Weekend Bator Experiment
Sep. 3rd, 2010 10:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
trystinnWe ran around on a bit of an adventure yesterday afternoon, picking up the additional items needed to make a home incubator. We managed to find a remote thermometer (which I shall be using for baking, when not incubating eggs), the egg turner system, water delivery container (i.e. picnic ketchup bottle) and a surge protector. We were not able to find the last few things: a water weenie (to test temps inside the eggs) or a decent light system. I still need to grab a couple feet of aquarium tubing for the water delivery system, to maintain humidity.
We're thinking to try something a bit different to heat & move air - using a very small space heater/fan combo to see if we can maintain steady temperature safely. If it doesn't work, its going right back! This thing has a dozen settings, hopefully one will be right. *fingers crossed*
Meanwhile, I continue to search for eggs to order.
I'm hoping for standard-sized Frizzle Cochins, because I have a standard Cochin rooster to whom I can breed them with to get a few of my own breeding projects going. I really adored this cute hen at the Island County Fair, a sweet little Black Frizzle who was getting older and almost out of lay so there's likely not going to be any Frizzles going forward here. Which I find very sad, they are a unique offering for the 4-H kids to show.
From there, I'd just like to try a combination of decent layers (Speckled Sussex), perhaps a few Silkies, and maybe sneak a few rare pretties (Mille Fleurs?). I'm trying to choose birds we don't have too many of on the Island already, to hopefully ensure a market.
The hatcheries, of course, are all sold out and it takes ages to get the alternate sources to return emails. Including several who failed to label theirs bantams. Argh!
We're thinking to try something a bit different to heat & move air - using a very small space heater/fan combo to see if we can maintain steady temperature safely. If it doesn't work, its going right back! This thing has a dozen settings, hopefully one will be right. *fingers crossed*
Meanwhile, I continue to search for eggs to order.
I'm hoping for standard-sized Frizzle Cochins, because I have a standard Cochin rooster to whom I can breed them with to get a few of my own breeding projects going. I really adored this cute hen at the Island County Fair, a sweet little Black Frizzle who was getting older and almost out of lay so there's likely not going to be any Frizzles going forward here. Which I find very sad, they are a unique offering for the 4-H kids to show.
From there, I'd just like to try a combination of decent layers (Speckled Sussex), perhaps a few Silkies, and maybe sneak a few rare pretties (Mille Fleurs?). I'm trying to choose birds we don't have too many of on the Island already, to hopefully ensure a market.
The hatcheries, of course, are all sold out and it takes ages to get the alternate sources to return emails. Including several who failed to label theirs bantams. Argh!
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Question
Date: 2010-09-03 08:18 pm (UTC)Re: Question
Date: 2010-09-04 01:42 am (UTC)Duck eggs are considerably richer and thicker in texture, which makes them great for baking and most cooking. That said, boiling them whole is useless. The shells stick to the whites, you'll never get the shell removed without decimating the egg entirely.