The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Bulldogma]

Anyone interested in an update on my horse trailer to coop project? (Well too bad! You're getting one anyway! LOL)

Before After


So - ground down rusty areas, sanded, caulked all the leaky seams, removed old roof vent and replaced with new one of different style, painted... I think the outside is almost done!

...which means tomorrow I start on the inside!

(And no... my husband really didn't help. LOL! He just loaned me his tools. And I should also mention that in person you can see all the places I messed up.

)

I am pretty much doing the same as I did with the other bator. I picked up the eggs at the post office. I set them in egg cartons fat end up for 12 hours and checked air cell attachment. Both sets of eggs are very fresh. They both have little air cells. Both incubators were set up, monitored and running 24 hour before setting. I set the eggs that had good air cells with the turner off. I checked for air cell attachment every 6 hours and put them in the incubator when they attached. I turned the turner on by day 2. I like this new bator so far. It is the first time I have used a fan. I always dry hatched in the other incubator, this new one I have to add water to keep humidity up to 30%. My old one I never added water till day 19 or 20, when I had first pip. I think this incubator will be far superior to Silkie and shipped eggs.
I was going to submit my file but this only takes picture files.
Some new baby pics today
Enjoying a beam of sun

These are nice cage chick feeders..it allows the chicks to get in and keeps all the other poultry out. They also use them to get away from other poultry.

So happy you received healthy eggs! And that chick feeder set-up is pure awesomeness! I'm going to have to figure out how to make something like that myself! Thank you for sharing it!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Del - I was going to ask you the same thing about where you got the chick feeder guard. Those pigeon feeders do look similar. If yours are old, do you know if they were made for chicks or were they originally made for the way you're using them? If we had the right terminology we could probably search ebay or google and find some of the old ones ?

 

[delisha]

Quote: I checked it during the first 24 hour test..it is pretty accurate. It is off by less than 2% humidity and .05 temp

 

[delisha]

http://www.strombergschickens.com/product/large-grill-feeder-fount/pigeon-cage-supplies

They are sold under both chicken feeders and pigeon feeders

 

[pigeonguy]

So...are you saying you LIKE and would use the LED? I also HATE florescent. I actually feel sick if I'm under them for very long...hurt my eyes. I had checked out some LED motion lights but they were all too dim to even light a small area.

I've had thoughts of purchasing whole skids of regular light bulbs, filling a storage area so I don't have to be stuck w/the florescent!

I would and do use LED lights. I do not buy them though because I'm very frugal (cheap) I build my own as I do most things. While I'm on the subject of building things. I am building now an incubator out of an old wine chiller, a 12 volt window defroster for a car, a temperature controller, a humidity controller and a fogger for a reptile tank.
I do know at this point I can raise the temperature of the cooler from 65 degrees Fahrenheit (F) to 99.5 degrees F in 1 and a half minutes. It is very exiting just slow. I also have plans for an egg turner for it.

 

[delisha]

BDM..that is an awsome job on your new coop!!

 

[delisha]

Quote: I am waiting for pictures as you go..sounds interesting..

 

[Toast n Jelly]

Anyone interested in an update on my horse trailer to coop project? (Well too bad! You're getting one anyway! LOL)

Before After


So - ground down rusty areas, sanded, caulked all the leaky seams, removed old roof vent and replaced with new one of different style, painted... I think the outside is almost done!

...which means tomorrow I start on the inside!

(And no... my husband really didn't help. LOL! He just loaned me his tools. And I should also mention that in person you can see all the places I messed up.

)



I love the color!

 

[Mumsy]

I agree..I have lower humidity in the new bator. I think it is because of the fan. I tested accuracy before I put in eggs. It was running .05 off on temp and less than 2% on humidity. I have added zip lock bags with water inside. They rest along side with the tops slightly open. I average 25% -33% humidity. It dries out faster for sure. It stays pretty good and it sure is sealed tight.

Yes. Mine is also running .05 off on temp but it is over 10% off on humidity. Every five hours I get closer to getting it leveled off. Not quite there yet. I do like how tight the seal is and there are no huge swings. Much easier to keep down the fluctuations than the LG but not as easy to run as I believed it would be when I ordered it. Time will tell in another month with the hatch percentage.

 

[Sally8]

Bulldogma - It hardly looks the same! Gorgeous! Please do keep us posted! Thanks. Sue