BOSS? Better keep it away from Amazon.

It died in the shell. It's beak was covered by the membranes and it must have suffocated. It was very sad. Only 3 left out of the 4. Hoping they make it. Don't know if I will do shipped eggs again.

Sorry to hear about that. Hopefully the others turn out right!

Well I fear I may never go on vacation again. I got the most tragic call this morning every single one of my baby chicks were found dead. They apparently drowned. Day 2 away from home and I lost another 10. This is the roughest time I think I have ever had. I am going to pull my hair out I'm so stressed. I knew I should have smuggled the little ones in the car with me. I know you cant save them all but if I was home I could have at least brought them inside out of the rain. So next time find a crazzy chicken person to babysit them. Then i know they will be right on top of things and worry as much as I do.
Sorry for my rant had to get it off my chest.

I'm so sorry. That's a terrible call to get. I know this gone over but you can't beat yourself up. I never would have considered that they could drowned. Besides, weather is unpredictable at best.

Well, on a ride out in the countryside today I came across a community garage sale and scored some goodies.

I did pass on a medium pet carrier for $3 and now wish I had bought it, but I did come home with:

2 light duty two wire extension cords @ $0.50 each for use in my future hatcher
1 Targus laptop cooler (USB powered with two fans) @ $2.00 for my hatcher
A box of electrostatic register filters for my incubator @ $1.00 for a dozen.
There was a kitchen base cabinet that would have worked for my incubator but it was particle board, and I hate that stuff like you would not believe. I'd love to find an ugly old birch ply 24" cabinet to repurpose.

You make me ache to garage sale hop now. All the goodies waiting to be found!

Here are a few pics I snapped while they were in a box and I was cleaning their brooder pen. The 5 darker/smaller ones I hatched out the lighter/larger are the blue swede I bought

Mutt duck is the cutest to me with it's pattern and I will be keeping it if possible. The others are all pure rouen. Glad their eggs are fairly easy to tell apart.
As for the last 3 eggs all still have movement. One that was due today has internally pipped, the other due today is the upside down one and has moved even further into the small end but still has movement. One due tomorrow looks good prolly just a little late since they got an upping of humidity and a few cool offs more.

BABIES!!! I love the little platypus beaks in comparison to the chicks.

Raining here today so not much to do, so I just spent the last 4 hours working out a spreadsheet that outlines when each hatch can start, and then follows the hatches through the brooder, the young chicken run, and then to main coop or processing. Had to do this as otherwise I would end up with too many in any of those spots...so with that all worked out now I have to find the customers for the 204 birds I haven't sold yet...

A spreadsheet is a great idea... if you are committed to keeping it up to date. I've done them before for other reasons and sometimes after the set up it gets forgotten.

Final count. 14 shipped eggs from sea level to 5k ft. All fertile. 11 hatched. 1 quit at estimate 12 days. 1 at 16 or 17. 1 fully developed. Pic below.

I ran at 50% humidity to get more oxygen to the developing chicks throughout incubation. 70%-65% during lockdown. I had my vents (I have them now) open the whole time.

I'm very happy with the results and I think Frankenbator is ready for prime time.

The good:


The Bad:


And the ugly:

You did really well!! I'm excited for you.

I have not done one myself yet, a long time ago I tagged this article, which read awesome, so I hope it helps you. She processes them with 1 small knife and a pot of warm water...no shooting involved. Here, if I want to sell anything to the public, I have to take my live birds to a Provincially Licensed Processor. We have ridiculously idiotic laws called "Supply Management", so I have to take my birds to a processer so the .gov knows how many I have processed. I am allowed 300 in a year, only, or I have to buy quota (at a ridiculous price). They don't really care what the public buys, as long as its very few birds other than what the chicken processors sell.

I am actually going to try to start an editorial campaign in our local papers to force food processors (e.g. anyone who makes more than 300 meat birds, or has more than 100 layers) to stop being allowed to call themselves farms. We have dumb commercials on TV advertising local eggs, when in fact we have no egg manufacturers near us...ergo, we have no store that sells eggs that are local...so how do they get away with this? I'm local, but legally I'm not allowed to sell where that commercial says is local eggs...go figure.

Ok, off my horse.

That makes no sense at all. I can see why you are on the horse in the first place.

So I woke up to blinking clocks this morning. My worst fear, the power went out while I was sleeping! I went to bed at 12am up at 7am. Called the power company to ask how long my power was out. The lady says "you want to know how long the power was out while you were sleeping?" So I explained about my eggs and incubator and she was super nice and helpful then. Put me on hold and found out that they didnt do any work to get it back on so it probably was a quick off and on deal. I'll know for sure tonight when I candle. Fingers crossed!! Really thinking about starting a little piggy bank for a generator. But can you set up a generator to automatically go on when your power goes out or do you have to turn it on yourself?

We lost power last week and our sump pumps didn't go. This would have been okay except the torrential downpour the day before. Needless to say there was basement flooding.

Now we are looking into batter backups.

My other big news from the weekend is the flock swap.
My polish haven't been selling, and I have debated advertising the adult breeding flock. A woman called Saturday from my polish chick ad and said that her 13 year old son had one polish hen that he was showing in 4H, and wanted to start breeding some. She wanted to know if I had any adults available. After talking with her and her son, I decided to offer them Damien and 6 hens for $100. That's very cheap for laying hens, but I was ready to move on, and felt good about selling a breeding flock to an interested young man. They said they wanted them. I have been wanting purebred Ameraucanas for a while, but didn't have the pen space. I had not seen any good ones on CL, so I decided to check out the Ameraucana Clubs website to see if there were any breeders reasonably close, and there was on an hour away! I called her, and she said that she had 17 three week old BBS chicks that she had not advertised yet. I offered her $100 for all of them, and she accepted. So after a full afternoon of chicken swapping, I am the proud new owner of a flock of purebred ameraucanas. The chicks were :8 blue, 7 black, and 2 splash

Hooray for the flock swap. I love the look of the splash. I think you did a great job on the offer. Congrats!

 

[WVduckchick]

I say if, cause my future is so uncertain with taking care of my dad and everthing, if something happened to him and I have to go back to work full time, there's a chance I'd have to move and nothing saying I could find another place to rent where I could have my chickens. And I'm a little scared what the winter will bring ....lol

I probably wouldn't know what to do with a Brinsea. I'd still candle and be a meddler, but I'd be lost not having to adjust and no reason to be checking every half hour to an hour...lol

I was thinking the same thing... staring into a boring ole Brinsea, not touching a thing? How horrific is that thought? LMAO!

But seriously, I hope your dad stays healthy for a long time and you get to keep your chickens and all! Don't worry about what you don't have any control over. What will be will be! And knowing you, you would still find a way to have a few chickens!