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

[Cynthia12]

Yes, they will be inside. I'm putting the brooder box in the den, which is where humans spend a lot of time...that way someone will almost always be in there at the same time as the pets (dogs and cats). I'm thinking of blocking off the brooder, anyway, just to be safe. We have two 7 month old kittens who are curious about everything. They chase my chickens outside. Then I have a dog, as well as my mom's two dogs...mine will be fine with the chicks, she was last year. But my mom's St. Bernard is another story. She wouldn't hurt them deliberately, but she wants to play with everyone and everything. I'm worried about her size...especially the size of her paw...and it going through the screen! I don't have a choice though...I don't have any materials big enough to cover the brooder box except for screen, and I don't have the funds right now to go out and buy anything. I thought the huge box I had was going to work, so this one I'm building is a last minute emergency build!


Like another person said, my girls lay eggs like this too. Nothing to worry about.

Love this gals blog and face book page. Here's something on odd eggs.
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/search?q=odd+eggs

 

[Aphrael]

The liner can be tossed into the washing machine too!

Really? That is good to know!

 

[ronott1]

Originally Posted by ronott1

The liner can be tossed into the washing machine too!

Really? That is good to know!

Yes! I did not know they could be washed either but someone posted on a different thread that they washed up nicely and I have been running them through the washing machine for a while now.

 

[Cynthia12]

What a day. Selling pups. People hang around longer when deciding on a pup, than when deciding on a chicken. That's ok! Bed time for me. I locked down today..so one day ahead of all of you. Good luck on getting that humidity where you want it...and
Congratulations on those that have chicks hatching!
In the meantime, this is what I was selling today..I only have the girl left now. Out of 6 pups.



Goldendoodles!

 

[SallyinIndiana]

LOL, I have washed cloth diapers for NINE years and counting, as the youngest is still not out of diapers, and it does appear that I'm miraculously 9 weeks pregnant again, after four miscarriages and some weird hormonal issues that made the doctors and my midwife say I would never have another baby, so if this one makes it, I have at least 2 more years of cloth diapers. I haven't used paper diapers in, well, ever. The washer will be fine

You can run a bleach wash cycle afterwards if you want; add 1c bleach to the washer, no clothing, and run a hot water cycle, unless your septic system doesn't like bleach.

I use paper towels in the bottom of the incubator, the only thing I use paper towels for. [We use washable kitchen towels, cloth diaper wipes, reuseable everything, just about. It has saved us a fortune, even accounting for water, electricity and detergent.] I like the paper towels because if the humidity needs help, I can spray water in via the air holes and help spread it over a bigger surface area to bump humidity.

I have also some canning jars with sponges in them inside the incubator that I use to increase humidity. I do find I have to add water quite often, and I can't figure out why, as the humidity in the house runs 45%. But the bator, without help, wants to hover at way less. Very odd.

It is amazing how much the prices on paper products have gone up since I stopped buying them. I get sticker shock if my mom asks me to pick her up napkins or paper towels. I think we gradually started the conversion to reusable cloth products about 5 years back. It was even one of the cloth diaper forum sites that lead to me visiting this site and other chicken sites. Amazing what a few pictures can do.
Congrats on your upcoming baby and the rest of your children too.
I have had trouble getting higher humidity this time too.

 

[Blarneyeggs]

What a day. Selling pups. People hang around longer when deciding on a pup, than when deciding on a chicken. That's ok! Bed time for me. I locked down today..so one day ahead of all of you. Good luck on getting that humidity where you want it...and Congratulations on those that have chicks hatching! In the meantime, this is what I was selling today..I only have the girl left now. Out of 6 pups. Goldendoodles!

Awww! Cute pups! And still wrapping my mind around NINE years of diapers! Yikes!

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Awww! Cute pups!

And still wrapping my mind around NINE years of diapers! Yikes!

And she thinks she will have at least 2 more yrs with the next baby.

Some one needs to invent some kind of deep litter system for children. Won't happen but wouldn't it be great to have no more diapers. Most children aren't fond of the changing time anyway. There has to be something better than diapers or EC.

Candled my eggs tonight. of the 5 I have left, 4 I can't see into but they don't smell. Then the one RIR egg is looking great, lots of movement and still a touch of room to grow.

 

[abmaddox1981]

Okay so out of the 35 eggs I set, 24 just went into lockdown. I candled and 3 of my silkies looked like they had pipped internally! They usually hatch 24-36hrs ahead of my large fowl so I went ahead and brought the humidity up to 60% and I will try to get it between 65 and 70% tomorrow. Come on fluffy butts!

 

[SoManyHats]

[COLOR=800080]So sorry the D'Uccles didn't make it, and for the tough hatch. After the Cinco de Mayo Hatch-A-Long I swore I would never hatch again, but I guess just like childbirth, you get over the trauma and do it all over again, lol. The chick on the right is my favorite, maybe it's the lighting, but it's adorable. AND I totally think that chick in the back is a splash. Looks just like my splash cochins, and splash marans did at hatch.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=800080]Yeah, I'm going to put them in position tomorrow night, up the humidity, and hands off... I promise. I then will become an obsessive fanatic and spend the next 3 days running to my room to check for pips. Also a good chance I will have my ear pressed to the window listening for chirps for long periods of time. It will be a loooong 3 days...[/COLOR]

Here's what I did - planned to go to a New Year's Eve party 90 minutes from my house. And planned a New Year's Day party at my house. I'm hoping the planning for my party and going to the other party will keep me busy enough so I don't go crazy! (That's me being crazy, lol.)

 

[SoManyHats]

Ummm...what is up with this air cell? It's waaay bigger than it was at the day 14 candle. The rest seem to be just the right size...

Is there anything I need to worry about with this?