The Aloha Chicken Project

[jbolt]

 

[notinoz2007]

i am dumb... i was waiting all weekend to go get eggs and i didnt even turn my incubator on until last night when i got home... i could have had those eggs started already!! the incubator is being dumb too. i dont have my ac on yet so the house warms up during the day and the incubator doesnt compensate for that so it likes to go up to 102 just because. its probably going to drop to 96 tonight when the house cools off. what was i thinking??
anyway, eggs are set and i am babysitting them and having my family do the same. we all have different schedules so someone is usually around to adjust the temp if needed. 20 days better hurry up and get here!

 

[alohachickens]

My first alohas....

Awesome! Look at all the colors! Good hatch.

Did you get my message? There are 40+ eggs over at my Mom's waiting for you to hatch them! LOL!

Most are from NEW breeder pens.

 

[alohachickens]

i am dumb... i was waiting all weekend to go get eggs and i didnt even turn my incubator on until last night when i got home... i could have had those eggs started already!! the incubator is being dumb too. i dont have my ac on yet so the house warms up during the day and the incubator doesnt compensate for that so it likes to go up to 102 just because. its probably going to drop to 96 tonight when the house cools off. what was i thinking??
anyway, eggs are set and i am babysitting them and having my family do the same. we all have different schedules so someone is usually around to adjust the temp if needed. 20 days better hurry up and get here!

You totally need a Hovabator Genesis. It regulates the temps for you. I can't tell you how happy it makes me having that!

Mine was about $200 with the egg turner, but if you already have a turner, just the 'bator is about $135. Not cheap, but I haven't regretted mine at all. It sure was hard to swallow paying that, after I went and found my other incubators so cheap on Craigslist! (My regular Hovabator, with fan and turner, cost me a whopping $50 on Craigslist.) But, it was worth the money for peace of mind. It makes it so easy not having to stress over what the temps are doing in there. You just plug the thing in and add water. If the temps fluctuate, it adjusts all by itself! SO AWESOME.

I pretty much made it pay for itself the first year I bought it, by hatching out about four batches of sale chicks. Sold the babies for $1 per chick, but didn't take me long to hatch 150+ babies and was no work at all with this thing. (About as difficult as watering a plant, because with the auto temp and the auto turner, all you have to do is monitor humidity.)

I missed one on Craigslist a few months ago! Randomly ran across the ad and someone had it for just $75. Even though I didn't NEED another, I totally would have bought it, even just to re-sell at what I paid to you or Laree. She has borrowed mine a few times, because it works so much better than her Brinsea or Reptipro. And her own two are not cheap 'bators. This one just works even better. Total "two thumbs up" on the Genesis.

 

[HEChicken]

I've heard a lot of bad things about the Brinsea incubators. One person I know who hatches a ton and therefore has tons of incubators, "rehomed" all of her Brinseas to the landfill. She has now switched to Reptipro and loves those. I looked into the Reptipro when I was considering a new purchase a few months ago but there are certain features I wasn't crazy about so I didn't get it. I thought it was pretty cheap for its size though.

I wound up with an Rcom and really love it. That was after hearing several people recommend them, and then reading every review I could find on almost every style of incubator. What I found was that with almost every incubator there are the lovers and haters, but with the Rcom, I didn't find anyone who had anything bad to say about them. It holds temp/humidity spot on and adjusts perfectly. I love its digital display and that I can just hit a button to increase or decrease temp/humidity, and can change the turning from 1hr, 2hr, 3hr or off altogether when it comes time to hatch. My family went away for 5 days while it was full of Aloha eggs, leaving the Rcom to take care of them for me. I came back and within 48 hours of returning from the trip, 16 chicks hatched out of the original 18 eggs. (My next hatch was my own eggs and they all hatched, and then this past weekend I had 4 turkey eggs under a broody but she abandoned the nest just before they hatched. I threw them all in the incubator and all four hatched).

One thing I really like about the Rcom is that the eggs lay on their side, just like they would in a nest under a broody hen. The tray they are on is attached to a turning wheel that rotates them a full 180 degrees at whatever frequency you have set. (This is probably hard to picture but there are videos on YouTube). Most other incubators with turners require putting the eggs in the less natural position of being on end.

I liked the first Rcom so much I bought a second as a "hatcher". Then I couldn't stand seeing it sitting there empty and before I knew it, it was plugged in and full of turkey eggs. I still don't have a hatcher.

 

[Deerfield Acres]

HEChicken and Tazcat70 are aware that I've had a stupid, crazy kind of day.

But then.......... you won't believe it because I don't!!!!!!

I got a message...

...at last!!!!!

The Buff Sussex are going to be shipped April 30th, baring any unforeseen record setting low temps!!!!

 

[HEChicken]

HEChicken and Tazcat70 are aware that I've had a stupid, crazy kind of day.

But then.......... you won't believe it because I don't!!!!!!

I got a message...

...at last!!!!!

The Buff Sussex are going to be shipped April 30th, baring any unforeseen record setting low temps!!!!

 

[tazcat70]

Great news!!!!!

 

[alohachickens]

HEChicken and Tazcat70 are aware that I've had a stupid, crazy kind of day.

But then.......... you won't believe it because I don't!!!!!!

I got a message...

...at last!!!!!

The Buff Sussex are going to be shipped April 30th, baring any unforeseen record setting low temps!!!!

So excited!!!!

 

[alohachickens]

I liked the first Rcom so much I bought a second as a "hatcher". Then I couldn't stand seeing it sitting there empty and before I knew it, it was plugged in and full of turkey eggs. I still don't have a hatcher.

Sounds like it works great! And now you have two.

So it begins . . . bwahaaahaaa . . .

(You are going to need 'em though on Stage II of your Aloha program. Going to take a lot of hatching to get back that RED color!)