4th Annual BYC NYD Hatch-a-long

[Cynthia12]

I am so excited to see some babies in a few days. You all are getting me more and more excited..I am ready for some baby chicks. Lock down for me, only a few days away.

Snow~! Will it ever stop snowing here? Three days now..again. We had a big storm, then it stopped for a couple of days, now we are getting it again. I don't mind it too much, I am just worried about power, now that it's been talked about! Shovel me a path to the chickens every morning. Pretty as can be out there.

 

[Razadia]

On the subject of what to make brooders and such out of, we had an old ferret cage that my brother tossed out after he got a new one. I WAS going to use it as the run for my as of yet un-built serama coop, but dad too it to the scrapyard because I didn't speak up fast enough!

Lesson learned.

 

[TMNfarm]

I have my babies in an old bird cage (very similar to a bunny or guinea pig cage) that's all wire & has a pan underneath. I just sit my heat lamp on top & point it down. There's even a perch in there if they want closer to the lamp or just up off the wire floor. Clean-up is so much easier. Just slide the pan out every couple days & dump it. If it's a bit chillier where the cage is sitting (I did have it in the barn, now it's in the basement) I tie feed bags around back & sides & drape an old towel over the top & front, just not touching the lamp on the top. It even has the little doors & feed/water cups already in place. I never have to go fishing in the cage to try to grab bowls. I just slide the little door up, pull the bowls out, fill & replace. They attach right to the side of the cage in front of the little slider doors. I also don't have to worry about escapees when I open the door. It's also a slider & has a door within a door that slides as well. I only have to lift the door far enough to get my arm in. This works best for newly hatched babies, just a few older babies, a pair/trio of Serama or OEGB, or 4-5 quail. It also works especially well for young ducklings & solves the wet mess problem allowing chicks & ducklings to be brooded together until the ducklings get too much bigger than the chicks. All of the water drains through the wire into the pan below & you simply dump it as needed instead of replacing a ton of bedding constantly. The regular chick feeders & waterers also fit in there pretty well. As long as you open the slide door completely they will just fit through the door.

You can get really ghetto with Guinea Pig cages (like I do) and just drape towels along the sides to seal out drafts. Tada! It's a brooder n stuff!

lol

Feed bags and towels!!! I'm all over that!! I was wondering what to do with those cages. They're really too nice to be sitting outside rotting like they are now... I have myself three nice little brooders!!!

 

[ronott1]

Digest for 12/28/2012
Main Thread: 98 replies
contest 3 127 replies
Sally Shunshine #1 Posts

We continued talking about thermometers, brooders, egg separation baskets and even Guinea Pig cages gutting the Ghetto treatment!

Brookhavens posted a method for calibration thermometers using ice water

Blarneyeggs and Sally Shunshine are worried about Pentamom--she had her incubator smashed--They are figuring out how to get her a new Bator!

Mahonri posted that we are 76% finished with the hatch! Some of us are finished already...

Brechin is going to try birthing a double yolker! A video was posted: Click Here And Here

Lockdown questions; If the breeds were set on the correct date, the lockdown should be on the 29th at the time you set them.

Day 17 Development Photos in Post 5493. Thanks!

farmerChef has internal pipping on his Duck eggs

4 days till hatch
Keep wobbly air cell eggs up right, big end up, for hatching!
Post 5512 starts the egg separation discussion. Strawberry baskets, speaker grill cover and plastic pencil trays were suggested.

Vet wrap was suggested to identify chicks at hatch. Zip ties can get too tight and hurt the chicks as they grow.

Grand Parents were given a tip for what not to get the Grand Kids for a present-- pottery wheels! Very Messy!

Tamrync posted pictures of her just hatched NYD babies! They are adorable!

Razadia wanted to use a ferret cage for her Seramas but it went to the scrap yard. I hope she finds another one!

Look for the Lock Down edition tomorrow!

 

[SilkieSensation]

Feed bags and towels!!! I'm all over that!! I was wondering what to do with those cages. They're really too nice to be sitting outside rotting like they are now... I have myself three nice little brooders!!!

YAY!!! Recycling & repurposing really saves a lot of money & we can all stand to save some money (especially when the chickens are eating it all

)

 

[gabrielle1976]

I still cant find the contest about pictures of chickens flapping , hasnt anyone heard of it , is it over?

 

[SilkieSensation]

Think I'm in the running for WORST HATCH RATE

I set 14 quail & 29 chicken & am down to 3 quail & 1-2 chicken. The best possible rate I can have at this point if everything that's still viable hatches is 5/33 (15% hatch rate).

I'm NOT having very good luck with eggs or babies either 1 here lately. I got 1 Scovie baby out of 27 eggs, 2 quail out of 6 eggs, 1 chick out of 30+eggs (forgot to count the chickens set before the NYD hatch) & lost all 4 babies within about 48 hours after they hatched. The duck & quail I lost to getting cold on a 2 hr car ride to our new house. The chick was weak after hatching 3 days late due to temp drops, a power outage, the 2 hr car ride & no heat at the new house for 3 days before hatching. I really hope the eggs I have set SINCE the move do better.

 

[SilkieSensation]

I still cant find the contest about pictures of chickens flapping , hasnt anyone heard of it , is it over?

Go to post #1 on this thread. Follow the link to the contest page. The Flapper Contest is #10 if I remember correctly.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

I still cant find the contest about pictures of chickens flapping , hasnt anyone heard of it , is it over?

Crud I forgot that you asked!!! https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/728983/nyd-hatch-along-contest-10-flapper-contest

 

[gabrielle1976]

Thank you very much