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

[abmaddox1981]

YAY!!! Happy Christmas Eve, everyone! It's lockdown day for us tonite!

I have to go to work...and it's freezing cold again and I would just love to climb back under the covers. We are closing early today, but dh wants me to go to the store and get something for his work potluck because he works tomorrow. WHY couldn't he request that on Sunday when I was at the market??? He seriously wants me to go on Christmas Eve when it will be a zoo.

He is pretty funny, though...for someone who hates birds...he has been calling and texting me a lot about his concern over the humidity. They have been hovering around 31% most of the time. I assured him that we would get the humidity up for lockdown, and that temp is the most important. The Brinsea has really been great with maintaining temp!

Tomorrow will be a lazy sleep-in day...just wrapping gifts and chicken chores. Our Christmas is on Friday and my 20yo will be home from college. She would be amazed by the candling, but my phone doesn't take good photos/videos in dim light and my camera is still packed somewhere.

Hope you all have a great day!

Good luck with your hatch! I have to go to the grocery store today as well. I meant to go yesterday but that obviously did not happen. My kids are trying to sabotage me!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

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')

Good points on the untreated seed, supporting the local non-corporate stores and the importance of reading labels.

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'm guessing to be safest about 6 days so you'll have time to get the late bloomers out and the hatcher cleaned.
That said I tend to be pretty lax. For instance, I set eggs on the 11th, 12th and 13th. I'll probably move them all on the 30th. Those from the 13th will be going in a day early and the 11th set eggs a day late and I'll just up the humidity in the incubator on the 28th.

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

I was like that the first time. After I realized how crazy I was, I now prefer to be asleep.
I figure regardless of what happens, if I wake up to active healthy chicks, those are the potential future breeders.

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.

As someone else said, light enough to be able to read a newspaper by and that is most important at roost height. There should still be some light (at least 0.5 fc) in the darkest area of the coop.
The light needs to reach the pineal gland behind the eye so the bird senses that days are longer and produce the proper hormones.
If the Christmas lights do that then all is good.
When I do it, I use CFLs because they are inexpensive to run, last a long time and produce light in the appropriate spectrum. If you use incandescent (which I do when it gets below the teens outside) go for the warm light (orange-red chromaticity spectrum).

Most people don't do it this way but lighting for increased production works better if intensity increases slowly. For example, a couple hours of exposure to a dim light prior to exposure to a bright light is perceived as sunrise. So ideally, a small strand of Christmas lights to illuminate the whole coop slightly followed by one or more(depending on coop size) bright CFLs about 9 watts which is comparable to a 60 watt incandescent.
This would require two timers.
Under no circumstances keep it on all night. 17 hours of total light(including daylight) should be a maximum. I used to go for 14.

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.

I don't know how bright that is. Use the above guide and try it.

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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.

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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.

Good idea on the Easter chick rule.

A heat lamp isn't necessary and very expensive to operate. They also need a period of darkness.
If they get accustomed to heat and your power goes out they'll suffer.

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...
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

I think that's how most people have always done it. Pour out the feed, keep water on them and not worry about anything else. There is a lot more to know though.
A very good idea is to meticulously keep a flock journal. Record everything, new birds, feed changes, illnesses, stressors like predators, heat and extreme cold, housing changes. If something happens down the road, it's impossible to remember everything.

Paying more reminds me of my rule for myself. I refuse to shop at Wallyworld, which IMO has caused the demise of small town America.
I've been there twice and that was to buy a fishing license when I was outstate and it was the only thing around.
I remember when every small town had a town square, with privately owned shoe stores, clothing stores, sporting goods stores, hardware stores, grocers, etc.. Now all those entrepreneurs are greeters, stockers, etc. and the town square is a ghost town.
Are the selections better now in the big box? Perhaps but call me a fuddy-duddy, I don't think it is really much of an improvement.
And who wants to eat that irradiated, gassed packaged meat that never turns brown no matter how old it is?
That's my soapbox moment for today.
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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

To hire someone can be expensive. It depends on how far it has to go. I've run it to one coop so far. Copper has risen a lot so the wire is the real expensive part. I always run everything in at least 3/4 inch conduit so I can add or make changes later. Actually a properly sized extension cord is safer than installed wiring that is undersized or overloaded.
I've had a 100 foot 12 AWG cord run out to one coop for 4 years. I have the coop wired just like normal house wiring with a pigtail hanging under the nest box and plug it into the extension cord.
I'm hoping to get underground electric run out there next year.

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I would hang them on the outside of the coop and hope enough light shines in the windows

I have a friend that does that. Her whole coop is decorated with Christmas lights on a timer to come on at dusk for 6 hours. She claims it helps.
I used to use the same type of timer for coop lights just because I already had it.

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Well, realized the quarantine I had them in wasn't really quarantine, since I had one in a separate pen INSIDE the run, and one in another pen up against the run. Stupid newbie mistake. So, since they already were exposed to my girls, I figured there's no point keeping them separated.

I put both boys in the run with the girls today. Took the EE about 10 minutes to assert his dominance over one of the pullets. A few minutes later was pullet number 2. I'm so excited...once Zeus' sperm is out of their systems, I will be able to hatch their eggs with the new guy's genes...woohoo!!!

A couple Chinese experiments showed that sperm retained their activity for at least 20 days in a non-competitive situation.
If the time interval between competing matings was less than 12 days, 14 days were required to eliminate the effect of the original mating no matter how many times they were mated to subsequent roosters.

Well, where I live now it's either freezing to death or sweating to death. We get up to 104F pretty regularly in the summer, and we got to -9F during our cold snap around Thanksgiving. :/

The chickens seem to deal with it better than I do.

Same here, summer before last was over 100 for a month up to 110. It's 6 right now with -7 wind-chill and it can get to -10 actual. It's always high humidity year round too.
They hate the heat.

If it makes you feel better, you can always think that perhaps if they needed help they wouldn't have thrived and lived a full life... just a fall back if it does happen. I'm sure it happens in the wild, right?

X2

This is my brooder in my workshop where my 5-week olds are living. We'll be putting another of these boxes (hubby gets them free at work) next to this for the new chicks after two weeks in the house. I'm going to put a nipple watering system in for the bigger chicks, and a lid, because they are getting big enough to fly out. So I'll have a brooder and grow-out pen in my workshop all winter!

Nice. The more space they have the better.

I watched the new Hobbit Movie today. There were quite a few posts when I got back.

How is everyone?

We're seeing it on Christmas. We have to go to the first show cause my son has to work at 4.
The whole family goes to a movie every Christmas.
We're big Tolkien fans. My son and I have read the 4 books (Hobbit and LOR trilogy) at least 5 times. He's also read the Simarillion and I've read 'The Tolkien Reader'.

I ferment scratch feed and other grains for my chickens as a supplement. The kicker is I use rooster booster in it. It is really inexpensive and you use only1/3 tablespoon per gallon of water. It is vitamins, mineral and several probiotics . Input my feed in a 5 gallon bucket mix the rooster booster with warm water and pour over till about an inch over the top. I stir occasionally for a couple of days. You will see little bubbles letting you know it's fermenting. I scoop out the feed with a sifter and let the liquid drain back in. Then add the same amount back in that I took out. When ever I need more water/rooster booster I add the amount I need till it cover about an again. I can really tell a big difference.

That's nice, I've thought of using it.
Better nutrition is really important if breeding birds. The rooster's vitality needs to be up as well as the hens so the yolks will be packed with goodies for healthy embryos and chicks.
The layer/breeder feed I sometimes buy has elevated levels of lysine, methionine, vitamins and minerals as compared to other layer feeds. I add kelp and other things to boost the vitamins and minerals. Also fishmeal for animal protein when indicated.

Thanks. and don't forget those blue eared silkies

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My friend that's a silkie fanatic always reminds me of that when I talk about earlobes.

Outside of my New Years hatch I've added in 12 eggs for the 5th of January and just added 27 for the 13th of January. Its going to be a busy year.

Hopefully for me too. I have to see what the frostbite looks like on the roosters this morning.
I think January temps are supposed to be better.

I took my kids and fell asleep on and off. Then I woke up to the whole audience groaning as the credits rolled. Apparently it has a bad ending.

The endings are always abrupt since they take a story and break it into 3 parts and you know you have to wait a year for the next one.

Right on. Think of it this way - you are setting parameters for your future flock. You do not want to perpetuate weakness. I will grant there are times one makes exceptions - valuable/rare breed shipped eggs spring to mind - but for the most part, helping a chick hatch simply prolongs the agony of losing it. If the failure to complete hatching is due to the human's mistake (low humidity, temp fluctuations, power failure) - chick pips and then dries out because of lack of humidity - moistening the membrane with a warm q-tip will help, but you should resist the temptation to open the hatcher as much as possible once you've set them to hatch - for me that's usually day 19, for many it's day 18. Humidity will rush out anytime you lift the lid.

Some things to prepare for: Once you see an external pip, don't be surprised if the chick spends the next 12 hours resting up for the zip and push to freedom. It is maddening LOL. Once a chick hatches, while preferable to remove after fluffed (~12-24 hours) the chick can spend as long as 48 hours in the hatcher before moving to the brooder - unless it is smaller than it should be for its breed, or looks thin/weak/dehydrated, in which case I wait no more than 24 hours, and dip its beak in water a couple of times before setting it in a warm spot under the light. If you have a single hatchling and no opportunity to obtain a broodmate, spend a few minutes several times a day making sure the chick knows where the food is and that it is food - if necessary, poke a marble or two into the crumble, and tap at it with your finger for a minute or two until you see it peck at it, and hopefully eat a piece or two.

I know others will chime in with their advice, and all of it is good to store away in case of need - we all run into different challenges and all have had to react on the fly with whatever we had available. One of the nicest things about this type of thread is the sharing of information. Exposure to different ways of thinking about your birds helps you develop your philosophy, which will continuously evolve.

Good stuff.
For chicks without a mom, I sprinkle starter feed and crumbled hard boiled egg on the paper towels since they'll eat whatever is at their feet. After a day or 2 they find the feeder just fine.
I'll only go out of my way to save a chick if I know its condition is my fault.(that it would otherwise have been vigorous)
Weak chicks won't do the future vigor of the flock any favors.
Everyone has their priorities and some people only care about the pet value.
My priority is to develop a flock with good genetic resistance to disease - constitutional vigor.
Gail Damerow wrote that retired poultry science professor, Fred Jeffrey, advocated "rigid culling of all snifflers, droopers, feather rufflers, poor eaters and pale-headed birds to be sure they don't reproduce their kind."

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so my light blue eggs are now too dark to candle

i want to see lol so now its the sit back and wait

That's all I do. I just have faith. The blue pigment is throughout the egg shell so IMO that's why they are so hard to candle even though their exterior color is light.

Not sure if this is my final count yet - Nell has not abandoned the nest and the final 3 eggs. I cannot believe how well she did with 12 shipped eggs and a day with temps over 44C (112F)!!
My super broody Nell with her new chickies!!!

That's awesome.

Ill hatch anything right now. The psychos killing the 50 head flock we had built up for wounded warriors and the semper fi foundation really screwed things up. Its going to be a long uphill battle to build up what we lost.

It sounded like the psychos were on a hunting spree. It's hard to imagine what is going on in people's heads.

 

[roostereggs]

I found photos of chick growth on this site...it looks like my two that didn't make it quit on Day 13. Warning...these are graphic!


http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2011/04/chicken-embryo-development-graphic.html

 

[starlingsbaby]

I am getting a late start and mine will not hatch new years but i do have some that will be die a week or 2 after . duck and chicken eggs!! Can i post my pics even tho i am late lol?

 

[Gardeningmama]

Good Morning All & Merry Christmas Eve!!
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[AK FLOCK SWAP]

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.

They need @ least 14 hr a day .no more or less,, I Would put in on a timer for 14 a day...i have 3 hr of sunlight a day here in Fairbanks Alaska,, My birds will be under this timed light until April.

 

[AK FLOCK SWAP]

I got him from Mustard Seed Farm in Lousia, Virginia. It's like 10 minutes from my house. I met the owner at our local feed store (Southern States) a little over a month ago. She's an awesome woman, and she LOVES her chickens!!

Where didnyou get the EE Rooster? I want one and will drive to get it!
NICE BIRD,,THAT EE ROO...

 

[ChickenCanoe]

They need @ least 14 hr a day .no more or less,, I Would put in on a timer for 14 a day...i have 3 hr of sunlight a day here in Fairbanks Alaska,, My birds will be under this timed light until April.

I always wondered if chickens raised near the arctic circle would go nuts without adding light.

It makes me wonder also about one of my favorite breeds, Jaerhons - developed in Norway. I can't imagine they used to provide extra light back in the 1930s. They're from the southern end of the country but still!!!

By the same token. I wonder about chickens near the equator and how the molt season works.
I worked with Macaws in Costa Rica at around 10 degrees north latitude. Everyone around where I lived had chickens and roosters. Some people said chickens didn't produce very long but I don't think they knew what they were talking about.
I know at that latitude I was amazed at how fast it got light in the morning and dark in the evening. As the sun was going down, it seemed like minutes and BAM, it was completely dark.

 

[Canieldonrad]

Not sure if this is my final count yet - Nell has not abandoned the nest and the final 3 eggs. I cannot believe how well she did with 12 shipped eggs and a day with temps over 44C (112F)!!
My super broody Nell with her new chickies!!!

I work in exports for various websites that do international shipping. Been sending a lot of sunscreen and surf/swim stuff to Australia lately. Craigmore is near Adelaide, correct? I bet the weather is nice this time of year for you all.

 

[MontanaDolphin]

My bator (its in my sig, ultra-bator) the way its set up now can hold 300 plus. Everything listed in my sig plus ee's, barnevelders, lavender and buff orps, leghorns, silkies. At this point that's just a guideline. Im open to most any breeds

I have 7 eggs in my 'bator right now from my Barred Rock and Commercial Black (hatchery BR cross...AWESOME layers, btw...one of them consistently gives me double yolkers!) girls, fertilized by my Barred Rock roo that went to freezer camp a few days ago due to aggressive behavior. I know a lot of people don't allow eggs to hatch from an aggressive roo, but my girls are sweet, and I don't plan on keeping any roos that hatch permanently...only till they are old enough to eat. I don't see any problem keeping pullets that came from an aggressive roo.

That being said, what are your thoughts on hatching eggs fertilized by an aggressive roo?? Would you do it? Asking because your flock that was massacred (for lack of a better word) was a big one. I figure you have experience in this area to give me an honest opinion on whether you would do it or not.