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

[ShayBaby]

The "real feel" out right now here is about -28. Brrrrr. Brought the majority of my flock (so roughly 40 birds) in the house (spare room) for the night. Hopefully we bundled up the rest of the flock, dogs, ducks, horses, goat and pig well enough to get them through til Wednesday.

 

[Penny Hen]

once my chicks are completely feathered out would they survive these winter temps? as long as i acclimate them slowly. I'm just trying to figure out when I can move them outside and if I will be able to keep them warn enough. there is limited space in my house and I don't want the chicks to get crowded, or i can separate them so they have more room. I live in north Jersey on a mountain and we have been having really cold nights in the negatives

I wouldn't put them directly into it. Someone on here has built an outdoor brooder I remember seeing it. Some people have built a grow out pen in their garages or under their carports. Even with full feathers they still have small mass and heat dissipates from small bodies faster. I would see if I could find some free styrofoam or scrap left over insulation that you could use to insulate a dog house with. You could a plastic dog house for the inside and build and outside out of pallet wood putting the insulation in a layer between. Use some of the plastic or metal corrogated roofing to make a removable top if you dog house is the kind that the roof comes off. That way you can get in to clean it. Hang a thick piece of plastic like a curtain on the door with a couple of slices that allows easy passage. If you use styrofoam make sure it is covered. My crazy Olive Eggers like to eat it.

So far they have come to no harm but really that can't be good for them.

 

[GerbilsOnToast]

We also keep a pair of ducks with our "yard flock" the female even learned to climb the chicken ramp in the fall and lays her egg with the chickens!


Why are turkey's a problem? Do they not get along with ducks?

Waterfowl can carry many diseases that don't affect them, but are fatal to turkeys. So I can't have swans, either...

. Not supposed to keep them with chickens, either, but many people do, and I've recently become one of them.

 

[Penny Hen]

Hi all--here's my final update--out of 17 eggs set in the incubator I had 13 hatch.
The one little guy(Crested Cream Legbar) that seem to be slow and have an eye abrasion of some sort is perking up--so very thankful, gonna be attached to him I think.
I used warm moistened Q tips and purchased some Vetricyn Opth gel. Used the vitamins as well as wet the food for a while with the enhanced water. He is still isolated in a small makeshift brooder and will be there until he seems to catch up in size and vigor.
My regular vet would not help. So I have to find a vet that helps with chickens. I made a false assumption mine would--very bad assumption.

My Legbar roos are beautifully creamy soft gray and the pullets are very striking with their stripe!
I have a video of a hatch, but it's too large to email, so I have to figure out how to post.

Now--I wonder about hatching out Legbars that are crossed with White Leghorns and Americanas?

The low tonight is 5 degrees, so I am thinking I need to put bag balm on some combs--especially by Legbar roo because he has such a huge comb and waddles. Any suggestions other than bag balm? They will not be hit by the expected -15 to -20 windchill, I have shielded the run with plastic. The indoor coop is dry and no drafts, but ventilated. Gotta keep the eggs from freezing--HA.

Thanks for such great and timely feedback.

Do live near a city with a zoo? If so call the zoo and ask who they use for their birds. Usually the only vets who bother to learn about birds are those that want to work for zoos. One exception that I know of is a vet whose brother is big into chickens (I think he may be on BYC) and when he has someone bring a chicken in he calls his brother. If you want more than a phone consult though be prepared to pay a specialist price.

About the combs you could try cutting a sock and making a "hoody" for them. I noticed yesterday that just a cotton bandana across my face and nose to shield the wind made a huge difference. Won't swear that they will keep it on though.

 

[ShayBaby]

Hi all--here's my final update--out of 17 eggs set in the incubator I had 13 hatch. The one little guy(Crested Cream Legbar) that seem to be slow and have an eye abrasion of some sort is perking up--so very thankful, gonna be attached to him I think. I used warm moistened Q tips and purchased some Vetricyn Opth gel. Used the vitamins as well as wet the food for a while with the enhanced water. He is still isolated in a small makeshift brooder and will be there until he seems to catch up in size and vigor. My regular vet would not help. So I have to find a vet that helps with chickens. I made a false assumption mine would--very bad assumption. My Legbar roos are beautifully creamy soft gray and the pullets are very striking with their stripe! I have a video of a hatch, but it's too large to email, so I have to figure out how to post. Now--I wonder about hatching out Legbars that are crossed with White Leghorns and Americanas? The low tonight is 5 degrees, so I am thinking I need to put bag balm on some combs--especially by Legbar roo because he has such a huge comb and waddles. Any suggestions other than bag balm? They will not be hit by the expected -15 to -20 windchill, I have shielded the run with plastic. The indoor coop is dry and no drafts, but ventilated. Gotta keep the eggs from freezing--HA. Thanks for such great and timely feedback.

Do live near a city with a zoo? If so call the zoo and ask who they use for their birds. Usually the only vets who bother to learn about birds are those that want to work for zoos. One exception that I know of is a vet whose brother is big into chickens (I think he may be on BYC) and when he has someone bring a chicken in he calls his brother. If you want more than a phone consult though be prepared to pay a specialist price.

You can also google avian vets, hopefully there'd be one in your area. They are few and far between, but I live in the middle of nowhere hicksville and just happened to find one only an hour away. Haven't taken a chicken yet, but our cockatiels see her.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I'd like more design info or more pictures of your sling. I love the idea. Very ingenious.
I've seen chicken chairs but yours looks like it may have enough mobility to keep it happy.

I have my brooder in my den...where the woodstove is (it's the only room in my house where the brooder will fit!). The den stays 75-88 degrees, depending on the stove...if we just reloaded it with wood, it's 75...an hour later 88 (I can't stand how hot it can get in there! But, it keeps down our electric bill!). So no, it's not below 40. So what do I do? Just adjust the height as they grow?

At those temperatures, you can probably turn off the eco-glow when they're 2 weeks old at those temps. I'll bet they don't hunker under it during the day.

once my chicks are completely feathered out would they survive these winter temps? as long as i acclimate them slowly. I'm just trying to figure out when I can move them outside and if I will be able to keep them warn enough. there is limited space in my house and I dont want the chicks to get crowded, or i can separate them so they have more room. I live in north Jersey on a mountain and we have been having really cold nights in the negatives

Given time to acclimate, depending on the breeds, they can take it.
I've had chicks out with broody hens out through the winter and fall. One batch was only about 3 weeks old when it dropped into the teens and I took them inside for about 4 days.
It was amazing, when I took the cage back outside and set it down in the pen, the broody ran right up to the cage. It was like one of those videos of kids greeting parents returning from Afghanistan. Enough to make one cry.

my older chickens survived minus ten the other night with no frostbite and without heat. but I'm curious if they will be ready to withstand that at only about a month.

Not at a month. Depending on breed and the conditions they lived under they could be ready at 8 weeks.
I have some 8 week olds sitting on the roost with adults and it has been well below zero the last 2 nights - but they've been out there all winter.
If they've been in temps above the 50s and then below zero, even adults would be quite stressed.
That's another good reason not to provide heat for your birds. What happens to them when there's a power outage?

Congratulations, and Condolences, as appropriate, to the contest winners!

1 am, Time to venture out and refill the heater in the coop. It's not keeping up, but at least things won't be *quite* as frozen, and hopefully soon either the wind will die down or the temp will rise, and it will have a chance. Improbability reading, -4.2... and falling.....
Is it *bad* that I'm suddenly aware that if I didn't have chickens, I wouldn't have to go out there?

Amazing how much time they eat up in winter as well as the number of times I go out in the middle of night year round.

Before people have chickens, they never knew how many predators patrol their grounds at night because they aren't out there.

Thank you very much. I especially like the one from Hong Kong. It has a nice case around it. Harder for me to damage if I am having a "3 Stooges Day"!

The digital display controller can be inserted into a box or even the incubator case so you only have the display and buttons showing.
The one that's just a circuit board can't be in the incubator since it can't handle the humidity or heat. I have mine mounted in a 4" plastic electrical box attached to the side of the incubator with the sensor inside the incy.

Well it is 2:45 above Nashville TN and 4˚ with one more degree to drop. (BTW if anyone is wondering how to make the degree symbol: Press the Alt button and then the K button. I remember which one it is because the science world uses a third temperature scale called Kelvin to measure extremely cold temperatures.)

Thanks for that. I love knowing keystrokes. I miss DOS.
Komfortable Kelvins to you.

You can also google avian vets, hopefully there'd be one in your area. They are few and far between, but I live in the middle of nowhere hicksville and just happened to find one only an hour away. Haven't taken a chicken yet, but our cockatiels see her.

Avian vets are a start but those that know anything about chickens are as rare as hens teeth.
We have about 6 avian vets around us and we have hundreds of vets in our big metro area but only 2 really know chickens and they own chickens.
There's a couple more that see chickens but their results are not good.

First of all there are very few poultry programs in vet schools any more. I think there are only 6 now.
First of all most avian vets take care of expensive parrots and some may consider a chicken a waste of skills and time.
Here is a good explanation of other reasons they are rare.

http://mikethechickenvet.wordpress.com/2013/10/14/why-arent-there-more-chicken-vets/

 

[SilkieSensation]

My quotes disappeared.

Someone was asking about an outdoor brooder. Here's mine. I use 2 lamps in winter in case a bulb blows & only 1 in warmer months. In the summer I turn the light off during the day & they bask in the sun instead. If they are feathered enough I just leave the light off. This is my grow out brooder for chicks too big for the baby brooder. I especially love it for waterfowl. This allows me to brood them with my non-water babies without them getting soaked. Everything drops through the wire bottom & we just hose it away.

 

[Chickencame1st]

You can also google avian vets, hopefully there'd be one in your area. They are few and far between, but I live in the middle of nowhere hicksville and just happened to find one only an hour away. Haven't taken a chicken yet, but our cockatiels see her.

Gonna check with the local County/State Ag Extension Office--surely they can tell me. The local Farmers Feed & Seed owner is a NC State Ag grad and is 83. He's gotta know somebody to have on hand to call in case you need a vet. Never thought it would be so tricky. Thanks all.

 

[Gardeningmama]

Thank you.....ron, it was a Tetra Tint. I had not seen this before. I guess a cross of a leghorn and a sex link..look them up, they are quite pretty. I love the tint of red on the neck or body, or wings. It seems you never know where the tint will be until they are older. I think they are pretty. Would love some. I think there is actually a thread here. Going to go look. I googled it and found them.

Here is a pretty one..

Someone says on the thread, mutts are good. lol..guess that's pretty much what they are. One of the interesting thing is, they usually lay a brown egg..I think usually..my egg was brown.

Tetra Tints are pretty common around here, Tractor Supply Company, and my place The Mill carry them and buy from Mt.Healthy. I want to get some this year. My cousin had them last year and they laid a pretty brownish/red egg. She was just saying the other day she missed hers...after a recent hawk invasion!

To everyone that has won so far....even you PennyHen, just do the Easter Hatch....I'll bet you have the BEST hatch rate!

 

[draye]

It is time for winners!

Best Hatch Rate: First Place @Wisher1000 94% Set hatch rate.
Second Place: @draye 81% Set hatch rate

Worst hatch rate: @Pennyhen with 0 with 26 set.

I will contact you with prize information.

I will announce the two winners for the Cutest Chick hatched after I eat dinner! It is a Pot Pie and the stock was made from home made Rabbit and Turkey.

for me. Thank you, thank you.


Congratulations to the other winners also.