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

[ronott1]

I was at the feed store and I got a good picture of UNOs dad! (uno) (storm trooper) they are both very sweet birds! I love uno!!!!

Very Nice!

 

[JDchicks]

I think these are the quietest chicks I have ever day. I never hear them.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Life since the hatch has been crazy! Taking care of three different groups of birds (adults in the coop, juveniles in the workshop brooder, and chicks in the house brooder) is hard- I don't know how so many of you do it! But I just wanted to pop back in here and say that this hatch has been an incredible experience. These 29 chicks are so sweet and calm compared to the hatchery chicks I got a couple months ago. They seem so much happier and healthier, and I've had *zero* pasty butt. Half my hatchery chicks had it, and I'm seeing just how much a difference stress in the first couple days makes. I'm actually pretty sure that I don't want to order hatchery chicks ever again.

I also wanted to add my voice to all the rest thanking Ron for his awesome moderation of this thread. You have been invaluable, and I'm sure many of us would have been lost without your help. Thank you!

Tomorrow I'll post 1 week pictures of my babies if anyone wants to see them.

I feel your pain. Up until the sub-zero days or also referred to as pre-NYD hatch, I had 7 buildings with chickens, with from 2 to 10 birds per unit.
I got it down to 5 by the time bad weather hit.
6 units had automatic water and bulk feeders before the freezing weather and that really cuts down on care time.
Then I had to start carrying water a couple times a day.
I too like a closed flock and not having to bring in new birds. That said, this breed is insane right out of the shell. Healthy but not calm at all. At about 6 months the cockerels calm down and the hens after about a year. It sure does make them alert when they're out on their own though.

The cold weather labor is brutal, so plans for next year are to try to get electric run to all of the buildings and a circulating warm water system that

will run regardless of temperature.
Trap nesting and automatic doors are high on the wish list too.

NYD was a smooth operation and a friendly community under Ron's guidance.

Follow up - the last 2 chicks (Lg cream eggs) which I assisted did not make it.
The one I thought was doing better of the 2 passed this afternoon, the other I culled to spare it further suffering.

The 3rd green egg (assisted) who I moved to the brooder yesterday is doing great.

So of the 3 very late eggs, all assisted, I once again got 1 of 3 fine, 2/3 not right & don't survive.

I know we had a lot of conversation on the thread about assisting (or not) etc. so I felt it was important to post this followup esp. so that those who had assisted chicks that did not make it would have full disclosure from me on how mine turned out. I didn't want to give a false impression to those ppl. As others have stated & I've agreed, some chick are simply not going to make it, assisting means you are helping some out of the egg which really have no chance at a healthy life so the decision to assist comes w/ that harsh reality & the responcibilities that follow from that.

In this case I'm still glad I assisted the several eggs I did, the healthy birds have a place in my eating egg layer flock (pullets) and my freezer/table (cockerals).

I really will get pictures of the happy healthy 7 chicks in the brooder tomorrow

&

A HUGE THANK YOU TO RON! You have gone above & beyond , I think you personally responded to every post on this thread! You did a fantastic job making sure we had good information as well as a festive & fun NYDH. My your 2014 be filled with 3x the goodness you have added to the world by your service to us in moderating this hatchalong

Those needing assisting usually don't make it here either and even though I have no initial intention of doing so. Helping is hard to avoid when you know there's a live chick that has zipped and its problems could be the operators fault and not genetic. That said, I try to remember that the others had no problem getting out. Those are the ones who's genes I want to perpetuate.
Isn't it great to have a busy hobby?

I think one of the things that make chickens (and a few other galliformes) unique is that, once the egg is laid, given the right temperature, they can be completely independent. Instinct tells them how to eat, drink and watch for predators.. Very few vertebrates other than some reptiles and fish can make that claim.

I think these are the quiets chicks I have ever day. I never hear them.

They must be content.

 

[MontanaDolphin]

I couldn't take it any more. I just set 22 eggs.

I'm still sitting on my hands. I'm DYING to set more, but I don't have anywhere to put the hatchlings, since my brooder is occupied by my NYD hatch, and I don't want to worry about the NYD babies pecking away at the new babies. So I'm sitting on my hands until I know that by the time those in the incubator hatch, the NYD chicks will be out in the coop.

I think I need to put a bulldozer in my lap. I need more weight. LOL

Follow up - the last 2 chicks (Lg cream eggs) which I assisted did not make it.
The one I thought was doing better of the 2 passed this afternoon, the other I culled to spare it further suffering.

The 3rd green egg (assisted) who I moved to the brooder yesterday is doing great.

So of the 3 very late eggs, all assisted, I once again got 1 of 3 fine, 2/3 not right & don't survive.

I know we had a lot of conversation on the thread about assisting (or not) etc. so I felt it was important to post this followup esp. so that those who had assisted chicks that did not make it would have full disclosure from me on how mine turned out. I didn't want to give a false impression to those ppl. As others have stated & I've agreed, some chick are simply not going to make it, assisting means you are helping some out of the egg which really have no chance at a healthy life so the decision to assist comes w/ that harsh reality & the responcibilities that follow from that.

In this case I'm still glad I assisted the several eggs I did, the healthy birds have a place in my eating egg layer flock (pullets) and my freezer/table (cockerals).

I really will get pictures of the happy healthy 7 chicks in the brooder tomorrow

&

A HUGE THANK YOU TO RON! You have gone above & beyond , I think you personally responded to every post on this thread! You did a fantastic job making sure we had good information as well as a festive & fun NYDH. My your 2014 be filled with 3x the goodness you have added to the world by your service to us in moderating this hatchalong

Only assisted one, it died three days later. Even though I know odds are an assisted hatch probably won't make it, I'd do it again. The way I am, I have to at least try to save it. Just my nature. But I understand letting nature take its course, as well. I just can't sit idly by and let a chick die if there is even a fraction of a chance I could save it

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I'm still sitting on my hands. I'm DYING to set more, but I don't have anywhere to put the hatchlings, since my brooder is occupied by my NYD hatch, and I don't want to worry about the NYD babies pecking away at the new babies. So I'm sitting on my hands until I know that by the time those in the incubator hatch, the NYD chicks will be out in the coop.
...

Have you joined this one?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/846511/jan-hatch-a-long/20#post_12623181

I'm excited that the NYD chicks will be laying eggs by June. Their eggs should be big enough to incubate by July and those should be able to kick in eggs for next NYD hatch.

 

[SoManyHats]

Can I use tiny zip ties to band my chicks for the next few weeks? If so, how much wider will the legs get- I don't want to make them too tight.

 

[Pozees]

Quote:

While there are clear challenges presented by hatching this early, for me the benefits outweigh them.

Most of the chicks I will sell to local keepers, but any that don't sell as young chicks stay here to grow out; at almost any given time of the year there are people looking for chicks, started birds, and pullets. This is the first year I'm hatching from local eggs, and will have strictly straight run but *local* chicks - meaning they came from parents already acclimated to the temperature, elevation and humidity issues we confront here, so they should fare well and we are keeping money local - I am buying most of the eggs from local keepers and then adding my own (the Silkies and Fayoumis are mine), in the spirit of truly trying to eat local and become more self sufficient. My current plan is to put up a cockerel grow-out pen away from the other birds, where any I still have that I don't have a reason to keep will add some weight before processing, and where I will also be able to take back chicks I sell that turn out to be cockerels that the buyers don't want and cannot sell or give away.

I will be hatching a few shipped eggs, of course, as there are times I simply cannot resist and have not been able to source locally what I want. Next weekend's hatch will be almost entirely shipped eggs. Most of them will not be offered for sale, at least not until I decide what I want to keep from them.

 

[ronott1]

Can I use tiny zip ties to band my chicks for the next few weeks? If so, how much wider will the legs get- I don't want to make them too tight.

Yes, I have used zip ties on day old chicks. You need to watch them and change them as they grow.

zip ties are not a good permanent solution. They fall off here--probably due to the California Sun. Bands work better.

 

[chicken pickin]

Yes, I have used zip ties on day old chicks. You need to watch them and change them as they grow.

zip ties are not a good permanent solution. They fall off here--probably due to the California Sun. Bands work better.

Any suggestions on a good place to get bands.

Im going to need to start banding chicks once I start hatching out my Cream Legbars.

 

[ronott1]

Any suggestions on a good place to get bands.

Im going to need to start banding chicks once I start hatching out my Cream Legbars.

Cutler Supply http://cutlersupply.com/zen_new51/i...Path=6&zenid=eb5b1f9f4488de83e2436124210389a7

I have to use big Bands for one my RIR, Basque Hens, Pita Pinta and Australorps.