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

[ChickenCanoe]

ACK!

I just went to turn my eggs for the morning and the top temp 106! It's been steady at 101 for several days -- I don't know how long it was at that temp, either.

I'm having trouble too which is why I haven't posted pics with total yet. I'm still putting the finishing touches on the cabinet. I put 2 dozen in the LG on Wednesday afternoon.
The temp was holding perfectly at 99. I added 22 more yesterday and it showed 89 when I looked at it this morning. I raised the temp.The battery was dead on my spot check and when I put a new battery in it a few hours later it was reading 104.
I hate LGs and thermometers.

Wisher, I actually usually put all my brooder and bedding cleanout into compost piles, the ground is currently frozen here, but even in spring and summer I just top off the pile. DH has started putting all the cleanout into a wheelbarrow and wetting it down with the hose first, then adding to the compost. I still will put the brooder cleanout into a bag to get it out there without too much spillage, then reuse the bag. I've re-used bags from shavings bales many many times for this purpose.

Right. There's no reason to throw all those nutrients in the trash. I have three big compost bins. Everything goes in there. All the coop/run cleanout, brooder waste, waste feed when cleaning feeders, yard/garden waste, table scraps the chickens don't eat and the blood/feathers from processing chickens. All fresh stuff goes in the first bin. When it starts heating well it goes in #2. When it cools enough for worms to enter, it goes in bin #3 for transfer to the garden.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Well, dipping in water that's ~110 degrees with a capful of bleach or Oxine added is recommended by some just in case of contaminants - like for no more than 3-4 seconds - then letting dry on a clean towel, then set. Rubbing is a no-no, you will remove bloom. I woudl say if you are only incubating your own eggs dipping probably isn't necessary, but when combining eggs from multiple sources, maybe it is? Don't know, I tend to worry about lots of things that probably don't need to be worried about.

That article from Egypt discusses dipping in Ascorbic Acid solution prior to setting, which I think is so fascinating, and along with the day 16 cooling I am tempted to try it. I have often wondered about removing the lid from the incubator for a few minutes every day just like a setting hen would do when getting up to relieve herself, eat, and drink.

ChickenCanoe, absolutely great ideas about brooding, the minute I have a little more space available (hopefully in the next few months) I am setting aside floor space for brooding that way. Speaking of which, it looked to me like you have a homemade hover brooder in one of your brooding areas, which I think you even briefly discussed earlier. Can you tell us more about how you made it?

I based them on the original Ohio brooder from 1942.
http://web.extension.illinois.edu/hkmw/downloads/46524.pdf
Mine are a little smaller but will still brood up to 75 or 100 chicks.
I made one and a week after I put 26 freedom rangers under it I got a call that I had 54 more chick coming. Since the new ones were going to be so much smaller than these veloceraptors I quickly put another together with scrap lumber I had around here.
The important points are to put a heat lamp at both ends (if one goes out during the night they still have heat. They can move in and out. As the chicks grow I use bricks under the legs to elevate so they can still move in and out. By the time it is on a stack of two bricks, they don't need heat any more.
Also the walls extending above the top horizontal surface holds pine shavings for insulation.
I've used them when the building temp was down to 15 degrees and never lost a chick to cold.

The one drawback with a lot of chicks under there is that it's difficult to check for pasty butt. I have a hoist above them so I can raise them and examine chicks. I don't have any help so I have to find ingenious ways to get'er done.

 

[ronott1]

I can't seem to figure out how to get my picture uploaded but Dec 10th at 9:20 pm i set 7 eggs. 2 SFH 3 tolbunt polish and 2 jubilees Orpingtons. will continue to try and load pic.

Thanks!

I am plunking the numbers into an excel file and will have a total soon....I Hope....

 

[Penny Hen]

I give up. I can't seem to get pics to post. Ggggrrrr.

Don' try to post them as attachments. That doesn't work. Use the picture icon of the mountains and the sun.

 

[Myfourladies]

Did I get added to the best hatch contest?? I posted a picture and such.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I have no idea why that posted twice!

Freudian slip.

 

[ronott1]

Did I get added to the best hatch contest?? I posted a picture and such.

Yes, you are in!

 

[Myfourladies]

Yes, you are in!

Thank you!! I just, for some reason thought maybe it was missed.

 

[JLaw]

I can't seem to figure out how to get my picture uploaded but Dec 10th at 9:20 pm i set 7 eggs. 2 SFH 3 tolbunt polish and 2 jubilees Orpingtons. will continue to try and load pic.

You can e-mail them to me at [email protected] put your name in subject and i'll post them for you

 

[JLaw]

These are ~~abmaddox1981 eggs posting entry pics looks like 35 eggs to me.