The Middle Tennessee Thread

[heirloomorps]

Finally found some aviary netting at a good price IN STOCK and FAST SHIPPING he has all sorts of chicken related products

http://stores.ebay.com/Pinnon-Hatch-Farms

Bruce at Pinnon Hatch is awesome. We had so many pens to cover and such a large area that his netting worked out cheaper.

 

[chickenlover478]

Hi guys!I have not posted anything on this thread in a long time but, i have one question.i am planning on getting a incubator for my fertile eggs this spring and wanted to know what kind of incubator would be the best?I can't afford the ones over $100.Thanks so much!

 

[chickenlover478]

One more question,how do you make a profile picture?Thanks!

 

[DMRippy]

One more question,how do you make a profile picture?Thanks!

In the TOP RIGHT corner click the my profile tab. Then on the left of the screen is you avatar and it says under REPLACE AVATAR.

I am no help on the bators. I think the ones at TSC are ok for the money. You can make one pretty cheap and it might be a little bigger than the ones at TSC. All kinds of info on making one on BYC.

 

[DMRippy]

I saw a license plate today with ??? - BYC LOL..... I WANT ONE

 

[FeyRaine]

In the TOP RIGHT corner click the my profile tab. Then on the left of the screen is you avatar and it says under REPLACE AVATAR.

I am no help on the bators. I think the ones at TSC are ok for the money. You can make one pretty cheap and it might be a little bigger than the ones at TSC. All kinds of info on making one on BYC.

Well I'm sitting here w/ 1 chicken chick out of 11 eggs hatched this wk & only got 2 chicks from 23 eggs for NYDH
we made a cooler-bator exactly like the ones ppl here claim to work very well , I mean same brand of PC fan, same brand of cooler etc.
So, all I can say really is results on the diy bator are not always great

A neighbor has loaned me a LG 30 egg still air & I'm hoping to do one big setting of eggs of the breeds I'm wanting to make up for these double disasters w/ the home made bator...

Now I need to figure out how to keep this one lone chick alive...it is the smallest ever, like the size of a tiny tree frog, it was a small egg, I was given the egg & didn't really think about how small it was until it is the only one to hatch, so odd...

Anyway, my neighbor claims about 50% hatch rates w/ the LG , which beats 2/23 & 1/11 for cooler bator
(I'll try to fix the cooler bater & try again someday, but right now I'm too upset to think about it).

 

[DMRippy]

Quote: I have never had a BOUGHT incubator. I am on my second Homemade bator and with my eggs most of the time I get 90-100% hatches. Shipped eggs are another story. If my eggs are fertile they develop and hatch just fine.

I am hatching today. Out of 8 Marans I had 5 chicks out and 2 more pipped. All of my SBEL hatched, and a Rock Project I got 3/4 so far. Out of shipped eggs 15 shipped/ 9 made it to lockdown. 5 hatched 1 died (guts where outside some

) 1 more was almost out and 2 more had pipped when I left.

Homemade bators just take a lot more time to get right. I finally bought a digital thermostat and that has made a HUGE difference in how well they work. There are links in my siggy to my bators I built. The only thing I would change is I would add more insulation to the big one. I may yet put more on the outside to keep the temp more stable in the cold and heat.

 

[FeyRaine]

I have never had a BOUGHT incubator. I am on my second Homemade bator and with my eggs most of the time I get 90-100% hatches. Shipped eggs are another story. If my eggs are fertile they develop and hatch just fine.

I am hatching today. Out of 8 Marans I had 5 chicks out and 2 more pipped. All of my SBEL hatched, and a Rock Project I got 3/4 so far. Out of shipped eggs 15 shipped/ 9 made it to lockdown. 5 hatched 1 died (guts where outside some

) 1 more was almost out and 2 more had pipped when I left.

Homemade bators just take a lot more time to get right. I finally bought a digital thermostat and that has made a HUGE difference in how well they work. There are links in my siggy to my bators I built. The only thing I would change is I would add more insulation to the big one. I may yet put more on the outside to keep the temp more stable in the cold and heat.

I'm actually thinking of doing a side by side test of the borrowed GL & my coolerbater.
We have a $21 digital indoor outdoor remote thermometer/hydrometer in the coolerbator, & I discovered the batteries in it heat up and it starts giving falsely high temp readings,
but I had 2 other glass type thermometers in there also this time. I think part of the issue is our central heat pump, it weirdly pressurizes the house when it kicks on & I suspect that is impacting the eggs. Otherwise its just the cooler bator is too touchy w/ temps - my DH & I have been tag teaming on sleep & watching the remote temp. readout for 6 wks now tweeking it as needed to offset house heating /cooling 24/7. This time 2 eggs wrong end piped & died plus 5 others never pipped were developed but never turned in the eggs. Do you know what causes wrong end pips?? Whatever causes that is my problem I think...

 

[DMRippy]

I'm actually thinking of doing a side by side test of the borrowed GL & my coolerbater.
We have a $21 digital indoor outdoor remote thermometer/hydrometer in the coolerbator, & I discovered the batteries in it heat up and it starts giving falsely high temp readings,
but I had 2 other glass type thermometers in there also this time. I think part of the issue is our central heat pump, it weirdly pressurizes the house when it kicks on & I suspect that is impacting the eggs. Otherwise its just the cooler bator is too touchy w/ temps - my DH & I have been tag teaming on sleep & watching the remote temp. readout for 6 wks now tweeking it as needed to offset house heating /cooling 24/7. This time 2 eggs wrong end piped & died plus 5 others never pipped were developed but never turned in the eggs. Do you know what causes wrong end pips?? Whatever causes that is my problem I think...

I don't think I would keep hatching if I only got 50% most of the time.


A digital thermostat is TOTALLY different than the thermometers. I have those in there too. The thermostat will keep the temps correct. Mine has a mark that I SET to turn on when it gets to that low temp it comes on. Same way when it get to the right temp it goes off. My bator only swings about .5 to 1 degree EVER. Also what is your humidity and did you calibrate your hygrometer? Both are critical to good hatches.

 

[Okla-doodle-doo]

Hope everyone has their birds all secure. Sounds like a rough night is ahead! The wind has hit over here at Dover,it's gusting pretty good,ha a few hard showers.
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