Venting...Small children and incubators...

[chubbydog811]

lol Thanks guys...I feel a little bit better today, exept for the fact that the temp is still too high

That's the only problem I have with my LG - takes too long to go down!

My bators are in an unlocked room, the only room in the house that cant be locked...And I cant put them anywhere else. We dont have a huge house, so all the rooms are occupied. I would put them in my room, but I have trouble sleeping already, and that noise drives me nuts. Also my dogs go crazy when they start hearing the peeping...
I'm thinking I lost many chicks on this one...I can't keep my humidity up now (I assume the high temp kept getting rid of the water) and they are all getting stuck...I'm hoping the 8 or 9 eggs left will hatch too.

Also, I live with my parents - kind of like my own appartment upstairs...They are living in MY space, and it does no good for my parents to talk to her, because she still doesnt understand what the big deal is!

 

[Gold Griffin Chicken Mom]

Can you get one of those old fashioned screen door latches and place it high on the outside of the door? We had to lock our girls out of their closet or else they'd have "dress up" every day and leave EVERYthing all over the freaking floor!

Look for the kind with the sliding lock/latch thingy. Any major hardware store should have them.

As for going in the room, I think I would "lay down the law" that this is MY room and MY rules apply to it. Rule #1: NOBODY goes in my room. That sort of thing. The smaller children do better with absolutes. I have a little brother that is 18 years younger than me. I would tell him "I don't take bad children shopping" and the first time he acted up (the first time I took him any place) I turned around and brought him back home. Of course he screamed and begged the whole way home.

The next time and everytime there after, I reminded him to behave "or else". I had a perfect child holding my hand the entire trip. When I had my three children, people would remark "I can't believe your child stays in the stroller". They didn't want to stay, but they knew I (or Dad) had to let them out, or there would be a spanking. Period. Even in public. (The Commonwealth of Virginia says I may spank my own children and my children know it. I'm also not afraid to tell other children that I can remind their parents of the same.

). It only took one "training session" and a less than monthly reminder/refresher course. No, I don't not "beat" my children constantly. Once they are old enough "This is a spanking offense, do we need to continue?" works WONDERS. Mine are old enough for logic to work, thank GOD!

Lot's of luck! Let us know how the rest of the visit goes.

 

[SarahIrl]

My two 1/2 year old came in to me one morning, woke me up and presented me with a hatched egg shell. I asked her where the baby chicken was and she had taken it from the bator (got on a chair to reach) and put it in the brooder on the table, (move chair, get on another one) and it was fine. How - I will never know. But she had put it in the brooder, as there was one extra in there from bedtime the night before. I was astounded. Now, I tape up the bator for hatching time and put them directly outside into the brooder once they are dry enough. Don't leave chicks in the hosue over night and if any hatch during the night she is under strict instructions to get Mommy first. I find that by lettign her 'help' and giving her specific things to do that is involved but NOT dangerous for the eggs/chicks, she is happy as anything. It's about trying to be good and helping you out, being grown up by getting responsibility.

However, your sisters kids ned a wake up call. Writing on your bator, running around cables, I'd give them a right dressing down. In my house, it's my rules, and it can be a bit of a creche here at times, I have my stepsons, my little one, and my younger brother all staying tonight, and they all know the deal... have fun, get dangerous and you'll hear about it.

 

[MiniBeesKnees]

The incubators are not the problem...
Locking them up is not the problem...
The kids are not the problem...
The chicks or eggs are not the problems

Your sister is the problem.

 

[deerman]

Quote:
looks like the reason it when to 107 was you turning it up.....
Don't understand people alway adjusting thermostats'

Biggest trouble with the lg incubator is just that.

A thermostat shut it off at the same temp. no matter how long it takes to get there. Trouble people can't wait. turning up the thermostat will not make it heat up any faster. The old wafer themostat have been used for over 50 yrs. Only thing with the LG first styroform, and heating unit size. They can't get the temp up unless the room temps are above 70. Another thing AC remove humidity from the room....Get the temp to drop very easy, remove the top for a little...

I have been using all type incubators for many years. Once the thermostat is set it should not need adjusted for weeks if now months.
Set it for what temp. it need to shut off then DON'T adjust because the room is to cool.

 

[deerman]

MY 4 yr old grandson, i take a turn-x incubator for him to hatch eggs himself......he gets about 98% hatch rate.....how NOBODY Adjusted the themostat..... oh sure he must bump it when filling the water bottle........

 

[Kedreeva]

Add another reason to my already looooooong list of reasons why I will never have kids!

DON'T open the top like Deer advises if you're already having humidity issues, especially if anything may have pipped. But if you can't get the humidity up, a really nice thing with the styrofoam incubators is that they usually have the vent holes on top... you can get a straw and a syringe (or eyedropper or small funnel) and add water through those holes without ever having to open the top. The straw can even direct which well you're filling if certain ones are empty.

If all the wells are full (or at least, not empty) and the incubator is still not up to where you want it for humidity, I have draped a paper towel over the lip on one side, with a little bit of it outside the incubator. I can wet the bit that's on the outside and it seeps onto the inside so I don't have to open the incubator to adjust humidity. But just be sure if you do something like this you add only a little at a time because 1 wet paper towel folded into 3rds (1/3 the surface area) can up the humidity by as much as 14% in my own bator if the whole thing is wet.

Good luck with it! Hope she keeps the brat in check.

 

[deerman]

Quote:
If a temp like 107 better to open and lose a little humidity than kill every thing with high temps. yes 107 will cook them, so get the temp down quick..Humidity problem would be the AC..they remove humidity from the room....

 

[deerman]

Quote:
Yep always blame the kids....its the adults that should have been watching them......PLUS who is sure they made the incubator peak..i don't think they did.

It is well known that after adjusting a thermostat wait 24 hrs before putting eggs in..reason after adjusting the LG temp may not be steady for sometime.

 

[chubbydog811]

Thanks again guys...

Not trying to start an argument here Deer, but I know my incubator very well. I have used it for almost 2 years now. Have it down to a science. I know that If I turn it a hair and wait 20 minutes, it will be good. It is not a new to me incubator, and I have had it running since Feb. and had it running all summer last year. I waited 2 hours, and it was still good. My incubators rise and fall with the room temp...I accidentally put it next to a heater last winter, and couldn't figure out why the temp kept spiking. I moved it, and it stopped spiking. We have central air, so the entire house gets it. The house temp it usually around 70-72* and it's been more like 68*. Just enough to drop my temp 4* more than I am happy with. Please dont get started about incubators, when we were talking about kids and incubators.

And I totally agree that it isn't the kids, it's the one who is raising them. I can't stand it when parents could care less if their kids do something wrong.

Also, as an update - kids haven't touched it again, but the last 8 eggs that I have hatching are dead. Even the chicks that had pipped already. At least I got 3 chicks out of it

I didn't bother with the door - I just made sure that anything that would make it possible for a kid to get high enough to touch it was away from my table. Also picked up the cords and hid them behind the cabinet. I dont have any chicks hatching for a few weeks, so I'm just going to let it sit empty until they laeve. I put my 2nd incubator even higher, so there is no way it could get touched...It has 40 some eggs in it right now, and I dont want to risk that...Trying to build up my flock for next year.

I wouldn't go as far as this being a reason for not having kids, I see it as a reason for raising your kids by example, and through lessons so they know better. If you just spank them, or let them get away with it, they will think it is alright and will never learn what you actually want from them.