The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[aoxa]

Thanks Sally, Red Ridge & Aoxa. Just finished reading through.

That helps (at least me) have a better understanding of the procedures and how you use the "hatcher" vs. the "incubator". And I LOVE the detail. Really helps me grasp the process much better.

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Now another question for you both.

Some of the folks here will never hatch for others (or maybe will graduate to doing that) but will hatch some for themselves every once in awhile.

-How would you do things if you were just hatching a few for yourself? Do you just take the turner out of the incubator and let them hatch in the same incubator? Or do you still recommend that they have a second for hatching?

I would set on a Saturday for hatch on a Saturday in a Genesis 1588.

I have no tried the Brinsea incubators, but if they are anywhere near as awesome as their brooders - definitely worth a shot.. if you were doing small hatches, since they are double the price for the same amount of eggs.

ie: the 20 holds 24 eggs for the same price as the Genesis 1588 which holds 42 in a turner, but even more without a turner.

I like the setting on Wed. plan to have a good pickup for Saturday. I may have to convert over to it. I had been trying to time it to hit the almanac days, just to see if there was a difference between the batches.

I was going to do Thursday, but I feel like Saturday gives me enough time to prepare and make sure they are healthy and strong.

 

[ki4got]

Quote: I do essentially the same, but dislike the still air and have a circulated air Hovabator for my own hatcher. and I have 3 more Hovabator that I use for incubating.

I typically set eggs once a week but can do every 5 days if needed, if a customer has eggs for me to hatch.

the incubators have circulated air and automatic turners. they stay between 10-20% humidity (dry incubation with NO added water). I candle the eggs usually once a week, when I'm setting new eggs. any clear or quit eggs are removed when the new eggs are set.

my hatcher is cleaned when the prior eggs are done hatching and a layer of paper towel goes on the bottom and an egg flat is added to receive eggs when it's time. I have a 2 cup rectangular plastic bowl that stays in one corner and has a wire mesh top to keep chicks from getting wet that is filled when it's time. this brings the humidity up to 55-65% usually, but if any additional humidity is needed I can squirt hot water onto the paper towel or into one of the egg flat sections to bring it up rapidly.

on day 18 for a group of eggs, I move them to the hatcher and candle again, again removing any obvious dead ones, if there are any. if the air cells look small, I will hold off adding water to the hatcher until the next day. the egg flat keeps the hatching eggs from rolling around when chicks have already hatched and are doing laps around the hatcher.

 

[Shan30]

This is becoming a problem in some of the cities in southern West Virginia.  This state is loaded with black bear and I used to hunt them with dogs 'til I got too old and soft hearted and started treeing them and taking pictures.

Back to the cities...so many 'city folk' feed bears because they think it's cute even though it's a serious crime to do so in this state.  That is what is causing much of the problems with bears and other dangerous wild animals becoming so brave.  

They associate humans with food and lose their fear....this has caused more than one tragic death in this state and in others from what I read.

In some areas I think this is probably the case. With these particular two boars I believe that they lost their mother young and continued to go back to where she had showed them food. Namely fruit trees on farms.

Strangely almost all of our other unusual bear experiences have been basically in the middle of nowhere. Most of these bears have definitely had little to no interaction with humans. We have been discussing if maybe its simply survival of the fittest. Declining habitat and foraging areas perhaps causing more territorial conflict and the more aggressive are surviving and breeding?

There have been increasing numbers of wolf attacks in the past few years as well. Including in broad daylight on beaches covered in people. Makes you wonder...

On a more chickenish note, one of my broodies abandoned ship at day 16. Found a frozen nest of eggs when I got home it was her first time so no hard feelings!

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Thanks Sally, Red Ridge & Aoxa. Just finished reading through.

That helps (at least me) have a better understanding of the procedures and how you use the "hatcher" vs. the "incubator". And I LOVE the detail. Really helps me grasp the process much better.

*************************************

Now another question for you both.

Some of the folks here will never hatch for others (or maybe will graduate to doing that) but will hatch some for themselves every once in awhile.

-How would you do things if you were just hatching a few for yourself? Do you just take the turner out of the incubator and let them hatch in the same incubator? Or do you still recommend that they have a second for hatching?

If I was hatching just a few as in a dozen eggs in hopes of getting 8-10 chicks or 4 hens. I would use my 1588 and an auto turner only. I would take the turner out sometime between day 18 and 19. I would include water fillers to fill up space. I would use a sponge in a tight fitting bowl under the vent to increase humidity.
I can't say I would go out and buy a 1588 in hopes of hatching 2 dozen eggs a year. For that I would buy a still air and a turner. The turner is optional but for small batches it helps stability in the incubator and for a mom of toddlers it makes life easier.

 

[hellbender]

In some areas I think this is probably the case. With these particular two boars I believe that they lost their mother young and continued to go back to where she had showed them food. Namely fruit trees on farms.

Strangely almost all of our other unusual bear experiences have been basically in the middle of nowhere. Most of these bears have definitely had little to no interaction with humans. We have been discussing if maybe its simply survival of the fittest. Declining habitat and foraging areas perhaps causing more territorial conflict and the more aggressive are surviving and breeding?

There have been increasing numbers of wolf attacks in the past few years as well. Including in broad daylight on beaches covered in people. Makes you wonder...

On a more chickenish note, one of my broodies abandoned ship at day 16. Found a frozen nest of eggs when I got home

it was her first time so no hard feelings!

For some reason I just noticed you are Canadian and what's more, you live completely across the continent from me.

Technically, the black bears that are here are the exact same species that you have BUT...they have been raised in a totally different environment and must have had to acquire different survival skills than our bears. While our bears eat lots of fruit as well, they aren't taught to catch as much fresh meat as yours. They essentially have different dietary requirements, based upon how their moms brought them up. Our bears don't fish in rivers nor attack adult deer but will take fawns and dead carcasses.

These bears here do very well; moving and living in close proximity to homes and towns where they can scavenge, steal dog/cat/bird feed and would be ok if people would not essentially 'hand-feed' them. with most of them, if they had an encounter with a person in a chicken coop, they would be scared to death and not very likely to come back, at least not in day time. Whole 'nother ball game.

My place is surrounded by bears, and as I said, several sows den within 3 or 4 miles of my house and I have never had a bear problem. Sure, my dogs have treed a few over the years but they were glad to get out of that tree and be on their way...not coming back for any more of that, no time soon. But yours did something alien to the 'culture' of our bears, if I can use that term. Unless a bear in this part of the country has been essentially desensitized or 'tamed', in a sense.....what happened to you just wouldn't happen here or at best...one in a million shot. JMHO...as usual.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

@aoxa When you sell your chicks, are you selling them as straight run? I know your BR can be sexed by the dot on the head, do you sell the males too?

 

[aoxa]

@aoxa When you sell your chicks, are you selling them as straight run? I know your BR can be sexed by the dot on the head, do you sell the males too?

Not my line of rocks.. It did not work well for me, despite my efforts.

I have been told it is much harder to do as day olds with heritage Rocks.

I sell them all straight run if they are day olds. I do sell sexed birds in pairs and sometimes sexed pullets separately.. they cost more obviously. I have to take into account no one is going to take the excess males if I sell them separately.

 

[ki4got]

Quote:
that's why I don't trust broodies with eggs. i'll let them set wooden eggs, relocate them to their broody home overnight and if they stay broody then i'll give them 1 hatching egg to start with, and the rest of the chicks overnight if the 1 is taken care of. usually i'll 'sacrifice' mutt chicks to a first time mother. if she does well then she gets pure bred chicks the next time around.

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Quote:
I have been thinking of trying to set some BR / RIR eggs to get black sex linked chicks. But I have no idea what I would do with the males. They are not that cost effective to grow out. Then considering the other breeds that I'll be growing out, I'm not sure I'll be needing another group of roosters for stew.

 

[aoxa]

I have been thinking of trying to set some BR / RIR eggs to get black sex linked chicks. But I have no idea what I would do with the males. They are not that cost effective to grow out. Then considering the other breeds that I'll be growing out, I'm not sure I'll be needing another group of roosters for stew.

You may be able to give them away as chicks. Why don't you test the waters and place an ad for free sex linked rooster chicks?