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

[ChickenCanoe]

OMG!! CC! This advice is much needed, I've got a hen who had bumble foot, we soaked and cut out the abscess and she is still not the same, she is currently in a hard molt. I'm going to run to TSC today to get the Combi-Pen. I have 22 gauge 3ml needles n syringes on hand for blood draws...will that work? How much would you recommend? Would this be administer intramuscularly? Thanks



http://www.tractorsupply.com/webapp...01_CatalogEntry_en_US&searchTerm=combi+pen-48

Actually the combiotic recommended is penicillin/streptomycin but the combipen should help. 1/2 cc injected directly in the swollen area of the foot. Confine the bird to deep litter and redress every couple days.

...
So the story with the feed...I was going through 4 bags of 50# $14.99 layer feed per month. I ordered 25x50' aviary netting and hung it up inside our 3 stall horse corral coop roof on 3/4 sides, and the second one I put it along the front and out over the run to keep out the millions of sparrows and doves. Dh noticed the smaller birds were still getting in, which is the majority of the birds.

The previous owners left 2 dog houses and a dog igloo here, so I put their galvanized feeder inside one of the houses and went to check it yesterday and there was a ton of it left! The rate I was going with feed, I should have filled it up again yesterday but didn't need to, so I am happy about that.

Dh also noticed ground squirrels in the feed last week, ...

I figured it had to be either the chickens billing a lot out onto the floor, wild birds or rodents.
I go through about half that for an equal number of birds. I do have one building the birds are getting into so have to address that. I'm thinking about those curtains of beaded strings so they can't fly through but the chickens can still enter.

Spent the afternoon yesterday moving chickens around so that I could empty out my brooder shed for the New Year babies.
Getting excited about them hatching.

I need to do that in the next couple days. I have 11 roosters, as well as a couple cockerels. 5 of which I've been finishing for butchering. It has been too cold to process the last week but it's supposed to hit 40 today and 50 tomorrow so I hope to get a couple processed each day. Now to figure out which ones. I'll have to go back to my weight records and evaluate their adult characteristics.
3 of the roosters have been living in the brooder house so I have to get that disinfected.

Here's the brooder house



And the inside.









Some roosters outside the brooder house last summer





I got a couple of the books on my wish list for Christmas.
I also got an Amazon gift card, chalk off another book from the list.

 

[Myfourladies]

Dang, wanted to share some simple DIY coop plans with you guys.... guess we can upload files here.

Oh well.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Question - I've been toying with the idea of using one of those Rubbermaid 7'x7' insulated plastic sheds for brooding, has anyone ever tried that?

I think that would work fine. It all depends on how many birds you have and how long they'll be in there.
A good rule of thumb is 1/2 sq. ft. per chick for the first week. 2.5 sq. ft. up to 8 weeks. Bantams need less.

Something everyone needs to understand is how fast they grow and that crowding reduces ventilation, causes stress and makes it impossible to keep up with feces. All three contribute to disease.

So .. I lifted the lid off the bator,, sniff sniff ,,aww just the smell of chickies growing...

So the foul egg was out,, and boy it stunk before i cracked it open, Well that made me start candling real close ,,every egg,, Found what I thought were 4 the inside just spun around. I cracked a second one open,, very small embryo..( did not move). Crack third and Oh crap<< It was alive >

> MAN>< so I put the other two back in the bator,, I will wait,, Live and learn folks,,,,Smell egg before cracking open first,, ,, because that third one did not stink,, the others all smell good.. I used my nose..kinda like a momma hen would due eh?

That's a shame. I've opened an egg I was sure was gone with a chick about to hatch. I felt horrible and I'll never do that again. One of the worst poultry husbandry moves I've made.
I definitely use my nose and make sure which egg it is coming from.

 

[Gardeningmama]

Quote: The Disney ones are why I started collecting them, and I do have Snow White, The Seven Dwarfs & The Wishing Well. I really LOVE the Easter ones too!

Oops! and Oh! I got a pip!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Dang, wanted to share some simple DIY coop plans with you guys.... guess we can upload files here.

Oh well.

Go to the bottom of your profile page and you can download there. If you need help let us know.
I think Ron posted the link with instructions.

 

[Gardeningmama]

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[msladyhawke]

Merry Christmas everyone!
May all your eggs be fertile.
May all your egg shipments hatch.
And may all your hatches have only one rooster....

Working thru 25 pages of posts, but had to stop and comment on this one. What an awesome comment!

 

[mspj]

This is my 2nd hatch, my first with an auto-turner. When I remove the eggs from the turner at lockdown do I need to increase temperature or just humidity? Right now with the turner on my temps are staying between 99 - 100, with my first hatch I manually turned the eggs and kept temps between 101-102. So should I increase the temp at lockdown to 102? Just getting prepared, thanks for all the help you all have provided.

 

[ronott1]

Dang, wanted to share some simple DIY coop plans with you guys.... guess we can upload files here.

Oh well.

Reply and click on the paperclip tool to add files

 

[msladyhawke]

[COLOR=800080]Had to show you all my favorite gift! I collect Jim Shore's but this one takes the top spot in my collection![/COLOR]

Oh my gosh! That just went on my want list! Cute!