My homeade bator!

Mel, for your next batch, you might want to fashion
some kind of liner, that you can remove after each.
Also, the disinfectants I've seen are like a fogger-
it can get the tiny places and crevices clean. I have
read that letting it dry in the sun helps, too.

Waiting for Mel to check in....fingers-tap tap tap.....

=o)

waiting here too. maybe she is catching up on her sleep, or getting a head start on spring cleaning?

tf

So far so good. Sorry...was turning the eggs. The little chicky seems to be doing fine...but I dont know what is going on inside. He really wants in with the others...but they instantly start picking on him if I try. So I am not going to try that again until i know he is completely better, and all dry...with nothing hanging...and strong enough to take care of himself.

I did put a clean, new washcloth into the bottom of the bator for when these last chicks hatched. So when they were done I pulled that out, and then cleaned the foam walls as well. Hopefully that worked...but this is all new to me! What is the best thing to use to clean inside? Soap? Bleach? Just checking!

I am worried about the little one...tapping tapping..

I DO need to go wash out the bed of my truck though. I have slept so horrible that last few nights that I threw out the box springs, and I designed a platform bed. I am tired of 'sinking' into the middle. I need to get to the lumber yard to get all the wood, and grandma is making me lunch...while Mom wants to work on my wedding dress. I think I am starting to like this...'not working'. Although...it is also going to be 50 degrees today...so that could be why Im in such a good mood. :) I will check back later though!

Ok...so three of us just sent a message at the same time! Hahaha...9:16 must be the lucky minute! I wil send a pic of gimpy chick. :)

I am sooo glad he is better. Try a google for the
fogger- or, I will look at the site in a bit and find out
the name. Each time I read about bators, they never
mention using bleach- I don't know the reason yet.
Also might be a good idea to boil the towels. Try to
think of the bator as a surgical room, and sterilize
every part of it you can. Now that this chick has an
infection, you know those germs are in there.
I'll be back- this stuff is only 12 dollars or so..

Ok. The spray is called Tek-Trol, a can is 11.98
It is listed as the 'safest and most effective disinfectant'-
maybe there is some issue with bleach fumes that
I am not aware of, or something else. The website is
the Hovabator site [gqfmfg.com]. I have seen this stuff
at other incubator sites, too. I think it may come as
a concentrate also, that you can load into a spray bottle.

Thanks...he is eating and drinking well too. Here are some pics..

That would be good. I will check there site.

Here is a pic of the underside...I know it still looks gross, but it is all dry.

And this is him inside his 'seperation chamber'. :)

OK...gotta go get ready. I will check in later with an update. :)

I'm glad he's better. I bet that was very upsetting for
you. I hope he continues to improve. gqf also
has 'tracin' type antibiotic that you add to their water.
This might be something to keep on hand for in the
future. They can go downhill so fast that you may not
have time to go and get. They also have vitamins for
times of stress.
Another thing you can try, is a couple Tbs of sugar to
a quart of water. This is recommended for shipped
chicks that had a stressful trip.

Well, he (or she) certainly does look alert! I'm hoping he will continue to get better and his mates will accept him.

Have a safe day Mel.

have a great weding Mel! and start getting some sleep first LOL...

OK, idn't you make the incubator yourself, so could you just make another one, only larger if need be?

Just got home. Yes...I did make the incubator myself, and I have been looking for coolers like this omaha steaks one that I could use to make it bigger...so far not much luck though. Little chickypoo is still looking good other then spilling all his food because he is running around too much. He really wants to be with the other chicks...but they are not ready to take care of him.

I am going outside to start making this new bed...and then I guess it is wine and little smokies for dinner! I have the house to myself for the night...so this should be nice.

I do need to get some medicine to keep on hand for these chicks. The sugar water sounds like a good idea. i think I will try that one.

Hello all,

I just thought I'd chime in here.......again. Melissa, I am concerned about the humidity level inside the bator. In previous posts you said you were going through a cup of water in a day with the rag in place. To me this sounds like to much humidity. The inside area of your incubator is relatively small.

Next time you go to the store I would buy a combination temperature and humidity meter. The one I got was under $10 and worked well. Mine had a digital readout for both, and both displayed at the same time which allowed me to set it at the same level as the eggs and without touching it, take my readings.

Hope the last one does alright.

JB

Hey Jb...I dont remember going through that much water. I put a can of water with a rag inside...and it lasted a few days. I only put about a 1/2-3/4 measuring cup worth of water in the can. During the last 3 days I took the rag out of the can and while wet put it near the light. That got the humidity just high enough to leave a small amount of condensation. I am going to certainly pay closer attention and look at getting one of those humidity meters as well! Thanks! Chickee-poo is doing great as of now!

So glad to hear he is better. go chick.. go chick..

Hey, Mel, I guess we have a name for the chick...Chickie-poo...lol

Yeah...I call them all chickee-poos though. :) I call this one gimpy! hahaha...so far he is still doing great. But I dont know if that area will 'fluff out' after this. I dont really want to try washing it or anything...but unless it fluffs out the others will try to pick at that area. I will continue to keep him seperated. he is also smaller then the others...so that doesnt help. But he is tough! He grabbed the biggest chick by his toe and pulled his foot out from under him!

this is where a red lamp would come in handy, they can see, but can't see the bare sking o rblood. if you get them started picking now, they will also pick at each other...

glad the little guy is tough!

I know he must be lonesome, but I wouldn't suggest
washing the area. He will likely get too chilled.
If he must be seperate til his incoming feathers push
the yucky feathers out, he might be better off that
way. I raised a lone chick, a survivor of a neighbor's
flock that vermin got to, and 'Pebbles' was very happy
to have me as her family, until she was many weeks old,
and started to become independant and join the others
on her own terms. I thought the older hen and roo
would be mean to her, but this didn't happen. I hear this
is not usually the case. Your chick has the benefit of
others his own age to 'flock' with when he's well.

I tried the red lamp, but it got too hot for them. I tried finding a lower wattage bulb yesterday at Menards, but all they had where 250. The others are not picking on each other, and the lone chick is in with them... but in a plastic bin inside there. I didnt want to wash it...and didnt figure it would help much anyway. I will just keep him seperated until the featers push the yucky stuff out.

My hubby put a reostat(sp) on our red bulb. You can
dial the temp up or down that way. Since I have animals
in the house and it might get knocked accidentally,
I put a piece of duct tape on it so it doesn't get moved.
In all of the books I've seen, others just raise the light
til the chicks are comfortable. But, it does need a
ceramic fixture so as not to get too hot. I think it's cool
that he's at least in with his friends. He can see them and talk
with them, and not get hurt. He has made it this far, I am
pleasantly surprised. He may just pull through.

I raised the lamp as far as I could, but it was still too hot. They are working with the blue light pretty well, and it is not too hot. I put a piece of bread in with them to play with, and it was funny to watch. Just like their mothers...one of them got a small piece of bread off and then they all took off after him! The game was on. I can hear them in there running around chasing each other! Too cute.

I have heard they like alfalfa sprinkled in to pick at.

Now remember, whichever way you decide to go
on monitoring the humidity, you will have different
readings. if you choose 'wetbulb', meaning a wick
around a thermometer that dips into the water to help
keep it moist, will read around the mid 80's. This will
give you a relative humidty of about 54-62%.
If you get a hygrometer like JB mentioned, it will give
you the actual humidity reading, which should be about
54-62%, again, raised a few degrees for hatching. If
your air in the bator is too humid, the chicks basically
suffocate, as they can not rid their shells of moisture.
If too dry, they may pip, but fail to hatch quickly enough
and stick to the inside of the shells. They have to be able to
turn around in there, to make the crack all the way around.
I can't wait for my coturnix eggs! They should be here
tomorrow- then I'm going to have some fun, too! Yippee!

I will definately keep that in mind. What should the humidity be 3 days before hatching and the day of?

'Gimpy' seems to be doing great. he is eating and drinking, and running around. He seems to be getting used to be seperate, but next to his siblings.

So glad he is doing well.

We have had to raise two chicks separate. One now is feathered enough to go out most days, and spends his/her nights in the entry way. He gets along great with the cats, who protect him, and is gradually getting un-shy of the other chickens.

The other is still so tiny, about 3 weeks old, i think. Too tiny to play with the first one LOL. WE hope he/she integrates well too. They both certainly are spoiled pets ;-)

i recall the humidity is supposed to be higher the last three days. i made the mistake of not opening the incubator to add water, for fear of dropping the temp too much the last three days, so it got too dry in there, and only one hatched.

Hope to do better this time. Don't have a hygrometer yet, but on the list to get one...

Well every egg we had in there hatched. One did not make it out of the shell...and I think that was a defect. He just didnt look right all around. The last chick is still doing great, and he is not 'less seperated'. Instead of being in a plastic container he is not in with them, but with some small guage mesh wire seperating them. Now he has more room to grow. He looks fabulous...so I think he is going to make it.

I can't thank you enough Mel for allowing us on this journey with you.

I can't remember when I've had a better time.

((((Mel))))

now that the chickies seem all settled in, how is that wedding going???

You are welcome! Thanks for coming along with me! Chickee is definately great!

Wedding plans are coming along. I am actually making my veil today. It looks great so far! I ordered my dress from CHina, and it was custom made...total cost $185! I found one similar at Davids that was on sale for...$1200!!! I think I did pretty good.

I also have stuff for goulosh in the crock...and it is smelling GOOOOD!

oh, yeah, DH must love your frugalnesss, that was a great buy, you practically STOLE it lol mmmmm, can we come to your wedding and help you eat? LOL 71 days till guineafest 2008.... ;-)

Sounds good to me! I got a good deal for the catering, and we are paying for all the wine, beer, and soda. Mixed drinks we are not because of some big drinkers in the family. But they are only $1. Should be a good time!

Ok, Mel- I found a good wet bulb temp range for your incubator.
If your incubator is running about 100*, during incubation,
your wet bulb reading should be about 87*. This translates
to roughly 59-62% relative humidity. For hatching, or the
last 3 days, wet bulb should read about 90*. This translates
to a relative humidity of 68-71%. To get a good first reading
at any time, use tepid water on your wrapping for the
thermometer. Allow it to have time to acclimate to your
inside inc. temp, and observe. It won't stay that way as
it gradually dries. Some run a wick directly in the water
to keep it moist. I hope this helps with your next hatch!
I'm so happy 'Gimp' is doing well!

mail us an invite, i'm in the addy exchange!

did i hear you say Wine? i can bring you a nice bottle of Reisling from Germany...

Thanks so much for finding the wetbulb info for me! I will try that out today to see what my levels are in there.

Hey Tamara...You planning on being around here in May? I am not sure yet what our total guest list count will be...but we will be packed! I ended up having to invite several friends to an 'after party' since we can only seat about 200 for dinner.

So...off subject...but just to show how bored I am not having a job anymore...here is what I got done building yesterday. :)

Ok...and even though this is a HORRIBLE picture of me...this is my veil that I made yesterday. It took me more then 5 hours to sew all those tiny flowers around the edge!