TeaChick's Chicks

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Quote: Okay sure, I'd love some photos!

 

[TeaChick]

Okay sure, I'd love some photos!

Okay. Here you go:
Since there are a bunch (6), I made them small; you can click on them to see the large version. =)


This is from the top. Glass glued into the middle of the lid, hole cut first. The little black box at the top right is a dimmer switch; very useful in controlling the temp w/o having to use more insulation or taking the lid off just this much and not letting it all get too cold, etc.


This is the front. It's just a simple, small chest cooler. The white wire going to the right is for the light bulb and the black one is for the dimmer switch. The yellow spot at the top left of the cooler is a hole for ventilation and temperature regulation (if it gets too cold in there and the light bulb is on full power, you could tape over this hole, or if the humidity is getting too low you could cover it as well).


This is a picture of the end (the right end from what I have facing away from the wall). The white cord is plugged into the black dimmer switch and that's plugged into the wall outlet. The light bulb socket is installed where the lid lock attaches to the cooler itself. The duct tape is holding the half-inch welded wire platform that is under the light bulb (to defuse the heat) inside the cooler, and the wires were cut in between and then pushed through holes in the end of the cooler; I taped those holes shut and taped the wires to the outside of the cooler to support the platform better. (The platform inside the cooler is covered in aluminum foil.)


This is the opposite end. The yellow-ish smudge at the top right is a hole and there's a much smaller one at the top left; IDK whether you'll be able to see it in the large version or not, but it's not visible in the small version).


This shows the eggs in a carton, which I cut the bottoms out of (for air flow, but I use the carton to keep the hatched chicks from knocking around eggs that aren't finished hatching). It's hard to see if you don't already know what it is, but there's a small dish for water to keep the humidity where it's supposed to be for the incubation/lockdown/hatching. You can see the half-inch welded wire; that isn't resting on the bottom, the corners are cut out by about 1-2 inches and the edges are folded at right angles to keep the eggs off the bottom of the incubator and to allow airflow, etc.


This picture is from the egg end of the incubator. The eggs are at the bottom of the picture and the aluminum foil I put around the light bulb is the weird dark shape with light shining around the top and sides of it is my super fancy heat diffuser. lol The aluminum foil covered platform made of half-inch welded wire isn't visible. I think there's a picture a bit further back that shows the incubator before I installed the heat diffuser.

Does that help?

 

[TeaChick]

Nope. There isn't. I'll have to find one. Hang on a second.......

Nope. I don't even have one on my computer. Hang on another second. Let me check my phone......

Yup! Found one!!! Here ya go:



There it is. I had turned the light bulb off so it could be seen in the picture.

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Very fancy! Do you have a fan in there too? What do you use for a thermostat? I LOVE IT!!!

 

[TeaChick]

Very fancy! Do you have a fan in there too? What do you use for a thermostat? I LOVE IT!!!

lol
no, still air
the dimmer switch and a thermometer (a reliable one!!!) (lost seven chicks in the shell to a bad thermometer last hatch)
thanks; a friend of mine built it; it's the first one she built and she gave it to me. =D

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Quote:

Awesome!

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Come to my thread.

lol It needs some life.

 

[TeaChick]

Come to my thread. [IMG]http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y168/130934/83001mt0.gif[/IMG] 

lol It needs some life. 

On my way.

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Yay for TC!

 

[TeaChick]

Update:
Snoodle has been getting irritated with me for collecting her eggs; she's sure there should be more than one by now! She moved the egg I've been leaving for her underneath her chest to lay today's egg. Later I found that she had hidden her eggs. I'm collecting her eggs for a friend to incubate,but after the weekend I'll let her collect her clutch. I want to offer her some Comet eggs if she doesn't seem to feel like she's got enough of her own. We'll see.

I'm working on a saddle for Chocolate, b/c both Eddie and Marty try to mate her at least once a day each, and, of course, Eddie tries to knock Marty off. It also looks like Caramel may need one as well. :/

I put the Cochin chicks in the back pen this afternoon. They seem to like it. In the brooder, they always come to see if I have feed, but in the pen, they barely acknowledged my presence. Lol

The big chicks seem to like free ranging. Marty still wants to roost on the grill, so I have to put him on the wood pile every night.

I lost all twelve eggs I had set on the third.
I candle. the ones I eggtopsied were all upside-down in the shells.
Definitely makes me want to strictly use a brood hen or five and not use an incubator anymore.

What's up with all off you?