100 Broilers and Fermented Feed Project

[aoxa]

No, we're not crazy at all.

I have been using the back room for about 10 years and it works perfect! I do have allergies but like you said, I don't have dust allergies. I'm allergic to cigarette smoke and "girly/floral perfume" that women douse theirselves with. So none of the chicks smoke cigarettes or wear perfume, so it works out perfect.

I do have a lot of cleaning to do once they are out of there, so that I can bring the next bunch in.

Do you hatch peafowl yourself?

I need to pick your brain about incubating peafowl eggs..

I have six to add in from a friend down the road. He is feeding them grower, without any calcium on the side so their eggs are not thick like I am used to. Many were cracked. I had 3 fertile and all 3 died. Two early, one a week from hatch.

Is there anything special I need to do? They take 28-30 days to hatch yes?

 

[cockoftherock]

Good, I am not crazy



Neither of us have any dust allergies (at least not any more - had 3 years of allergy shots!). Ugh, I never thought of how that would feel if I still had the allergies.. yeah, would not have been fun!

Im new to byc I was on a duck thread and they mentioned chickens are disease bags. a little bias probably but besides allergies are there any precautions I should be aware of being in close proximity?

 

[aoxa]

Im new to byc I was on a duck thread and they mentioned chickens are disease bags. a little bias probably but besides allergies are there any precautions I should be aware of being in close proximity?

They can carry bacteria in their poop which can cause issues in immune compromised people. Don't eat their poop, wash your hands after you touch poop, and don't let your dogs eat it and lick your face.

Other than respiratory distress (on your part) from a build-up of dust or ammonia if you let it get wet and sit.. you should not have any issues.

Keeping it clean is all you need to do.

 

[kuntrygirl]

No, we're not crazy at all. I have been using the back room for about 10 years and it works perfect! I do have allergies but like you said, I don't have dust allergies. I'm allergic to cigarette smoke and "girly/floral perfume" that women douse theirselves with. So none of the chicks smoke cigarettes or wear perfume, so it works out perfect.


I do have a lot of cleaning to do once they are out of there, so that I can bring the next bunch in.

Do you hatch peafowl yourself?

I need to pick your brain about incubating peafowl eggs..

I have six to add in from a friend down the road. He is feeding them grower, without any calcium on the side so their eggs are not thick like I am used to. Many were cracked. I had 3 fertile and all 3 died. Two early, one a week from hatch. 

Is there anything special I need to do? They take 28-30 days to hatch yes?

Yes, I surely do. I hatched out about 30 pea chicks last year.

I almost lost my mind during that process but nonetheless was a great year last year. THE most important thing about pea eggs is the perfect or close to perfect humidity. Without proper humidity, they will not hatch and die in the egg or they will have a heck of a time getting out of that egg because the membrane is so dry and they will tire out, give up and die. What worked for me was that I kept my humidity at 50 during incubating and spiked it to 70 - 80 during lock down. All 30 peas hatched with no problems.

Your friend has already gotten pea eggs? That's is great!!! I won't get eggs until April. Not sure if I'm happy about that or not.

And yes, they take 28 days. I know some people whose eggs have hatched at 24 days but 28 days is about right.

 

[aoxa]

Yes, I surely do. I hatched out about 30 pea chicks last year.

I almost lost my mind during that process but nonetheless was a great year last year. THE most important thing about pea eggs is the perfect or close to perfect humidity. Without proper humidity, they will not hatch and die in the egg or they will have a heck of a time getting out of that egg because the membrane is so dry and they will tire out, give up and die. What worked for me was that I kept my humidity at 50 during incubating and spiked it to 70 - 80 during lock down. All 30 peas hatched with no problems.

Your friend has already gotten pea eggs? That's is great!!! I won't get eggs until April. Not sure if I'm happy about that or not.

And yes, they take 28 days. I know some people whose eggs have hatched at 24 days but 28 days is about right.

Ugh.. I dry incubate all my chicken eggs, so not sure how I will pull that off. I understand proper humidity for hatching, but thought they'd be similar for the first 24 days at least.

I bet I could leave them in my hatcher and hand turn.. That's the only way I can pull off 50% or above humidity for the first little bit.

So they are definitely different in that way that they need high humidity during setting to hatch properly? I don't even look at my humidity until I put them in the hatcher. It can run as dry as 20% in there. Last hatch 54/56 chicks. The two that didn't make it never internally pipped, so died right before lockdown (I'm talking chicken eggs).

Sounds like they incubate very similarly to ducks.

Yes he is getting eggs now, but they may be on light. Not sure.

 

[Angelicisi]

I use essentially a plywood box type brooder. We have 3 of these and two wood bottomed ones for regular layer chicks (so much more cute and clean lol)

I tried to get pics off my video but it helps keep dust down a bit. The thing with bedding, you'll be changing it 3x's a day in no time, so many people layer new bedding a top the soiled after awhile then do a deep clean when chicks go out to grow out.
I hate fall leaves but love the free bedding

Hmmmmmmmm................  Ok, now re-thinking this whole thing!  I really should figure out a better set up then.  The other bedroom on this floor I could open the windows and keep a fan going to keep the air moving really well.  But then I'd worry about them getting a draft and being sick.  I wonder if we can do a 4 foot by 4 foot plywood box and line the inside bottom and sides with that cheap white shower board stuff so it would be easy to clean?  Just put down a layer of hay / straw for them to stand on.  With the plywood and shower board we could attach food and water dishes to the side and bottom so they can't dump them.  Maybe if we get those bird cage type feeders with the metal rings that you drop the dishes into?  Then it would be easy to pull them out and wash them and refill.  

Ok, lots of figure out this week!

 

[kuntrygirl]

Yes, I surely do. I hatched out about 30 pea chicks last year.


I almost lost my mind during that process but nonetheless was a great year last year. THE most important thing about pea eggs is the perfect or close to perfect humidity. Without proper humidity, they will not hatch and die in the egg or they will have a heck of a time getting out of that egg because the membrane is so dry and they will tire out, give up and die. What worked for me was that I kept my humidity at 50 during incubating and spiked it to 70 - 80 during lock down. All 30 peas hatched with no problems.


Your friend has already gotten pea eggs? That's is great!!! I won't get eggs until April. Not sure if I'm happy about that or not.


And yes, they take 28 days. I know some people whose eggs have hatched at 24 days but 28 days is about right.

Ugh.. I dry incubate all my chicken eggs, so not sure how I will pull that off. I understand proper humidity for hatching, but thought they'd be similar for the first 24 days at least. 

I bet I could leave them in my hatcher and hand turn.. That's the only way I can pull off 50% or above humidity for the first little bit. 

So they are definitely different in that way that they need high humidity during setting to hatch properly? I don't even look at my humidity until I put them in the hatcher. It can run as dry as 20% in there. Last hatch 54/56 chicks. The two that didn't make it never internally pipped, so died right before lockdown (I'm talking chicken eggs).

Sounds like they incubate very similarly to ducks.

Yes he is getting eggs now, but they may be on light. Not sure.

Dry incubate? WOW!

Oh yes, I think you can definitely leave them in a turner and turn them.

Yes, they are different in that way. With a pea egg, at 20%, I would bet my life they wouldn't make it. Yes, I would also compare pea eggs to duck eggs. This year will only be my 3rd year incubating but I have learned SO much last year with those eggs.

Last year a guy purchased a dozen of pea eggs from me to hatch. I asked him had he ever hatched pea eggs before and he said no but he had hatched a ton of chicken eggs. I gave him the look, "Dude, this ain't the same." But sometimes you can't tell people anything that think they know it all. So, I explained to him the best that I could about the humidity. I don't know if he was taking in the information but I offered it to him anyway. Well, I marked my calendar so that I could contact him to see how it went as far as the hatching. I ALWAYS keep in contact with buyers to make sure they received fertile eggs. Well, I contacted him and he had good news and bad news. The good news was that 11 out of 12 pea eggs were fertile. The bad news was that NONE of the eggs hatched. Why do you ask? He didn't follow my advice as far as the humidity. :/

 

[kuntrygirl]

Ok, so they won't be kept in the bedroom or anywhere near the kitchen................LOL    I've got a den at the far end of the house that might be good for them.  Actually since it's warming up I could probably put them in one of the unused upstairs bedrooms.  Or even the other master on the other side of the house by the den.  At least that way if they get out of their pen I don't have to worry about the dogs thinking they're toys.  :/

If you can get one of those large cardboard boxes that refrigerators or stoves come in, that would be great. I use those ever year and they are very sturdy. And you can throw them away when done. Less storage space.

 

[aoxa]

Dry incubate? WOW!

Oh yes, I think you can definitely leave them in a turner and turn them.

Yes, they are different in that way. With a pea egg, at 20%, I would bet my life they wouldn't make it. Yes, I would also compare pea eggs to duck eggs. This year will only be my 3rd year incubating but I have learned SO much last year with those eggs.

Last year a guy purchased a dozen of pea eggs from me to hatch. I asked him had he ever hatched pea eggs before and he said no but he had hatched a ton of chicken eggs. I gave him the look, "Dude, this ain't the same." But sometimes you can't tell people anything that think they know it all. So, I explained to him the best that I could about the humidity. I don't know if he was taking in the information but I offered it to him anyway. Well, I marked my calendar so that I could contact him to see how it went as far as the hatching. I ALWAYS keep in contact with buyers to make sure they received fertile eggs. Well, I contacted him and he had good news and bad news. The good news was that 11 out of 12 pea eggs were fertile. The bad news was that NONE of the eggs hatched. Why do you ask? He didn't follow my advice as far as the humidity.

Last hatch

Think they'd do okay with 60-65% humidity until lockdown? It will go between 60 and 75% up and down. My hatchers are always going.. Hope it works out.

The one that was going strong was only a week from hatching. Ugh.. I hate that it was my fault. It's hard to find set information for incubating peafowl eggs..

Any idea if I could get a chicken to successfully hatch an egg that large?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-to-incubate-hatch-eggs-using-the-dry-incubation-method

 

[kuntrygirl]

Dry incubate? WOW! Oh yes, I think you can definitely leave them in a turner and turn them. Yes, they are different in that way. With a pea egg, at 20%, I would bet my life they wouldn't make it. Yes, I would also compare pea eggs to duck eggs. This year will only be my 3rd year incubating but I have learned SO much last year with those eggs. Last year a guy purchased a dozen of pea eggs from me to hatch. I asked him had he ever hatched pea eggs before and he said no but he had hatched a ton of chicken eggs. I gave him the look, "Dude, this ain't the same." But sometimes you can't tell people anything that think they know it all. So, I explained to him the best that I could about the humidity. I don't know if he was taking in the information but I offered it to him anyway. Well, I marked my calendar so that I could contact him to see how it went as far as the hatching. I ALWAYS keep in contact with buyers to make sure they received fertile eggs. Well, I contacted him and he had good news and bad news. The good news was that 11 out of 12 pea eggs were fertile. The bad news was that NONE of the eggs hatched. Why do you ask? He didn't follow my advice as far as the humidity. :/

Last hatch Think they'd do okay with 60-65% humidity until lockdown? It will go between 60 and 75% up and down. My hatchers are always going.. Hope it works out. The one that was going strong was only a week from hatching. Ugh.. I hate that it was my fault. It's hard to find set information for incubating peafowl eggs.. Any idea if I could get a chicken to successfully hatch an egg that large? https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/how-to-incubate-hatch-eggs-using-the-dry-incubation-method

BEAUTIFUL babies!!!!!!! Yes, they will be just fine with that humidity. You are an experienced hatcher, so you will be able to do this with your eggs closed. If you can dry hatch, then you can hatch a baby rock from a mama rock's egg. You are so right about finding info on incubating pea eggs. You will find 5 different types of info for hatching eggs. And yes, you can get a chicken to hatch a pea egg. My first white pea was hatched by a chicken. I hatch everything and anything under my birds. If they go broody, then they are getting SOME type of egg and it won't be their own egg. I promise you that. Here are some pics of how I "pair" birds to eggs up. I rarely allow a bird to hatch their own egg. chickens to ducks ducks to gosling chickens to pea chicks chickens to turkeys turkeys to ducks * A little bit of everything.