Simulated Natural Nest Incubation~Experiment #1 So it begins....

[Beekissed]

Thanks, Pete!

That makes me feel better about leaving for a couple of days.

I'll try to get this nest stabilized with some insulation before I go so that there is very little interference from the ambient temps. Right now it seems to hold consistent heat very well without much intervention....a steady 100* all the time until it's opened up or temps fall at night on that window. While I'm gone I'll place it away from the window and insulate the nest box with blankets so that it holds heat consistently even when the temps in the house fall a little, as it's bound to do when we bank up that stove and leave for a couple of days.

 

[Beekissed]

Turned and shuffled a minute ago, could definitely feel a difference in egg temps between those in the middle and those on the perimeter. Didn't lose much heat doing the Broody Shuffle. The nest has maintained a steady 99.5-100.0* temps today on the #3 thermostat setting. I moved the box out of the windowsill about half way through the day to a chair sitting next to the window and no change in internal nest temps transpired with that move. All day the nest has been using feathers, heating pad and fake broody hen pillow for an incubator and that has kept the temps incredibly stable all day, despite fluctuating temps in the room.

Checked the "soil" under the nest and it is cool and moist. Gave one spritz of the mister after feathers were replaced to the eggs and before recovering. I love this meat thermometer..it is incredibly fast to adapt to temp changes and also very accurate.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Are you keeping at all track of humidity levels with anything just for learning's sake?

 

[Beekissed]

Are you keeping at all track of humidity levels with anything just for learning's sake?

Nope. I'm pretty results driven in my experiments and I sort of just wing it...not too fond of details that complicate things. I know that's frustrating to people who like facts, more facts and with a side order of facts, but I'm more instinctual in how I do things and don't require facts, just results.

If it works, it works. If it doesn't, it maybe could if something were tweaked a lot but I don't like things that require fussy routines, so I'd likely not do it again with an increase of tweaking to get it right. I leave all that to the folks who like to complicate things.

I started this experiment with an eye towards simplifying the incubation process by mimicking the most simple method of all, in the most simple ways and with the most simple of materials. That's sort of my thing...I like a simple life.

It's sort of like the fermented feeds...I just added water to feed and grains, stirred it well, added some ACV and waited. It made fermented feed and it had fabulous results in the chickens and saved me lots of feed money. It was simple and very results driven......

.....then along came the facts people to screw it up with added ingredients, keeping the feed under water AT ALL TIMES, MIND YOU, lid on, add this protein, that kimchi or some kind of bucha, yogurt cultures, yeast cultures, etc.

And in the end they all got exactly what I was feeding....chicken feed with lactobacillus and some acetobacter in it. Could have just mixed feed with water and got that.

 

[aussie pete]

hear ,hear - the "kiss" ( keep it simple stupid ) methods r always the best imo

 

[Beekissed]

hear ,hear - the "kiss" ( keep it simple stupid ) methods r always the best imo

It's a rare thing nowadays, isn't it? More and more I think folks want drama in their lives...something to complain about to other folks, like how complicated their animal feed and care routines are and such. All I can think when I read those things is, "Gee...I sure wouldn't be telling folks about how I couldn't manage to get all those routines down to a manageable level so I could have a life. " Sort of makes a person look incompetent.

Takes you an hour to do animal chores of a morning before you go to work? Get rid of some animals, streamline your methods and keep things simple and your life automatically improves. No one needs that many animals unless their whole job is the farm and it's where they derive all their income...if not, that's just self induced stress and I have little sympathy for it. The standard answer for that is that the animals bring them joy and comfort and they couldn't imagine living their lives without them....to which I reply: Then stop complaining and experience the joy.

 

[enola]

Following this thread with rapt attention.....

 

[Beekissed]

I've noticed that about an hour after sundown this house gets much warmer for a brief while and that's when I have to make an adjustment to the nest to keep temps at 100, so I'm going to solve that in the future by just shutting the bedroom door to keep the heat from the wood stove out of there. It's a simple fix. Makes my bedroom a chilly place but it's already quite chilly and I prefer to sleep in a cold room with a warm blanket.

I think the chicks are much the same.

 

[aussie pete]

wish it was cooler here (summer in aust). i recently had 3 broodies sitting in a combined nest on 42 eggs
,temp in coop ave 113f during day ,not much cooler 'nite over last 2 wks,
had 1 chic hatch .
easier to warm up than keep cool

 

[Beekissed]

wish it was cooler here (summer in aust). i recently had 3 broodies sitting in a combined nest on 42 eggs
,temp in coop ave 113f during day ,not much cooler 'nite over last 2 wks,
had 1 chic hatch .
easier to warm up than keep cool

WOW!!! One chick!!!!

113* !!!!!!

Oh, Pete! I'd die from that kind of heat! No wonder they didn't hatch....did you have a lot of rotten eggs? My broody sat on a clutch this July and it was too hot then too...that was the latest she had ever sat on eggs and I doubt they were even fertilized as the roo was too old..not a one hatched..didn't even form chicks.