The Heritage Rhode Island Red Site

[RoseMarie1]

My sister tells me not to name the females, only the males. She named her male bird but not her hens. I remember you talking about Patty. I love that! I have one Orpington that is like that with me. We had a small flock of bantam roosters that free ranged & that whole flock would run to me when I came outside. They would then follow me everywhere I went. Many times, they would sit outside my window & crow continually if I was inside. My husband was quite amused.

lol now that's just too sweet. She is pretty!

 

[RoseMarie1]

From the pictures it is hard to determine the dimensions. Fred does have a nice setup. I'm not sure what he used as a heat source. I used a couple of 15 watt bulbs and a couple ceramic light fixtures and an small AC fan I had. Total cost under $10.00. I know I'm not Fred. I incubate in a cabinet incubator and hatch in my styrofoam incubators. Good luck and have fun...

I use these to hatch in.

This was a styrofoam cooler that was given to me before I modified and changed it form a single bulb on the bottom of the home-made hatcher to two bulbs mounted on one side..







Originally I had a dimmer switch to somewhat control the temperature.

This is after I modified it and replaced a DC fan with an small AC fan I found and added a wafer thermostat. Now I only have one cord coming out of it

I put aluminum foil in the bottom for easy cleaning after a hatch.

SOOOOOO stinkin cute!!!!

 

[cmom]

Just got in, can't wait to look through.
I'll show it to my Hens so they know what kind of chicks to lay

I just got a new book too. The old one was a 1921 edition.

 

[Fred's Hens]

For building incubators and/or hatches, Rush Lane Poultry. Remember that name.

They have a website with a dozen or more videos on building them. Most of those videos, over a dozen, have also been put up on YouTube. I watched 8 or 9 of his videos.

On the wiring, it's easy. On a two wire, black is power and white is common. If I interrupt the black wire, it "breaks" the flow. So, your thermostat "breaks" the flow, "breaks black" as needed. Once the heat has risen to the desired point, say 99.9, the thermostat cracks open, or shorts. Flow is cut off.

Just remember, Break Black and the wiring isn't hard at all. Rush Lane Poultry.

How big a cooler box? As small or as big as you wish. Personally, the big ones end up working best because some room inside is taken up with light bulbs for heat and a humidity source. If you want to put an egg turner inside a cooler box, you'll need a really large size.

Rush Lane Poultry "building an incubator". A dozen or more videos

.

This diagram describes the wires as "ribbed" and "non-ribber". Might be better to describe as black and white, or black and red, whatever the case may be. The rectangle thing in this diagram is your thermostat. This opens and closes, regulating the amount of time the light bulb(s) are on. Multiple bulbs are preferred in larger boxes.

The thermostat you use choose can be a hot water heater type, a little bi-metal type from Incubator Warehouse, a wafer type as found in a purchased foam incubator, or one of the fancy digial kind. They all work, more or less, and require more or less sensitive fussing to keep the temps within range.

Now, since the theme of this thread in NOT "How To Build An Incubator", I'm done posting about it here. There's tons of information at your finger tips, on the interweb.

 

[Asmorilda]

lol now that's just too sweet. She is pretty!

Thank you RoseMarie. My avatar picture of the Orpington (black & white) is my rooster, Huckleberry. He's a sweetie just like my girl, Shirley (she is solid black). The bantam roosters are all game roosters except one & he is a Red Jungle Fowl.

 

[cmom]

I put my first batch of eggs in the incubator for this year. Now for the wait.

 

[RoseMarie1]

Cmom- good luck with those eggs! I'm wanting to get started with that myself. I had a question and wanted to come on here and ask and see what I need to do. I got 3 more hens to go with mine. They actually came from mine. I gave someone some eggs and they decided to get out of the chicken business so I told him I'd like to have them if he was serious about that. So I got the 3 hens. Anyway so that makes 10 hens for me now and 1 rooster in the pen together. I have heard 10 to 1 rooster. I have another rooster and was wondering IF I could put him in there with them as well OR if it would be too much? I have the one rooster off to himself. I thought about putting some of them in with him BUT I don't have nests sit up in that pen yet. What would you do Cmom? I hate him having to stay by himself all the time.

 

[RoseMarie1]

The eggs were fertile of the ones I have eaten over the past couple of days. My Rose Comb Red breeding pens are all set up now. Now all of my breeding pens are set up. Some of the girls were with a male but I switched the males around. I have one blind Rose Comb RIR. Surprisingly I had to move him into another coop with the project girls from last year and he seem to be doing well. I was concerned but he is finding his way in and out of the coop. He walks into stuff but he manages. He really did turn out to be a handsome boy. He was slower at developing than the others. Hubby wants me to get rid of him but he doesn't eat much and he is in a non breeding coop and pen. I'm just happy that my breeding pens are set-up and finished. I still have to replace some of the wire in the pens from chicken wire to welded wire. I'm old and it isn't easy anymore wrestling with rolls of wire.

ah bless his heart. I'd want to keep him to since he's more used to you. Yeah those rolls of wire are heavy!! Glad you got your pens done. I have one section I want to close in and roof to have an extra pen. Hubby has gotten tired of building. lol Gave him a break last year although I DO help him. So I might have to hit him up to do this one this year. ;-)

 

[Fred's Hens]

Cmom- good luck with those eggs! I'm wanting to get started with that myself. I had a question and wanted to come on here and ask and see what I need to do. I got 3 more hens to go with mine. They actually came from mine. I gave someone some eggs and they decided to get out of the chicken business so I told him I'd like to have them if he was serious about that. So I got the 3 hens. Anyway so that makes 10 hens for me now and 1 rooster in the pen together. I have heard 10 to 1 rooster. I have another rooster and was wondering IF I could put him in there with them as well OR if it would be too much? I have the one rooster off to himself. I thought about putting some of them in with him BUT I don't have nests sit up in that pen yet. What would you do Cmom? I hate him having to stay by himself all the time.

There's no need to mate all 10 of your females for breeding purposes, in fact, it isn't breeding at all to do that, mere propagation. Single breeding and charting and recording both the male and female parents is ideal, but… that may be beyond what you wish to do. My suggestion is to do this. Select your very best 3 females and pen them with your best male.

At this time of year, those 3 females can produce 12-16 eggs per week and in a month, give you over 60 fertile eggs to set, likely as many as you'd ever wish to hatch, I don't know. Be specific about your goals for the offspring and make match ups that do the breed justice and helps to take your birds forward in style!!! Just my 2 cents.

 

[cmom]

Quote:
Fred is correct, but I like to experiment. I have a large pen that I had 4 of my top males. I sold 2 and have 2 left in that coop and pen. A judge at a show that I had talked to quite awhile ago suggested for me to pick out my best and what he does he called Flock Breed so I thought I'd try it, All of my birds are banded so I know what hatches they are from. I am very careful of what females go with which male. I have one large coop and pen for the Flock Breeding Red Project. Those eggs are now in the incubator. I have 7 coops and pens with my Reds in them and 3 coops and pens with my Whites. In a little less than 3 weeks I'll know some. I'm putting in another 100 eggs this week as test hatch #2.

If you have another coop and pen you could split the girls and put some with each male. It is almost impossible to introduce a male into a existing flock. The males will fight. The males I have together, grew up together. Put some hay in a milk crate, bucket or tote box for a nest. No matter how many nest boxes I have in my coops the girls don't seem to use them all and many of them insist laying all their eggs in just a few. I do have some milk crates in a couple of coops with hay in them and sometimes the girls will lay in them and some insist on laying on the floor. I haven't put any golf ball in them yet.

I am also trying Flock Breeding in another large coop and pen with some Whites. Good luck and have fun...