5th Annual BYC New Year's Day 2014 Hatch-A-Long

[SallyinIndiana]

For those of you that add artificial light to their coops what types of things do you use and how much light is actually needed? Like a night light or actual light bulb to light the entire house up? I was thinking of stringing up a strand of white Christmas lights in one of my coops to see if it helps with egg laying. And I wanted my Marans to start laying again I have someone interested in buying some sexed pullet Marans off of me sooner than later so I thought I should get started on it.

need to be able to read a newspaper is the wives tale I use. We have rope lighting in one coop and a brooder light ficture in the other coop. We put a standard bulb in the fixture, 40 watt I think.

 

[chicken pickin]

need to be able to read a newspaper is the wives tale I use. We have rope lighting in one coop and a brooder light ficture in the other coop. We put a standard bulb in the fixture, 40 watt I think.

So do you think a strand of 140 LED white icicle lights hanging in their window will do the trick. Ive never done artificial lighting and I am a bit hesitant since my plan was to never add winter lighting, I don't want to stress them out. But all the animals are costing so much in the winter with no return, I need to get some of them going again so I can start selling eggs and chicks early to help with feed cost.

 

[Wunjo]

Excellent! I also noticed the water bottle used as a sinker? I assume? To help keep your temperature steady. I'll be stealing that idea shortly when I move my NYD eggs into the hatcher and need to regulate the temps in the 1/2 full bator left behind.

Yes, I also added another bottle on top of the empty slots on the turner. Our electric always goes out during the winter and storm season. Just to insure that the heat will stay for a little bit longer while they are working to get the electric back on.

Has anyone here used a contact incubator? I think it has an inflatable bladder type thing that lays across the eggs like a broody hen.



It's a hobby that keeps me off the streets for sure.
Thanks for sharing your cleaning method.

I've been fermenting feed for all the birds for a few weeks. I kick myself for not keeping track of how much feed I've used since I started but it is noticeably less. It seems like it grows every day. I like it enough that I'm going to build some dedicated trough feeders. The dog bowls don't work very well.
I would still encourage people to get at least 2 since they need friends.
Another thing you could do is rent-a-chick till they get tired of them and then rescue them later.


I split them up into small groups so when the city asks how many chickens I have, instead of blurting out "seventy", I say I don't have more than 10 in any flock and most are just 2 or 3 birds.
And sorry to say, in the city, roosters count.

I may just have to make a egg waterbed. It sounds like and awesome idea to keep heat in and on top of the eggs, but taking it off during lock down seems that it may make the temps fluctuate.

You are doing an amazing job!

I hope it all works out for you. This you could use some of the egg money to pick up one of the breeds that people seem to want. Bresse are still big or you could go fro Show Quality RIRs or New Hampshires. They seem to be going strong this year. Next year you would be able to sell them at BYC on the Buy Sell Trade section or Ebay for Twenty dollars plus per dozen.

For the local eggs, Barnyard mixes here go for $1.00 per egg so 12 per dozen may be a better starting place for you there.

If I priced them at $12 a dozen around here people would laugh at me. Most around here are pretty cheap people lol. I am going to test shipping my eggs soon. Still scared that someone may get upset if they do not hatch. I don't like anyone upset with me lol.

I use 4 buckets for my feed 3 to rotate what days I'm on and the 4th to hold a colander that I pour the water through to strain it some. I noticed when I fist started the amount they ate slowed down. I'm about to start my 300 lbs set up to see how long it lasts.

I've never set a limit on how many chicks I sell but everyone that has bought from me has bought 12+ I think. I've never had someone ask for 1-2. lowest I will go would probably be 3-4 unless I know they are just looking for a buddy for lonely hatched chick.

Most of the ones I have seen are parents with children that want one little chick for Easter. I will make sure they know that the chick must be taken home immediately and put under a heat source. If they have not got anything ready I would tell them to go buy the stuff and come back and get the chick.

I had a pleasant surprise from my blue OE today. And she was a good girl and laid it in the nest box. Can't ask for better than that.

That is a beautiful egg. Hopefully some of the chicks I am hatching now will lay Olive eggs.

For those of you that add artificial light to their coops what types of things do you use and how much light is actually needed? Like a night light or actual light bulb to light the entire house up? I was thinking of stringing up a strand of white Christmas lights in one of my coops to see if it helps with egg laying. And I wanted my Marans to start laying again I have someone interested in buying some sexed pullet Marans off of me sooner than later so I thought I should get started on it.

I use a red heat lamp 24 hours a day. I just think of it as helping keep them warm even when the sun is out. As far as I have seen it has not decreased their egg laying but has helped increase. Some say if it is on all day long it will decrease the egg laying. I had a white heat lamp and it did decrease the laying when it was on 24 hours a day and the roo's seemed to be little butt heads during those 2 weeks.

 

[bantambury]

Bantambury..I have to give you credit for being so well spoken for your age. You had me fooled, I thought you were much older. Stop worrying, it will not help those eggs one bit and only give you a huge headache. You have beginners luck on your side, and I'll bet (if you can keep your hands off those eggs) they will all hatch, no problem.

You have a whole network of people to help you should the need arise.....Man, I only wish my 13 year old took such an interest in chickens!

oh! I didn't mean to fool you! LOL

a lot of people think im mature for my age. I relly love talking with you guys! you all are so kind! and relly, it doesn't matter what any of our ages are.....we all share what we love with others, and help eachother out!


good thing I haven't toughed my eggs for two days! hahah. I cant touch them until the 26th because of how they are moving to the air cell getting ready for the hatch. im on day 12, and for some reason my humidity is a bit low....I find this strange for its raining out. huh.

here is me and my chickens:
(I looked sort of rough that day. I cleaned the ENTIRE coop myself, having my dad hull out the poo.)
the last major deep cleaning I did until the winter had come.

I had a pleasant surprise from my blue OE today. And she was a good girl and laid it in the nest box. Can't ask for better than that.

GORGEOUS color!!!! I wish my OE would lay this color! her eggs are more of a light green, but not EE green. her green is browner but still light.

The 50# bags of (seperately) wheat & oats were from a local mom & pop feed store, they work really hard to get in what customers want, sometime it takes a week but they track it down and get it and have also actually kept their in stock feed items less than TSC & our local Coop Feed so we always try to buy from them if at all possible (most of our local owned everything have gone out of biz the past few yrs, so we try really hard to buy from the few remaining mom & pops.)

Anyway the important thing is if using seed it must be UN-TREATED , if you buy seed type whole grains most of it is covered in toxic chems. that would kill your birds so you have to be really careful on that point (and poss. not trust the big name store's sales kid who says anything to be agreeable/make sale but when you read the fine print on the label you see different, happened to DH & me, just sayin')

So one time we got untreated seed oats, the other time it was horse feed oat (costs way less than seed oats!) note w/ the horse feed that is often _heat treated_ to prevent spoilage, but it also kills the seed (no sprouting) so if you can find horse oats *non-heat treated that is the best cost option as far as I have found. Again having that local feed store that will take the time to make phone calls & ask ?s of their suppliers just to sell you a couple bags of a special order for the entire winter is the key to getting the correct stuff.

THIS IS THE WHEAT - which I ended up after 6wks of reuse of containers got mold too much to continue. But they loved it while I had it! The picture was Day7 growth.

great idea! I should do this for my chicks in the spring!

Chocolate!! That's funny. In the heat of August people who visit the farm often want to help hose off the pigs, it is a delightful thing to watch. But I find I have to remind them over and over to stand back out of the spray, when the pigs shake, until I mention, 'ya know, that's NOT dirt'.

OMG! they shake something that's NOT dirt! LOL that's so funny! I see a little kid saying 'mommy I got mud on me!' LOL

 

[chickengirl1193]

I'll have to look into this sprouting thing as of now i just started fermenting about 2 months ago. I have to say this first year of chickens is alot of learning. I've hatched, culled chicks, had to make splints for feet, fix spradle leg, take care of bumble foot with cutting it out, build coops and doctor them up, learn about feed. There is just so much to learn. I thought my school days was over. But i love it all and its fun.

yeah there is so much to learn! I learn something new about chickens every day... I thought I had it down pat helping my aunt care for her chickens for years, "give them a big pitcher full of feed in the morning for the feeders, make sure they have clean and fresh water, collect the eggs, clean the coop every few weeks." there is SO MUCH more to it then that...

The 50# bags of (seperately) wheat & oats were from a local mom & pop feed store, they work really hard to get in what customers want, sometime it takes a week but they track it down and get it and have also actually kept their in stock feed items less than TSC & our local Coop Feed so we always try to buy from them if at all possible (most of our local owned everything have gone out of biz the past few yrs, so we try really hard to buy from the few remaining mom & pops.) Anyway the important thing is if using seed it must be UN-TREATED , if you buy seed type whole grains most of it is covered in toxic chems. that would kill your birds so you have to be really careful on that point (and poss. not trust the big name store's sales kid who says anything to be agreeable/make sale but when you read the fine print on the label you see different, happened to DH & me, just sayin') So one time we got untreated seed oats, the other time it was horse feed oat (costs way less than seed oats!) note w/ the horse feed that is often _heat treated_ to prevent spoilage, but it also kills the seed (no sprouting) so if you can find horse oats *non-heat treated that is the best cost option as far as I have found. Again having that local feed store that will take the time to make phone calls & ask ?s of their suppliers just to sell you a couple bags of a special order for the entire winter is the key to getting the correct stuff. THIS IS THE WHEAT - which I ended up after 6wks of reuse of containers got mold too much to continue. But they loved it while I had it! The picture was Day7 growth.

ive asked my mom and pop feed store and they directed me too the garden center next door who said they could order it through the feed store but at the time I didn't want 50lb bags so they didn't order it. Ill have to see if they could make sure it's for feeding not for planting. I just wasnt sure if you ordered it online or what not. and I have similar opinions about shopping local. I even pay a bit more for dog toys and treats so i can support that local feed store cuz they go out of thier way to order things for us all the time

 

[SilkieSensation]

skipped about 15 pages. 

What is the fewest days between setting eggs that is wise?  I only have one hatcher But I tend to wait on internal pipping before moving the eggs into lockdown.  For me, the internal pips seem to come a touch bit late on day 19.

I stagger hatch all the time. I set new batches every 6-10 days. This gives 2-3 days between the last late hatcher & lock down for the next batch. I typically hatch in a separate bator & just move each batch to the hatcher at lockdown. That way I only have to raise humidity for lock down & hatch. I usually have 3 bators running at once & refill empty spots in the first 2 with a new batch of eggs as each batch moves out to the hatcher. This lets me do chicks, ducks, turkeys, geese, quail, quineas, peas, etc. all at the same time.

 

[bantambury]

guys look at this cake!



I NEED THIS for my bday! I need to make it! LOL


for my chicken's bday, I think I will make them a chicken cake that is safe for them to eat. do any of you have any recipies for chickens that your chickens enjoy?

 

[JLaw]

For those of you that add artificial light to their coops what types of things  do you use and how much light is actually needed? Like a night light or actual light bulb to light the entire house up? I was thinking of stringing up a strand of white Christmas lights in one of my coops to see if it helps with egg laying. And I wanted my Marans to start laying again I have someone interested in buying some sexed pullet Marans off of me sooner than later so I thought I should get started on it.

I use led christmass lights. I have 2 50ft strands one out side coop and one inside along rafters. Outside to help wife see coop for lock up. I am thinking of getting alittle plug light for end of inside strand. Its pretty much a light bulb socket with oulet prongs right on it. Figure i'll put a cred led bulb on end. Dont think i have enough light right now. Then again my coop was over crowded so that may have affected the laying also.

 

[MontanaDolphin]

I use led christmass lights. I have 2 50ft strands one out side coop and one inside along rafters. Outside to help wife see coop for lock up. I am thinking of getting alittle plug light for end of inside strand. Its pretty much a light bulb socket with oulet prongs right on it. Figure i'll put a cred led bulb on end. Dont think i have enough light right now. Then again my coop was over crowded so that may have affected the laying also.

Gah. I wish I had light out in my coop. No electricity out there...so I close them up after dark holding a flashlight. It sucks. I wonder how hard/costly it would be to run electricity out to the coop...cuz I don't trust extension cords

 

[MontanaDolphin]

guys look at this cake!



I NEED THIS for my bday! I need to make it! LOL


for my chicken's bday, I think I will make them a chicken cake that is safe for them to eat. do any of you have any recipies for chickens that your chickens enjoy?

OMG that is so cool!!!! I can't help you out with the recipes though...never thought of cooking for my chickens