The Old Folks Home

[vehve]

Quote: Any rocks would do, but sealed water bottles are better. (You laugh, but it would actually work)

 

[ronott1]

I wonder, if I could find one that fit, if it would even out my incubator?

That is funny!

I have been reading about people putting rocks into their incubators to help even out temperatures. It might help with Foam incubators.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

The floors of my homemade combination incubator and hatcher are quarry tile for the same reason as well as for ease of cleaning. When I designed it I planned on doing the walls as well. I hadn't calculated the weight. I wouldn't have been able to move it. It's still quite heavy.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

We have a big green egg, too, and the pizza stone stuck to the pizza so we had calzones instead. That was the first, and last, time we tried that.

BF did just make an apple cobbler in the egg after he made some smoked meat product, when most of the smoke was gone, and it was the most delicious cobbler.

And as far as chickens just dropping dead... yes, they do. If you have more than one drop dead at a time you may want to look into an infectious process or heat, but I have definitely experienced the okay-one-hour & dead-the-next syndrome. The most confusing death I've had is a broody (and she was broody, not sick) who was absolutely fine. I kicked her out of the nest to go stretch her legs and 10 minutes later I found her near death under the coop. I am wondering if they can get blood clots from being sedentary? Because she could have embolized it getting up out of the nest and then died... that's my best hypothesis, anyway.

 

[vehve]

We have a big green egg, too, and the pizza stone stuck to the pizza so we had calzones instead. That was the first, and last, time we tried that.

BF did just make an apple cobbler in the egg after he made some smoked meat product, when most of the smoke was gone, and it was the most delicious cobbler.

And as far as chickens just dropping dead... yes, they do. If you have more than one drop dead at a time you may want to look into an infectious process or heat, but I have definitely experienced the okay-one-hour & dead-the-next syndrome. The most confusing death I've had is a broody (and she was broody, not sick) who was absolutely fine. I kicked her out of the nest to go stretch her legs and 10 minutes later I found her near death under the coop. I am wondering if they can get blood clots from being sedentary? Because she could have embolized it getting up out of the nest and then died... that's my best hypothesis, anyway.

Put some flour on the stone, and nothing wet should ever touch it.

 

[Sylviaanne]

Any rocks would do, but sealed water bottles are better. (You laugh, but it would actually work)

What's this? What's this? Bottled water in the incubators? How does that work and what are the specific reasons for it? Thanks!

 

[ronott1]

What's this? What's this? Bottled water in the incubators? How does that work and what are the specific reasons for it? Thanks!

The water bottle acts like a heat sink. It allows the temperatures to stay stable but is most helpful when hatching a small number of eggs in a big incubator. Eggs act like a heat sink too, which is why it can take a full incubator longer to come up to temperature when first setting the eggs.

I hope this makes sense!

 

[vehve]

Quote: Just stabilizes heat. Anything with a large mass will do, but water has a high heat capacity, so it's great to use as a thermal mass. The heat in there is stored into the water, and if the incubator is producing too much heat, it's going to take longer for the air to heat up, since the water needs to heated. If the power goes out, or something similar happens, the bator will stay warm longer, since the water needs to be cooled down too. And sealed container so that it doesn't affect humidity.

 

[Sylviaanne]

Just stabilizes heat. Anything with a large mass will do, but water has a high heat capacity, so it's great to use as a thermal mass. The heat in there is stored into the water, and if the incubator is producing too much heat, it's going to take longer for the air to heat up, since the water needs to heated. If the power goes out, or something similar happens, the bator will stay warm longer, since the water needs to be cooled down too. And sealed container so that it doesn't affect humidity.

Sooo, if the electric goes out and I had a way to put hot water in some bottles, it might help? As long as the bottle would be away from the eggs?

 

[LindaB220]

Sooo, if the electric goes out and I had a way to put hot water in some bottles, it might help? As long as the bottle would be away from the eggs?

If I could have read this yesterday I might have had some answers. Last night lightening struck an electric pole across and down the street about 100 yds. Sixty thousand homes without power. Bad for me because we are fully electric. No water, no toilet, no A/C, no lights, TV or internet, no stove. AND my 'bator was off for 14 hrs. Sitting at 75 degrees. My 15 White Plymouth Rocks were on day 19. Sick about it but I left it running until I hear feedback. This is what I worry about. I live with DD and family and they have no comprehension of what to do other than go to a motel. Clint ran out and bought a generator for the dog boarding shop. He was afraid that someone would come by and steal it so he slept in his truck. Aimee put a pic on FB about the lengths he goes through for the puppies. So I spent the rest of the night before bed sitting in my chair with my headband light on and read my nook. Aimee walked by and said that was about the most ignorant thing she ever saw.

What can I say, I love to read.