4th Annual BYC NYD Hatch-a-long

[chicken fever]

Ok yes. That's what I used to use for my horses. So do yall like that better or the sand?

I don't know what pedz is, unless you are talking about that white stuff that you use somewhat like DE.
I used concert sand in my coop and run. This year I'm going to use fine sand.

We're talking about equine pine bedding. It comes in 40# bags and you have to moisten it. When you do tho it becomes fluffy and very absorbant. 

 

[MarineCorpFarmr]

I like it better then anything else i have tried

 

[Lacy Blues]

Im having a really hard time keeping my humidity stable!! I've hatched several times befor n this bato and didn't have so much of an issue but now my humidity keeps dropping, so I plug her up and it rises way too high. Suggestions?

If you can cover your water so that all of it isn't exposed to air, that might help. Or, you can put the plugs in loosely (just set lop-sided in the holes) so that there is a happy medium for the air flow and humidity level. Or, I suppose it would be easier to maybe partially cover the holes with tape until your humidity stays stable.

 

[caj1985]

I like it better then anything else i have tried

X 2 I love equine fresh. It lasts for months in my coops without having to be replaced or any smell. It is working great as much for my garden when I finally do clean them out. I have only replaced mine in my coops twice this year.

I was having to replace the shavings at least once a month.

 

[cluck-cluck]

I only get stressed at the end, hoping they all hatch. On the dry hatch thing. I've been following that and I don't add water, until the last 3 days. My last hatch seemed to be going along good. There was plenty of humidity, I don't open my incubator and my humidity read 65 - 70% and when the first chick hatched, which was the 3rd to pip, condensation was on the windows. the other two chicks ended up shrink wrapped and the 4th drowned. How does that happen? I did notice, after the first chick hatched that moisture was leaking from my windows. I tape the outside hoping that would help. Any suggestion as the next hatch goes into lock down on Friday.

I don't know, could it be the "shrink wrapped" got shrink wrapped early on, before the humidity was raised? I think with that much condensation, you might actually have your incubator more like at 85-90%? Maybe your hygrometer is off? My incubator can get a bit wet, but not enough to actually drip at 70% I dunno, just a thought?

Nah, i think you just have chickens on the brain

LOL, yah, I definitely do!

Does it matter what the humidity in the room is if my incubator stays at 25-30%? I don't have a hygrometer for the outside of the incubator, but I suppose I could go get one. The article said to keeo the room at 50%. Pretty sure I would need to be running a humidifier to get there... I've got them in my downstairs bathroom because I need to be able to close the door to the room they are in due to my cats loving styrofoam!! The basement stays at a much steadier temp than my upstairs does.

I can't understand why it would matter unless the humidity fluctuates in the room causing the incubator's humidity to change?

Im having a really hard time keeping my humidity stable!! I've hatched several times befor n this bato and didn't have so much of an issue but now my humidity keeps dropping, so I plug her up and it rises way too high. Suggestions?

I think the tape suggestion is good. My problem is that we have very low humidity. It's been raining and our humidity in the house is 20%, I am running my incubator dry and empty (testing it) and it's at a steady 10%, but I'm wondering if that's it's lowest setting, LOL. Must be like a desert in there!

X 2 I love equine fresh. It lasts for months in my coops without having to be replaced or any smell. It is working great as much for my garden when I finally do clean them out. I have only replaced mine in my coops twice this year.

I was having to replace the shavings at least once a month.

I stupidly put clay cat litter under the perch in the coop at first (a total of 2 hours) Something told me to check that it's ok to use, and woooh, nope, bad bad, they'll eat it and clog up their crop! so I pulled it out and found an old bag of compressed pine litter I bought for our rabbit left over after the rabbit died, and that's what I have in there today. It's a good thing too, 'cause the roof....well it has a leak - I did something half a$$ed there and it leaks in one spot right over one side of the perch (time for Henry's, LOL) And those strange compressed pine shavings have absorbed it and kept everything good in there (not smelly at all) until I can get around to fixing that roof. Thank goodness, the rest of the coop is good and dry. Good stuff, and has lasted well over a month without any sign of getting dirty or smelly. I'll have to see how much a whole pound costs when i need to replace the fluffy bits on that side, 'cuase maybe it is better than sand? Was going to try sand when I needed to replace this stuff...

 

[MarineCorpFarmr]

raking and adding a bag or 2 a month really all we have done. 5.99 a 40# bag at tractor supply

 

[doubleatraining]

The only incubator I have never had trouble with humidity is my Genesis 1588. My new-to-me cabinet hatcher did great and had 100% hatch rate on the eggs that made it to LD.

I use pine shavings for my 4x4 outside chick brooder. In my other pens I use leaves. They get mulched and then composted.

 

[TMNfarm]

I use pine shavings in my coop and I have no smell in the layer coop. The meaty coop was a different story!! I am using the deep litter method. I have had them in the coop since about May and have never taken the shavings out. I add a new layer every now and then, but wanted a good layer to build up to help keep the coop warm this winter. My meatys have been gone now for a couple of months and their coop still has their original shavings in it and the smell is all gone. I could control it when they were in there right up to the last couple of weeks, just by stirring the shavings, then adding a new layer. I had to do that way more often with the meatys than with the layers. Now that the meaty coop is all dried up, I am finding my layers going in there to dust bathe!! All of the shavings will go into a garden for mulch this spring.

 

[chiqita]

I will sadly be working on the 11th so I will either have to set them at 6 am on the 11th or at 9 am on the 12th. Advice?

Can you put your incubator on a timer? So it fires up at 12?

I know this is like a week late, i'm just trying to catch up and it occurred to me. It would have to be in the small incubator then you could put them in the cabinet later.

 

[cmfarm]

So have finally caught up on reading for the day. So someone said there was a contest to guess how many eggs people are setting (I think that is what I read). How many people are participating? Where do you submit our guess? I think tomorrow I will be picking up some 20, 16 and 12 week old Barred Rocks (23 hens and 2 roosters). Maybe they will lay me a few eggs in time for the the NYD hatch. I have chicks hatching today to. They are BCM mixed with various other breeds. So far 2 have hatched and they are both white. I have a 3rd that is almost out but it is pure so it is black.