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

[Beekissed]

You're right, nothing can truly replace the real thing. But I have had good response to rhythmic clucking with my incubated babies. It warms my heart when they peep back at hatch time

I'll try it! But, heaven knows I don't need them imprinting on me...I've got enough animals to trip over.

As soon as they hatch they are headed for the big coop and the big flock, where they will be brooded under this fake chickie mama until they can join the big girls.

 

[elorraine52]

Yeah...that's a lot of money right there. Most of what I do with my animals is a practice in seeing how I can do it very cheap or free or with materials I have on hand. I like sticking with that kind of method because it keeps me prepared in life to do without, which I have a lot all down through the years and I will continue to do so. It helps a person learn to problem solve without always relying on money first.

I've always taught my kids that same skill...I find it utterly valuable in this world to learn how to solve a problem without complicated procedures or by throwing money at it. When they were little and came to me with a want or need, I'd always ask them, "What's the problem, how can you solve it with just things we already have, and will it work?" These are the things to ponder when you live on little and would like to continue doing so.

In this present world economy, more folks need to adjust to it before they HAVE to adjust to it, so the transition won't be quite so difficult.

wow, great attitude and approach, very versatile, and I agree 100%

 

[Beekissed]

Thank you! Not many agree, though there are a few. Very few. It's just a survival mode of thinking and has become a way of life for me and my family.

 

[MEMama3]

Thank you! Not many agree, though there are a few.  Very few.  It's just a survival mode of thinking and has become a way of life for me and my family.

whenever I find a new way to save money (like making unpaper towels) and my husband bawks, I remind him that these little things could pave the way to a fabulous trip to Europe some day. Just between the unpaper towels, diy laundry and dish detergents and line drying our clothes I have gotten our monthly expenses down by $60/mo. Plus I blog about what I do to live more simply which makes me about $15/mo, So I think it makes quite a big difference over time.

 

[Beekissed]

Many people don't realize how much those little things add up. Even that amount each month can mean such a big change when the income is small. I've been able to get my electric bills down to the the teens, but usually $35-$40 per month, just by placing some electronics on power bars and shutting them down when not in use, using wood heat, fans in the summer instead of air conditioning, line drying and rack drying clothing, reusing clothes multiple times before washing, the homemade detergents....it all adds up to some freedom to breathe each month instead of holding your breath to see if you'll make it.

One of the reasons I wanted to do this incubation and also brood the chicks with a heating pad was to see if costs could be cut, particularly in using the heating pad to brood the chicks after hatch. Heat lamps suck the watts and have some element of danger, while also being hard for new people to regulate effectively...I think using heating pads instead will save all that and will be cheaper than buying a heat plate.

Saving money on such things may seem very small to some, but to me everything saved is freedom from worry later. It's become almost a game for me to save money on things...it's a challenge and helps to keep the mind sharp. The biggest way to save money is to stop spending it.

 

[rayray983]

Beekissed I find this very interesting some of my local chicken friend find it funny I don't xo my eggs and I don't turn 180 degrees every time I turn I use a incubator and I shuffle dominos as they call it and my hatch rates have been great where as theirs have been fairly low the way I see it when turning a hen doesn't pick up and say complete turn to other side any way congratz on such a effective copy of nature you are truly brilliant and I hope the best for your hatch

 

[Beekissed]

Beekissed I find this very interesting some of my local chicken friend find it funny I don't xo my eggs and I don't turn 180 degrees every time I turn I use a incubator and I shuffle dominos as they call it and my hatch rates have been great where as theirs have been fairly low the way I see it when turning a hen doesn't pick up and say complete turn to other side any way congratz on such a effective copy of nature you are truly brilliant and I hope the best for your hatch

Thank you! And your words comfort me....I was hoping all the little aspects of this method would yield a better hatch rate, such as the random turn and shuffle, the hands off policy of not candling all the eggs, the humidity control using natural material of the soil, hay and feathers and the eggs being closely covered by the heat source as opposed to them being warmed in an open air setting.

I'm truly expecting good things from this hatch, though I'm not real sure of the fertility of all the eggs...I'm using a very young and not so vigorous cockerel and pullets for my egg source. It's a gamble but I needed to have a practice set of eggs for this experiment before I tried it on good eggs.

Thank you!

 

[Beekissed]

An interesting observation of the last two nights:

The temp goes up after nightfall only in this nest and that's when I have to tweak the temps~at first I thought it was because the house was heating up, so I closed the bedroom door and observed the nest temps as the temps in the room fell throughout the evening. At those times I have the thermostat on the heating pad at the lowest setting and the nest uncovered by anything but the heating pad itself.

Then it holds a steady 100.0 degrees all throughout the night, no matter the temps in the room. Along about 8 am I get to tweak it again because the temps drop a little in the incubator and ambient temps in the room rise. That's all before the eggs are turned or messed with in any way. I covered the heating pad with the "hen" cushion and have the thermostat on #4 with a slight weight on the cushion as the temps have dipped to around 98 this morning.

I'm wondering if the eggs themselves somehow have something to do with this...it's only Day 3 of this incubation, so it couldn't be much to do with chick development, could it?

 

[ocap]

will you consider the experiment a success if only one hatches?

 

[ocap]

An interesting observation of the last two nights:

The temp goes up after nightfall only in this nest and that's when I have to tweak the temps~at first I thought it was because the house was heating up, so I closed the bedroom door and observed the nest temps as the temps in the room fell throughout the evening. At those times I have the thermostat on the heating pad at the lowest setting and the nest uncovered by anything but the heating pad itself.

Then it holds a steady 100.0 degrees all throughout the night, no matter the temps in the room. Along about 8 am I get to tweak it again because the temps drop a little in the incubator and ambient temps in the room rise. That's all before the eggs are turned or messed with in any way. I covered the heating pad with the "hen" cushion and have the thermostat on #4 with a slight weight on the cushion as the temps have dipped to around 98 this morning.

I'm wondering if the eggs themselves somehow have something to do with this...it's only Day 3 of this incubation, so it couldn't be much to do with chick development, could it?

a human adult is suppose to give out heat like a 100 watt light bulb, if I understand your question,,,,,is an embryo generating heat? Great question ! it is alive therefore it may be.