CHICKENS! (not tech related)

So recently i have decided i wanted a couple chickens, so i could  have eggs. I wanted to do the whole hog, so got a cheap incubator and bought some fertile eggs.

Incubator was not getting up to temp, so i pulled it apart, and fixed it, and put the eggs in. Turns out those eggs were not fertile 🙁
Second time i got a decent incubator, much larger! unfortunately the hygromtre reading was wrong, and temp was about 1C off. I did manage to hatch 4 chicks though from 24 eggs, despite it having all the wrong settings.

Third time incubating, three days before hatch it lost temp, and i ended up doing dodgy hackery things to keep the temp up to try hatching, but ended up with only 3 hatching from 10 eggs

Going for a 4th time lucky, i have new sensors and fixed the whole thing up (yet again) with more reliable ways of heating and measuring these things.

In the mean time, the first 4 chooks were black/blue, and the second batch of 3 are all white.

So from here i clearly needed a cage! I had a ton of pink wood sitting about, so i built a raised cage to deter cats/rats, and give the chickens more run space underneath.

I have since added a veranda, ramp and painted the whole thing. Chooks seem to love it, though are still only about 6 weeks old

 

The next thing to do is automate it! Heating, door opening, egg notification, etc etc!

Dear Media Outlets, DailyMail ,and other “News” sites.

Dear Media Outlets, DailyMail ,and other “News” sites.

I imagine your life my be somewhat boring, some of the news reported is barely news at all. I am just wondering though, would it not be better to let go the extra reporters than to keep reporting on the inane drivel you spout?

If I am interested in a singer, it is usually because i love their songs, voice, and other things related to it. The same goes for actors, i enjoy seeing them perform, or win awards for that.

I rarely give a damn what clothes they are wearing, what they look like, who they are dating, or what they had for breakfast.

Please, stop reporting garbage and forcing others to judge people based on criteria nobody gives a shit about.

Sincerely

Liz

ps. Stop reporting about people who are famous for being rich and famous.

Trying to start a female robotics team, and upgrade the guys parts

Recently I have been helping out my sons Robotics team at the local high school, and its been great fun. They use a product called Vex, mostly because other schools do, and it means we are able to enter competitions and compete against other schools. Having a goal in mind for creating a robot is always an excellent motivator, especially when you can compete against others, take it back, adjust and modify, then go back every couple weeks and do it again.

The games they play in these scrimmages are changed every year as well which keeps the fun in it, and you find everyone finds their role that they are good at (driving, assembly, logistics, planning, etc).

Currently though, the team lacks enough gear to cater to the people wanting to join, in particular we would love to encourage more female members and perhaps setup a female team as well as give the guys team more parts since its larger.

Since the school as a set budget, I have taken it on myself to fund raise for this myself. I know I have a bit of tech following, so i figure why not see if other females in tech and people interested in robotics or tech will help?

So i set up a page on givealittle which charges 0% fees (unlike others) and have already raised a bit of money, In fact, i am quiet looking forward to being able to recruit more people! If you think you can help out at all, please donate, even if its a small amount!

My costs are as follows

  • $1300 for a beginner competition kit for the girls team
  • $700 + to get more parts for the guys team (they already have a beginner comp kit)
  • Any spare can either get more parts in general, or go into a wearable tech class i plan to start (to encourage more girls into technology!)

You can measure your work hours with a time card calculator and generate a time card for your payroll purposes.