2015 HALLOWEEN Hatch-a-Long, Join us IF YOU DARE!

[Sally Sunshine]

EVERYONE is Welcome!​

Hatchers, friends dropping in to chat, anyone willing to help new hatchers! Anyone actively participating in the thread will be able to join the contests!​

(Lower 48 for winnings only unless there GFMs or donations in your Country) VOID where prohibited! ​

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NOTICE: DUE TO SO MANY Trying to enter contest not participating on the thread, but trying to join at last minute, we now close the contests to CURRENT PARTICIPANTS AS OF 10/29/2015 12pm eastern time.

CONTEST WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED:

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 7th, 2015



FACE PAINTING CONTEST ~ HALLOWEEN HAL 2015 CONTEST #1 WINNERS @bantambury @tao chick @chicapee https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1023044/face-painting-contest-halloween-hal-2015-contest-1

HALLOWEGG Decorating CONTEST ~ HALLOWEEN HAL 2015 CONTEST #2 WINNER = @Saris https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1023702/hallowegg-decorating-contest-halloween-hal-2015-contest-2

HALLOWEEN FOWL COSTUME CONTEST ~HALLOWEEN HAL 2015 CONTEST #3 @bantambury @chickendreams24 https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-costume-contest-halloween-hal-2015-contest-3

PUMPKIN CARVING CONTEST ~ HALLOWEEN HAL 2015 CONTEST #4 WINNERS @littlenessie

@Pyxis https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1032065/pumpkin-carving-contest-halloween-hal-2015-contest-4


HALLOWEEN RECIPE CONTEST ~ HALLOWEEN HAL 2015 CONTEST #5 WINNERS @littlenessie

& @Peep-Chicken https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1033430/halloween-recipe-contest-halloween-hal-2015-contest-5


HALLOWEEN COOP RUN DECORATING CONTEST ~ HALLOWEEN HAL 2015 CONTEST #6 WINNER = @Saris https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...corating-contest-halloween-hal-2015-contest-6

Places to look for eggs…

BYC Buy ~ Sell ~ Trade Section:
CLICK: Chicken Hatching Eggs

JUST IN TIME HATCHING EGG AUCTION:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/754077/just-in-time-hatching-egg-auction-and-bin-thread/2100_50



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ALL BYC RULES APPLY​

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/terms-of-service​

Places to look for HELP…​

Hatching Eggs 101




How To Incubate & Hatch Eggs


The "Dry Incubation" Method




Incubation Cheat Sheet


Homemade Incubators


Homemade Brooders


How to Make a Homemade Egg Candler




Candling Pics


Diagnosing incubation problems Diagnosing hatch failures - It starts with the egg


Pictures & Videos of Candling Chicken Eggs




Pictures of a Chick Hatching


How To Raise Baby Chicks




Raising Your Baby Chicks


Broody Hens versus Incubators




How To Socialize Baby Chickens

How To Raise a Chicken As a Family Pet




Is My Chicken a Pullet or Cockerel?

The All New: How to Train Your Chicken!


How To Wrap, Pack, & Ship Eggs

Broody Hens




Brooding Chicks and Ducklings Together

Letting Broody Hens Hatch & Raise Chicks




NPIP Certification

Encouraging or Discouraging Broodiness


Incubation Chart for Different Fowl Species

Incubating & Hatching Eggs Forum


Raising Baby Chicks Forum


Causes of malpositions & deformities in chicks

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[Saris]

I'm not looking for a scale, but where did you get your candler???

Haha, I cut an empty toilet paper roll lengthwise and rerolled it smaller, taped it, and stuck it over an LED flashlight.

It's super effective.

 

[chicapee]

thats awesome, what did you use for the drive pullies? and it looks like you used the bottom of the barrel over plywood for the spinner plate? We have an extra DE pool filter motor in the shed, and plenty of barrels on CL.

I know RIGHT? muwahhaha

x2

oh wow she is what 5 days old now?

such a little pooper trooper!

Mr. Chicapee here....We traced the barrel bottom on a piece of 1/2 inch plywood to make a wooden disc. Drilled holes in the barrel bottom with a paddle bit to take the plucker fingers. Installed the plucker fingers in the barrel bottom. Got a 12 inch v belt pulley from tractor supply and sandwiched the large pulley, plywood and barrel bottom. Secured all three together using round head bolts and lock nuts, making sure that everything was centered to help reduce wobbling when it rotated. Also got a spindle and shaft assembly and mounted one side dead center on the plywood disk and the other side on a 2x6 secured within the frame of the plucker.
I think the best way for me to explain this is with photos and a description. As soon as I get a chance, Ill do a tutorial and put it in a PDF for Chicapee to provide here later.

 

[chicapee]

@Sally Sunshine

Here is a link for the Plucker.

 

[tao chick]

Blurry selfie. The apron width is about 21". The ties are about 84" long total.

 

[TJChickens]

Have a 4x3x4 chicken coop 3 nest boxes hanging out the back and a Run that's 3x10 how many birds can I fit.??? Some please help

Here's the way my chicken math works....you can have twice as many bantams as lf, so fill it up with little chickens. When you realize they are over crowded, build a second and third coop. See?

 

[Cynthia12]

 

[tao chick]

I stopped using the channels during my first hatch. It was too hard to take humidity away when it got too high. I use a sponge in a glass dish below one of the vents and use a straw and syringe to add water until lockdown.I'd vote for dry, but I'm not sure which way is best.

Ok. What fabric for the apron? Two or more fabrics per apron.

 

[Cynthia12]

I know most have seen this, but maybe some haven't. Love this.

 

[ronott1]

I am not sure why Blarney uses still air for hatching, edit to add, most of us have found to use what works for us, in our areas, I have never heard of turning off fans for hatching, this is the time they need oxygen, and humidity. But I have NO NO NO IDEA what u are using

Again as I said in our PMs if u can get us pics more info we may be able to help you!

Turning the fan off for hatching is thought to keep the chicks from shrink wrapping. Although it might increase the time it takes for a chick to shrink wrap, it is not the biggest factor in this. The biggest factor or most common is incubation temperatures that are off during the first 18 days. There is also flock health and nutrition issues that cause shrink wrap\sticky chicks.

It is better to focus on getting good development during the first 18 days. Get a thermometer like the brinsea spot check, make sure the eggs are turned enough and use the cool down cycle. Sticky or shrink wrapped chicks happen because the chicks did not absorb the yolk and moisture correctly--in other words they did not develop well. They will not be very robust.

If they are from your flock, make sure that the breeding flock does not have parasites and are getting good nutrition. The egg farmer that I hatch for told me proudly that he fed is flock only scratch grains all winter! Then he wondered why he was getting low hatch rates. The flock never did recover from that mistake.

Note: Sally knows this stuff--I am posting for the group!