We went out to my DH's grandparents house today to visit and help out gramma because they are nearly 80 and we just found out grandpa has some kind of throat cancer. We want to make sure the kids get to see as much of him as possible before he isnt around anymore. He's such a fun guy. He will be missed.
Well, grandpa is (was) old-school (sort of) with his chickens and he had tons of stuff to give us. Most needs a great deal of cleaning, but is still in great shape and very usable. He had 2 HUGE metal waterers (like 10 gallons maybe? They're freakin big!), a metal feeder that holds like 50 pounds of food (SWEET!), and some other things. But it was what he gave ME last that has me posting here!
He had 2 hoverbators with auto-egg turners in his old chicken house! They are in GREAT shape and still have all the componants. Both dusty and some cobwebs and what not, but still working! (I tried them out...hehehe)
So.....my hens are nearly laying (I've been finding a few pullet eggs here and there every few days lately) and the roos have been doing their rounds with them all since like 3 weeks ago. So, their eggs are fertile right? I know not to try incubating pullet eggs cuz they're just too small...but now that I've got the bators...I feel I simply MUST test them!
Of course I have NO idea what I would do with the chicks, should they hatch, but that would be a good 21 days after anyway, so that gives me plenty of time to find them homes with all you good folks here, right?!
What else (if anything) do I need to get the bators up and going (when I'm ready to set some eggs I mean)? I know I need a water weasel and a hydrometer (the bators have thermometers and everything else) but is there anything else I need? I'm going to buy a few fertile eggs from a friend of mine in town and try them out to make sure they work before I get all excited and try to hatch my OWN eggs. I think it would be alot easier to fail trying to hatch someone elses eggs lol
So....all you bator experts here...I am on to trying something new and need all the advice I can get!
Well, grandpa is (was) old-school (sort of) with his chickens and he had tons of stuff to give us. Most needs a great deal of cleaning, but is still in great shape and very usable. He had 2 HUGE metal waterers (like 10 gallons maybe? They're freakin big!), a metal feeder that holds like 50 pounds of food (SWEET!), and some other things. But it was what he gave ME last that has me posting here!
He had 2 hoverbators with auto-egg turners in his old chicken house! They are in GREAT shape and still have all the componants. Both dusty and some cobwebs and what not, but still working! (I tried them out...hehehe)
So.....my hens are nearly laying (I've been finding a few pullet eggs here and there every few days lately) and the roos have been doing their rounds with them all since like 3 weeks ago. So, their eggs are fertile right? I know not to try incubating pullet eggs cuz they're just too small...but now that I've got the bators...I feel I simply MUST test them!
Of course I have NO idea what I would do with the chicks, should they hatch, but that would be a good 21 days after anyway, so that gives me plenty of time to find them homes with all you good folks here, right?!
What else (if anything) do I need to get the bators up and going (when I'm ready to set some eggs I mean)? I know I need a water weasel and a hydrometer (the bators have thermometers and everything else) but is there anything else I need? I'm going to buy a few fertile eggs from a friend of mine in town and try them out to make sure they work before I get all excited and try to hatch my OWN eggs. I think it would be alot easier to fail trying to hatch someone elses eggs lol
So....all you bator experts here...I am on to trying something new and need all the advice I can get!
