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

[SoManyHats]

they got bored waiting for the eggs to hatch lol I'm extremely concerned about the first two or more weeks brooding in the house with 4 cats :/ one having already got to one of our parakeets... any suggestions on keeping cats away? I was thinking a Rubbermaid box that I can clamp the top on but then cut out holes and replace with hardware cloth

I keep my brooder in a bathroom and just keep the door shut. But before I realized it would be a hassle to do it, we had planned to cut out most of the lid to our container and replace it with hardware cloth.

 

[FeyRaine]

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.

 

[MontanaDolphin]

I havent used cartons for incubating or hatching so I may not be accurate on this, but here is what I would do if I were using cartons.

I think it would be fine to switch to upright incubating. You can put them in an egg carton(I think most use styrofoam egg cartons for this,but not positive) If you use a cardoard carton you can trim out the very bottom of each egg spot so it can get good air flow to the bottom of the egg. Place some thing under the carton like a folded up wash cloth to tilt the carton to one side then later remove the cloth so the carton is flat then later add the wash cloth to the other side so the carton is tilted in the opposite direction so it can get 3 positions and repeat. I have not done it like this so someone may have a better tip on how to do it. At lockdown remove the cloth so the carton is in the flat or upright position.

It is OK to switch. You still need to 'flip' until day 18. The whole idea of turning or flipping, which is really what happens in an egg turner, is because the yolk/embryo tends to rise to the top so by turning you bring it nearer the bottom and it takes a while to rise again. That prevents it from sticking to one side of the shell.

Put something under one side or end of the carton and at least twice a day put your wedge under the other side. I think it would still work, if you have a way to contain the eggs and room in the bator, to just lay the carton on it's side and then place it upright for the last 3 days.

Ok, I think I'll just wait until lockdown, that way I don't have to worry about positioning cloths, wedges, etc. Thanks to you both!

 

[SallyinIndiana]

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.

 

[Myfourladies]

Those are some pretty sprouts!! =) My cat would be in love! I never thought about doing this for the chickens.... DUH!

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Quote:
I should get some started after Christmas stuff is put away.

 

[KimberlyK0509]

Oh yes...I'm not having the nightmares like you, but I'm so afraid I did something wrong, since this is my first hatch as well. I had issues with humidity in the beginning, and the air cells are still smaller than they should be (I started my eggs 12/12 at 1:30 p.m.) at this stage. I'm also paranoid that they'll start to hatch while I'm sleeping and one will need help, but I'll be oblivious and it will die.




I am just a paranoid about being asleep when they hatch and they die because I wasnt paying attention! EEK!

 

[Blarneyeggs]

I hear ya. It's gross out. The rain finally let up but my silkies look like little balls of mud and my LF layers seem to think it's my fault their run looks like a swamp. The ducks however are happy. I don't even want to go back out to get eggs.....

my silkies get their fros spiked from the rain.....my white rooster looks like he walked in chocolate!

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'.

 

[SoManyHats]

has anyone here used the Ecoglow 20? how do you like it?

thanks

I got one for my last group of chicks (15). They loved it - chose it over the heat lamp until they couldn't all fit under anymore. That was within a couple weeks, which is my biggest issue with it. It says it will brood up to 20, but that doesn't last long. The other thing is that they inevitably get on top of it, and poop all over.

But it is safer than a heat lamp, and uses way less energy.

 

[chicken pickin]

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.