We have a broody hen that we allowed to sit on 4 eggs. 2 of the eggs look like they started to hatch, but when we checked, it looks like the egg was smashed and the chick was stuck in the shell. The chick was fully formed and the yolk sac looked absorbed. The other 2 eggs have not started to...
I went out this morning to replenish food and water, and when I opened the door, there sat an egg! The little stinker (don't know which one did it) didn't bother to use the nest boxes, even though I have the little fake eggs in them.
I purchased some nest boxes to get us through the winter, since we didn't have time to build the external boxes for our coop. My concern is that the openings of the purchased boxes are too small. I look at my chickens and look at the opening and wonder how they are going to fit in there. What...
I have Barred Rocks, Buff Orpingtons, Rhode Island Reds, and some mixed breeds. These guys have had access to the run up until about a week ago when we got our first snowfall. They refuse to enter the run. One chicken hopped out of the coup, but as soon as he hit the snow, he high tailed it...
I have 14 chickens all around 20 weeks old. I have an 11 pound feeder in the coup, and a 2 gallon watering dispenser in there as well. They are draining both in a 2 day time period, and trying to get in there to refill the feeder is becoming a nightmare. They swarm the door and act like they...
I have a new coop, and 12 chickens ranging from 4 to 8 weeks old. 6 of the chickens that are in there we hatched out from eggs, they are the 8 week old chickens. The remaining chickens are a combination of others we had hatched, and a few we had bought at a flea market. Yes, this is where the...
We have had 5 previously healthy chicks die in the last 2 weeks. They had been eating, drinking, acting normally, but one by one over the last 2 weeks, we would wake up and find one dead in the box. The one that just died this morning, I noticed blood on his butt, and it appears that another...
I calibrated both of my hydrometers yesterday. I put 1/2 cup salt in a glass and added 1/4 cup of water. I then placed the glass and both hydrometers in a gallon ziploc bag. At the end of the 8 hours, one hydrometer read 73% and the other read 67%. So I put a little sticker on the top of...
Yesterday was day 21. I had 22 eggs (candled on day 18, they were all moving) in the hatcher. Yesterday, 7 hatched out just fine, 1 hatched out but seems to have something wrong with it's leg (also had membrane over it's head). The 7 that were doing just fine were so active that they were...
I have a 1 day old baby chick (hatched on day 21, but was very weak and had membrane covering his face-I pulled him out quickly to remove the membrane). He laid on the floor of the hatcher for several hours, breathing and chirping, before finally trying to get up and move around. He seems to...
Do you have to worry about regulating the temperature of the heat lamp for the brooder, or will the ducklings move away from the lamp if they are too warm, and move closer if they are too cold??
My brother in law was cutting hay today in a nearby field. They didn't see the duck nest until it was too late, and momma duck died. My nephews knew I had an incubator up and running and quickly came and got me. We brought the eggs in and placed them in the incubator. I am not positive on...
When the chick gets to the point of filling so much of the egg that all you can see is shadows, how can you tell if a day 15-18 chick is a quitter? I had one quit at day 12, there was absence of movement and the veins had disappeared, so that was easy to tell. But the later pics of chicks...
Just curious what I should be looking for on day 18 candling. I'm on day 12, and already, the chick is starting to take up enough room that it is difficult to see movement. What do you check for on day 18 before lockdown?
Is it a requirement that on lockdown there be no fan running? I have my hatcher up and going, it's sitting at 100 degrees with 67% humidity at the moment, but that is with a small fan running. Without the fan, I have a hotspot next to the light of 102, and on the opposite side of the tank the...
I have 21 shipped eggs that are incubating upright (I've heard that helps with any potential air cell issues). My question is, after incubating upright for 18 days, is it best to leave them upright for the final 3 days in lockdown, or is it okay to lay them on their sides? Can they escape from...
I have a few eggs that have shells that look sort of "porous". 2 of these eggs I have noticed are developing a bit darker color on the shells at the top of the egg. These are also a few of the eggs that I have been unable to really see development due to the darkness of the shell. Does the...
I have set 26 eggs, 20 of which I can see are developing just fine. The remaining 6 (these were part of the shipped batch) have shells that are too dark, or "splotchy" (the shells are splotchy) looking when candled, so it is nearly impossible to see if they are developing as well. One of these...
I have 7 welsummer eggs in my incubator that I just can't see into to tell if they are developing. I also have 2 of the 7 Buff orpington eggs that I just can't see into as well. Is there a trick to candling dark shells? I have a total of 26 eggs in the incubator and with the exception of...