Archive for April, 2008

A couple of weeks back I ordered a Chick-bator from a poultry and game breeding supply in Georgia. Well, I thought I did anyway. I never received a receipt or confirmation email and I had been meaning to call and confirm but as usual, I kept forgetting. Today it showed up! woot!

Everything seemed to arrive intact, though I am a little concerned about the temperature. The eggs seemed rather cold when I unwrapped them. I’ve assembled the incubator and I’m letting the eggs warm up just a bit before I turn the heat on. The success rate for this particular set-up isn’t that great, only 25-50% of the eggs reportedly hatch. Hmm…we’ll see.

Evidently, they’ve sent me Pharaoh (Cortunix) Quail Eggs and they should hatch in 17 or 18 days. That puts them just about my birthday on May 16th! Coolness!

So, ummm…turn eggs 3 to 5 times a day, keep water in the humidity reservoir, temps to stay at 100 degrees, +/- a couple of degrees is ok. Turn them 3 to 5 times a day. Every day. Ugh. Oh well, 3 weeks of my life dedicated to 4 eggs that traveled 4,000 miles in the cold with a minimal to no success rate…sure, it’ll be worth it.

Here’s what came in the box:

Here it is assembled and ready to go:

I’m thinking about turning the web cam I had for MJ the spider to broadcast the incubator instead. Then, when the chicks hatch, it can be a world wide web event!

If any of them hatch, that is. I’ll be so mad if I don’t get at least one chick outta this deal. Awww… just look at the little chick on the guide book. So cute! Damn thing better hatch.