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

[ChocolateMouse]

Bee, my broody would turn her eggs any time she got off the nest, about 2 X's a day. That was about all I saw but I wasn't watching 24/7.

 

[Beekissed]

Bee, my broody would turn her eggs any time she got off the nest, about 2 X's a day. That was about all I saw but I wasn't watching 24/7.

Neither was I, so it would be hard to say unless someone has put up a 24/7 broody cam and watched the process. I'd say it was entirely random and whenever suited her fancy.

 

[lawatt]

what a cool (ha, ha) experiment, Bee! i'll be watching with interest!

 

[Beekissed]

Me too! Meanwhile, I'm sweeping up little feathers that have escaped my experiment.

Pic from last night's adjustment of adding a little weight to the heat source to bring up temps...haven't had to do that since, so Dad's old Bible went back on the shelf.



Below are the eggs when I turned them this morning. The turning is going to be entirely random, as is the shuffle of the eggs in and out of the center of the nest, but each egg will be moved to some degree each time. After the turning all these lovely rooster feathers were replaced over the eggs, misted very lightly with water(this will be done randomly also, as the soil under the nest is still very moist) and the heating pad was then replaced. I'm so very glad I picked up those free roosters this fall and winter...I have been enjoying the best canned chicken and stock I've ever had after those birds were sweetened up with fermented feeds and I've gotten to repurpose their lovely feathers for something useful.

 

[Pyxis]

I figure this early on in the incubation process it may not hurt the embryos to not be turned each day.  When broodies turn eggs it's not the all in, all out process that we all do in incubators...it's a light nudge of the beak here and there and one has to wonder if each egg gets turned fully each day and I imagine that they don't get fully turned 3 times a day as is recommended.  The most characteristic trait of a broody that I've noticed is her extreme immobility on that nest, so maybe she does these things more often at night? 

This is a neat experiment! I read a study they did once, and I wish I could find it, but it showed that a broody hen on average turned or fussed with her eggs something like 57 times a day I'm gonna have to look for it.

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

That's just too cute!

 

[Beekissed]

This is a neat experiment! I read a study they did once, and I wish I could find it, but it showed that a broody hen on average turned or fussed with her eggs something like 57 times a day

I'm gonna have to look for it.

Please do! And I ain't gonna do that part...though it's tempting! I feel the urge to "fuss" with the eggs, isn't that strange? I've had to make myself keep my hands off that nest, with some difficulty.

 

[Beekissed]

That's just too cute!

I think you are the only one that caught that......

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

I built a couple of boxes this winter. Boredom and snow bound does that. LOL

Anyhow, I tested them relentlessly under every imaginable wattage, ambient condition, humidity, and everything else I could possibly think of. I tweaked until I felt comfortable. I've got some most important eggs going in this spring and I didn't want to screw them up.

I used ziplock bags of water as bio mass to simulate the presence of the eggs during testing.

I was thinking maybe some of those gel hot/cold ice/heat packs for the weight. The bible tickles me considerably, but the gel stuff seems closer to what a broody belly feels like.

 

[Beekissed]

I was thinking maybe some of those gel hot/cold ice/heat packs for the weight. The bible tickles me considerably, but the gel stuff seems closer to what a broody belly feels like.

This morning I used a pair of shoes.

After I uncovered the eggs to turn, the temps dropped and were slow coming up that few degrees, so I just placed my tennis shoes on top of Little Red Hen and it served nicely. That pad is so thick that there is no feeling anything through it...it has five layers of material. two layer forms a quilted pad filled with feathers, the next forms a pocket, the next two layers are fleece that forms the "back" of the chicken mama. The only thing those eggs will feel, way down there, are the feathers over them and the soft velour of the heating pad on top of those.