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Hi everyone! I haven’t been on in a long time. We had a raccoon get all our chickens last fall We decided to start fresh this spring. I’m looking for chicks. Legbar, Marans, Olive Egger And Ameracaunas not Easter Egger. I found someone but she’s a little over 2 hours from me. Anyone near State College have these breeds available?
 
Also, has anyone ever used a heating pad instead of a heat lamp for the brooder? I’d love to not use the heat lamp, with a coal stove our house is warm anyway and the chicks won’t need much warmth. But I’m nervous that the heating pad is also dangerous? What are everyone thoughts?
 
regcal966 said:
Hi everyone! I haven’t been on in a long time. We had a raccoon get all our chickens last fall We decided to start fresh this spring. I’m looking for chicks. Legbar, Marans, Olive Egger And Ameracaunas not Easter Egger. I found someone but she’s a little over 2 hours from me. Anyone near State College have these breeds available?
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I'm so sorry for your losses.
I'm about 40 minutes north west of Altoona and can meet in Altoona on certain weekdays. I have legbars available now and will have sex linked Olive eggers before long. My lavender ameraucanas aren't giving me much but I'm hoping to have them in a month or so. Still waiting on my Marans girl to start laying again.
 
regcal966 said:
Hi everyone! I haven’t been on in a long time. We had a raccoon get all our chickens last fall We decided to start fresh this spring. I’m looking for chicks. Legbar, Marans, Olive Egger And Ameracaunas not Easter Egger. I found someone but she’s a little over 2 hours from me. Anyone near State College have these breeds available?
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Welcome!
How far are you from Pottstown (Chester Co) ? I have most of those breeds hatching every weekend. What color Ameraucanas are you looking for? I have Black, Lavender and Silver.
@Auroradream26 has some of these too. You may be closer to her.
Or maybe we can find a "chicken train" engineer.
 
regcal966 said:
Also, has anyone ever used a heating pad instead of a heat lamp for the brooder? I’d love to not use the heat lamp, with a coal stove our house is warm anyway and the chicks won’t need much warmth. But I’m nervous that the heating pad is also dangerous? What are everyone thoughts?
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Hello there, sorry you are having to start again, I know how hard that can be.

I have used the heating pad setup, and it’s wonderful. @Blooie has a whole article on it. It is important to get one that does not have an “automatic off” feature. Also, the recommendation for using “press and seal” wrap on the towel covering the heating pad is excellent. They like to sit and poop all over it, and it makes for easy cleanup.

I will post pictures of my little ones snuggled underneath.

@regcal966 Also forgot to mention, the chicks are much quieter when you raise them this way, probably because it simulates Mama hen better. They also get a regular day/night sleeping cycle, since the light is not always on.
 
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Looking inside...


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From the top...



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fisherlady said:
Well the broody flu has hit one of our coops hard the last couple of weeks... We have 7 girls all wanting to sit, so they are sharing now, we will let them figure it out.
View attachment 1269512 View attachment 1269513

Ideally we would have a couple give up before hatch day, we will have to supervise closely that day to avoid problems. Usually we grab early hatches and move one or two hens to quiet individual floor nests with a couple of the first chicks and leave the other hens in their sitting boxes with the later eggs. This usually keeps everyone happy through hatch day. After they all hatch the hens usually make it a group effort to raise them.
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Spring must be in the air, because I’m pretty sure my Ayam Cemani girl has gone broody. She has seemed normal until today, but this morning, I noticed she ran and squawked at something that upset her. You know it, when they charge all floofed up, head down, growling...

Sure enough, she’s been in the nesting box all day.... :rolleyes:
 
AnneInTheBurbs said:
Spring must be in the air, because I’m pretty sure my Ayam Cemani girl has gone broody. She has seemed normal until today, but this morning, I noticed she ran and squawked at something that upset her. You know it, when they charge all floofed up, head down, growling...

Sure enough, she’s been in the nesting box all day.... :rolleyes:
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Yep, she's got the bug!
 

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