4th Annual BYC NYD Hatch-a-long

[delisha]

The egg was a but smaller then the others but not by much and she had all the eggs marked and I do believe there were 3 others that had the same marking that hatched not sure if they were from the same parents or not though he is the cutest little thing and very bossy for his small size the larger chicks get nothing on him lol Ive tried my best to talk the hubby into letting me keep him and his buddy in the house but no such luck his comment is its a chicken not a pet boy is he wrong lol I truly believe he thinks ive lost my mind

Pullet eggs usually hatch out smaller chicks. They stay smaller, longer, but they eventually catch up as long as there is no over whelming competition for food and water. It is one of the reasons why you usually do not hatch out pullet eggs. The chicks can be tiny and get smothered in the snuggling pretty easy in the first weeks.

 

[mommaclucker]

Yes, the shower was a great plan! Hung the lights, put duck tape over the floor drain, put down shavings, put the sliding doors closed. Everything was fine, then our daughter's dachshund pushed the door open and killed them all! OMG! what a mess! I cried all night!
We tried again, and this time put up a baby gate in front of the doors. Worked great!
But in the winter we really need that shower when we come in from barn chores! oh, well, troughs will have to do!

Oh no that sounds terrible so far my boxer and the chickens have done well my brother in laws dog is staying with us for a few months and I can tell she would love to have chicken for dinner she is fine as long as im out there and tell her to leave them but im really afraid we will have problem out of both dogs when the chickens free range that is what has stopped me from letting them out of the run that and the fear the chickens wont come back lol I think ill wait till spring and maybe by then can work out a plan for the dogs or a larger area or portable pen for the chickens

 

[mommaclucker]

Pullet eggs usually hatch out smaller chicks. They stay smaller, longer, but they eventually catch up as long as there is no over whelming competition for food and water. It is one of the reasons why you usually do not hatch out pullet eggs. The chicks can be tiny and get smothered in the snuggling pretty easy in the first weeks.

Thanks for that information I didnt know that. I do believe she said the hens were over a year old and all housed seperate by color but I could be wrong on the age I have 3 seperate feeders for them in the brooder so there isnt much competition for food or water but if he wants in somewhere he just pushes his way through he will be 4 weeks tomorrow so maybe he will start to catch up with the others soon

 

[NotAFarm]

Hurray! It was sunny and warm today. So we cleaned out the garage and set up the troughs. Tomorrow I'll check all the lights, replace any dead ones, and get the brooders ready for chicks! Found out I need a few new waterers! Kids broke a few, but the feeders are clean and ready for fresh food.
Now I need to figure out how to cover the troughs (cracked 150 gal plastic horse troughs from the pasture. Don't hold water but work really well for brooders!). Any suggestions? The garage is not heated, and for the first few weeks I need to be able to keep the heat in, but still have air circulation.

I have successfully used old "storm windows" as covers for my brooder ( a 2 x 4 foot box made from plywood). They have an aluminum frame with slidng glass and a screen. Adjusting the glass to allow air flow through one end of the box is easy and no worry of the heat lamp with the metal or glass if you keep it from directly contacting it. My source was from ones we had but you may find some at your local junk yard or second hand or recycled building supply store. Ask around, you may be surprised what your friends, co-worker or relatives have that you could use.
Happy Hatching Everyone!!

 

[Coffeemama7]

Oh no that sounds terrible so far my boxer and the chickens have done well my brother in laws dog is staying with us for a few months and I can tell she would love to have chicken for dinner she is fine as long as im out there and tell her to leave them but im really afraid we will have problem out of both dogs when the chickens free range that is what has stopped me from letting them out of the run that and the fear the chickens wont come back lol I think ill wait till spring and maybe by then can work out a plan for the dogs or a larger area or portable pen for the chickens

It was, but we learned! Dachshunds LOVE chicken! Our chihuahuas are afraid of them! HAHAHA!

Outside, we use an electric Premiere 1 fence for our ducks, they get herded into the "pen" for the day, and herded back to their house and permanent fence at night. We even use electric fence around our chicken tractors!
We can't free range our chickens and ducks, the fox and coyote come right into the yard during the day here! Our kids have chased them off several times, even rescued a duck being attacked, they threw rocks and the coyote dropped him and ran! He (the duck) was Christmas dinner last year. (he got real mean, so he went)
My next project is going to be teaching these new chicks to herd, like the duck do! Then we can move them around to fresh grass in another electric fence! Happy Hatching!

 

[Coffeemama7]

I have successfully used old "storm windows" as covers for my brooder ( a 2 x 4 foot box made from plywood). They have an aluminum frame with slidng glass and a screen. Adjusting the glass to allow air flow through one end of the box is easy and no worry of the heat lamp with the metal or glass if you keep it from directly contacting it. My source was from ones we had but you may find some at your local junk yard or second hand or recycled building supply store. Ask around, you may be surprised what your friends, co-worker or relatives have that you could use.
Happy Hatching Everyone!!

Thanks! That's another great idea! I'll ask around.

 

[MarineCorpFarmr]

It was, but we learned! Dachshunds LOVE chicken! Our chihuahuas are afraid of them! HAHAHA!

Outside, we use an electric Premiere 1 fence for our ducks, they get herded into the "pen" for the day, and herded back to their house and permanent fence at night. We even use electric fence around our chicken tractors!
We can't free range our chickens and ducks, the fox and coyote come right into the yard during the day here! Our kids have chased them off several times, even rescued a duck being attacked, they threw rocks and the coyote dropped him and ran! He (the duck) was Christmas dinner last year. (he got real mean, so he went)
My next project is going to be teaching these new chicks to herd, like the duck do! Then we can move them around to fresh grass in another electric fence! Happy Hatching!

Rifles for christmas maybe?

 

[mommaclucker]

Thats my 1 year old son with my girl Max shes a 5 month old fawn boxer you cant even imagine the trouble those two get into some of the stuff ive had to clean up Ive been tempted to put them in the coop and bring the chickens in lol

 

[MarineCorpFarmr]

lol cute. try 3 yr old twin boys LOL welcome to my life. My boys climb in the coop on their own

 

[mommaclucker]

It was, but we learned! Dachshunds LOVE chicken! Our chihuahuas are afraid of them! HAHAHA!

Outside, we use an electric Premiere 1 fence for our ducks, they get herded into the "pen" for the day, and herded back to their house and permanent fence at night. We even use electric fence around our chicken tractors!
We can't free range our chickens and ducks, the fox and coyote come right into the yard during the day here! Our kids have chased them off several times, even rescued a duck being attacked, they threw rocks and the coyote dropped him and ran! He (the duck) was Christmas dinner last year. (he got real mean, so he went)
My next project is going to be teaching these new chicks to herd, like the duck do! Then we can move them around to fresh grass in another electric fence! Happy Hatching!

Im not sure what kind of problems we will have here we just built our house and moved here this summer. I havent seen anything but a few deer and the neighbors dog we are on about 8 acres and most of it is woods so im sure there are some critters yet to be seen but with all the noise from building then the dogs barking and kids screaming maybe that will keep them away. I had the hubby enclose the coop and run with 2 layers chicken wire and then regular fence it also has double layers of chicken wire on top and the bottom wire is attached to cement blocks dug about 6 inches into the ground so it will make it harder for anything to dig under the wire