Wow. You had 130 a week ago. If you happen to come a little nearer the midcoast (I'm near Boothbay) in the next several weeks, I'd love to add 3 to my small flock.
Was looking for 2-4 really good egg producers (red sex link) to sneak under a broody hen. Anyone in Midcoast have any tips? Stopped by TSC in Brunswick and they are done with their ISA browns already.
yeah, those 250 watt de-icers seem like overkill to me too. Going through my first Maine winter i think 50 watts in a 5 gallon bucket will be good enough. Probably will get this...
Bought 3 chickens about 2+ weeks ago and was told they were about 6 months old. 5 days ago I got my first egg. They've laid 1 egg each day except 3 days ago.
Day 1 (left, 46 grams)
Day 2 (2nd from left, 67 grams)
Day 3 nothing
Day 4 (3rd, 50 grams)
Day 5 (4th, 52 grams)
Can the same chicken be...
Thanks for the feedback. I think I better stick with pneumatic because of the weight. Buying two more wheels so I can have a set on each side of the frame should do the trick. Will be cheaper too and I don't have a harbor freight real close.
how do your dual wheel trailer jacks work on soft ground? I was considering them but was concerned if they are going to dig into the ground versus a pneumatic wheel. My tractor (layers not meat birds) is very heavy. I tried a simple lever today attached to a 2x4 and it compresses the 10"...
I just used some galvanized hammer in staples to connect welded wire to childproof a deck. Very secure. I am going to use the the leftover nails to secure hardware cloth to a chicken tractor I will build. Welded wire I believe (2"x4") is too big of openings if you have weasels.
That is a really cute coop, I'd appreciate any more pics you have. I am planning on building a tractor soon that is a combo of that Williams Sonoma one, this http://www.homedepot.com/p/SummerHawk-Ranch-Victorian-Teak-Barn-Chicken-Coop-33556/205794914 and the attached pic
Nice. Really like the look of board and batten with the metal roofs. I am going to make a tractor in a month or so and do it faux board and batten with plywood since it will be cheaper/easier and also have a metal roof.
Thanks! Followed your advice a few minutes after you posted. I did see slightly more progress when wrapping the egg, but now I see a toe pushing out of the egg on that brown egg.
Should I help these two or give them more time? They have made little to no progress the last 24 hours in zipping. When I woke up yesterday, my incubator was pretty dry at 48% while these two were zipping. I thought I had enough water and the other hatching chicks would keep the humidity high...
I put up a fence in my incubator: trying to keep them separated. Went to bed last night with 3/12 hatched at 20 days, 5 hours. By morning 8 were out and flopping all over and squeezing through my fence. They all look pretty much the same to me ( BCM X EE, BR, and RIR). Should be able to figure...
1st one is out at about 4 hours and 20 days. This one was the third to pip, but was a zipping machine. A BCM x RIR. That potential olive egger that she is looking at is the first of the 6 OEs to pip that Ive seen (little hard to see, humidity about 68% and the other small window is pretty fogged...
Last night was was the beginning of 12th day for me. Candled my 15. 12 look good; removed 3 clears.
Do you have ventilation holes or just rely on top not being airtight?
RE: my hen lays pointy eggs or oval eggs.
I think the key is to collect eggs by each hen and then study that hen's eggs for small differences in shapes. I have hens that lay pointy and oval but they definitely are not identical from day to day.
I did that last year with a styrofoam cooler just leaving a 12 watt cfl on all the time. My temps stayed consistent the first 18 days doing the dry incubation method, but I didn't practice increasing the humidity before I started. I had trouble with temp inconsistencies once I added water to my...