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

[bantambury]

soooo....it seems as if my chicks are switching their genders on me! before I had 5 roosters.....now I have 6, when ivy turned into a rooster! now I STILL have one questionable! LOL

My chicks are growing CRAZY FAST! we have crowers ALREADY! they are already growing their new tail feathers......FOR THE SECOND TIME! these chicks are by far way more advanced than our other chicks have been.


I have also realized moth of them have lost their tail feathers...(which is why new ones have been growing in for the second time) but they are BURNING them on the heating tube of my brooder! we had one of the chicks already burn his comb.....making it form funny.....but they even jump on top of it and burn their feet! the smell is gross, especially when you see smoke rising from their tails burning! this had never happened in the past! what do I do?!?!?!?? we have already moved their food and water away from the tube....




it snowed yesterday here in NC.....one of my jap hens loved looking st it from the windowcill! so cute! I have pictures I may beable to post later!


How are all of your chicks doing? any weird things happening?

 

[SilkieSensation]

soooo....it seems as if my chicks are switching their genders on me! before I had 5 roosters.....now I have 6, when ivy turned into a rooster! now I STILL have one questionable! LOL

My chicks are growing CRAZY FAST! we have crowers ALREADY! they are already growing their new tail feathers......FOR THE SECOND TIME! these chicks are by far way more advanced than our other chicks have been.


I have also realized moth of them have lost their tail feathers...(which is why new ones have been growing in for the second time) but they are BURNING them on the heating tube of my brooder! we had one of the chicks already burn his comb.....making it form funny.....but they even jump on top of it and burn their feet! the smell is gross, especially when you see smoke rising from their tails burning! this had never happened in the past! what do I do?!?!?!?? we have already moved their food and water away from the tube....




it snowed yesterday here in NC.....one of my jap hens loved looking st it from the windowcill! so cute! I have pictures I may beable to post later!


How are all of your chicks doing? any weird things happening?

I always put my lamps outside & point them in.

 

[bantambury]

I always put my lamps outside & point them in.

well, my brooder is one of those 'oldie' ones.....built in header. dumb.
coundnt take a pic now....

 

[SilkieSensation]

well, my brooder is one of those 'oldie' ones.....built in header. dumb.
coundnt take a pic now....

Time for a new brooder.

 

[bantambury]

Time for a new brooder.

LOL

its my friend's brooder we lend every time we hatch chicks.....so far used it 3 times.....the 3rd time the tails began burning! LOL we had never seen it before! what I will do for my next hatch is create my own brooder in a plastic tub...I think it will be convenient, easy to clean, and cost friendly.

(who knows how old it is....he had it before we moved here 10 years ago! LOL)

what brooder do you have (if you have one)

I don't want to relly buy one......cost wise....but my breeder had excellent looking ones!

 

[SilkieSensation]

I have 2 batches in cardboard boxes & a batch in a wooden toybox covered by a window screen. My good brooder is not at the new house yet. It's huge & goes outside

 

[ChickenCanoe]

soooo....it seems as if my chicks are switching their genders on me! before I had 5 roosters.....now I have 6, when ivy turned into a rooster! now I STILL have one questionable! LOL

My chicks are growing CRAZY FAST! we have crowers ALREADY! they are already growing their new tail feathers......FOR THE SECOND TIME! these chicks are by far way more advanced than our other chicks have been.


I have also realized moth of them have lost their tail feathers...(which is why new ones have been growing in for the second time) but they are BURNING them on the heating tube of my brooder! we had one of the chicks already burn his comb.....making it form funny.....but they even jump on top of it and burn their feet! the smell is gross, especially when you see smoke rising from their tails burning! this had never happened in the past! what do I do?!?!?!?? we have already moved their food and water away from the tube....




it snowed yesterday here in NC.....one of my jap hens loved looking st it from the windowcill! so cute! I have pictures I may beable to post later!


How are all of your chicks doing? any weird things happening?

Definitely elevate your brooder more. At 4 weeks, they don't need it that warm.
I should have them outside by now but we're getting at least another week in single digits. I have already separated them into 4 large brooders but I'll have to build a few more temporary ones as the current ones aren't big enough for another week.
As for heat, they're in the cellar that is between 50-55 F. I've taken the emitters out of the brooders and laid them outside pointed at the walls so there's still a warm spot but they really don't crowd there.
For a temporary home I'm buying several of the largest cardboard moving boxes from Lowes for about $1.80 each. Then I cut a square doorway between the boxes, tape them together to make doorways between rooms. Put the water in one, feed in another and perhaps heat in another.

 

[Myfourladies]

LOL

its my friend's brooder we lend every time we hatch chicks.....so far used it 3 times.....the 3rd time the tails began burning! LOL we had never seen it before! what I will do for my next hatch is create my own brooder in a plastic tub...I think it will be convenient, easy to clean, and cost friendly.

(who knows how old it is....he had it before we moved here 10 years ago! LOL)

what brooder do you have (if you have one)

I don't want to relly buy one......cost wise....but my breeder had excellent looking ones!

I use the largest rubbermaid tote that Lowes sells and when they start flying out, (around 4 weeks) I put the lid on that has the middle cut out and screen put in. It works really well. This is how my mom has done it for 30 plus years. If we didn't have a foot of snow and negative temperatures the chicks would be going out for at least a few hours a day now, maybe just coming in at night.

 

[bantambury]

Definitely elevate your brooder more. At 4 weeks, they don't need it that warm.
I should have them outside by now but we're getting at least another week in single digits. I have already separated them into 4 large brooders but I'll have to build a few more temporary ones as the current ones aren't big enough for another week.
As for heat, they're in the cellar that is between 50-55 F. I've taken the emitters out of the brooders and laid them outside pointed at the walls so there's still a warm spot but they really don't crowd there.
For a temporary home I'm buying several of the largest cardboard moving boxes from Lowes for about $1.80 each. Then I cut a square doorway between the boxes, tape them together to make doorways between rooms. Put the water in one, feed in another and perhaps heat in another.

well, right now its crazy cold......we have them in the garage....but I will drop the heat a bit....they are staying on the cooler side of the brooder now that you said something.

I think we may move them out once it gets warmer.....I don't know how long that will take though.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

....they are staying on the cooler side of the brooder...

There's your sign. They don't need that much heat now.