6th Annual BYC New Year's Day 2015 Hatch-A-Long

[jbenson]

My phone won't let me quote this morning, but I wanted to weigh in on medicated food etc. I use the medicated starter until at least 8 weeks old to help build immunity. I had a hatch that I did not once and the result was that I lost 2 chicks to cocci like symptoms. I treated the rest with corrid and they were okay. Cocci is everywhere in many kinds. There are kinds that effect different animals. I think I read there are 8 kinds that can effect chickens. Better safe than sorry is my current stance.

I use grogel with all my hatches these days. I did at first because I had ordered some with hatched chicks and had leftovers. So I just mixed it up for my hatchlings. When I ran out, I found that any chicks that didn't hatch at 100% health struggled. So I use it right after hatch for them all now. That reminds me, I need to go find my after hatch supplies in the basement today. I should have enough gro-gel for this nyd hatch.

I don't usually use anything else unless there will be stress on the chicks. I will use sav-a-chick when moving them into a new environment like the grow out pen.

since I sell most of mine with a week or two of hatch, most of my regimin is to make sure they are strong and healthy to make smooth transition to their new homes (though I don't ship, so they are rather lucky to get warm car rides home).

 

[cree57i]

Here are some pics from just now, day-whatever-we're-on, lol. Do the air sacs look ok? I thought they did..






**also**.. Do I worry about how some eggs seem much more "full" than the others? I mean they all have great veins and movement.. Thanks

Ps I think this counts as crossing over from "enjoyment" to "anxiety"

My air sacs are about like yours and I am definitely in the anxious catagory. I have the air sac drawing printed out and have been comparing to what I have drawn on the egg. Based on that, last night I took all water out of the incubator. I can hardly wait until dark to see if I need to put it back in now. LOL Anxious!
Why are some of the eggs so much fuller than others? They all have veins though. I think I may be sleeping beside the incubator too by 12/31!

 

[Kaylish]

Good Morning everyone! Hope ya'll had a wonderful Christmas. Mine was great! Nothing better than watching a 3 year old take all morning to open presents.

I did candle (to) quickly Christmas Eve; 1 of the "questionables" is growing nicely; even wiggled for me

(the other is a quitter) But one of the mottles quit and I dropped the flashlight on one of the beautifully veined red orps

I sealed the cracks the best I could with clear nail polish and put it back in the bator...now I can only hope that I didn't kill it...I want to candle it but I'm scared. Guess I'll just leave it until lockdown.

 

[ronott1]

Good Morning everyone! Hope ya'll had a wonderful Christmas. Mine was great! Nothing better than watching a 3 year old take all morning to open presents.

I did candle (to) quickly Christmas Eve; 1 of the "questionables" is growing nicely; even wiggled for me

(the other is a quitter) But one of the mottles quit and I dropped the flashlight on one of the beautifully veined red orps

I sealed the cracks the best I could with clear nail polish and put it back in the bator...now I can only hope that I didn't kill it...I want to candle it but I'm scared. Guess I'll just leave it until lockdown.

Oh No!

That can happen--washing hands and using sanitizer can make our fingers too slippery.

I hope the chick in that egg makes it!

 

[valleychicks]

LOL! This is funny to me because I have thyroid disease which caused weight gain. For a few years now I have tried diet and exercise to lose weight with out success. I actually started losing weight after getting chickens.

 

[Dish chickens]

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. The only thing Santa brought me that was chicken related was a hen apron. Never used them before but I have been intrigued when I see them on line. It looks small to me so I will put it on one of the smaller hens today and see how it works. All goes well I may be making a big order of hen aprons

On new chicks I never use medicated feeds due to all the issues and problems I've heard people have had from using it. I keep the chicks away from the flock until 5 to 6 weeks old then they go into a grow out pen where there is minimal contact with birds and the chickens. and two times a week they are put on the ground for several hours a day to build up immune system. then I put them in the chicken run with a divider fence from the flock for about a week before turning them loose with them. Now this works for me with my set up and I have not lost any birds to cocci. Now while Chicks are in the brooder I do put electrolytes
in the water every other day and (ACV) apple cider vinegar with mother once a week or more if the chicks get paste butts.

 

[Cynthia12]

Today is lock down for me!.. I have a still air incubator.. the question is. . How much should I lower the temperate?.. Right now I am keeping it to 102 degrees. . And the humidity I am going to try to keep it at 60-70?.. Is that right? .. first time doing this so am I am a bit nervous!!!!!
Now you don't worry about the temp so much as the humidity. I keep mine around 100 in either the still air or the fan. They do fine, as long as I have my humidity up around 62%, give a little or take a little. Good luck to you!

 

[Cynthia12]

Now, here's my question.. As far as humidity during incubation (not lockdown), I generally don't even study it during the early days. I just concentrate on development and if something g looks amiss with the air sacs, I ... Well, it never has looked amiss, really.

SO. Fast forward to now.. I decided yesterday to move my little hygrometer from hatcher (not being used, just waiting) to bator.. And humidity is in the 20's.

So do I need to fiddle with that? If my air sacs look ok I'm good, right? I just feel like I should let them be but don't want to mess anything up in the long run..

We only have less than a week when chicks will start popping out like popcorn.

At this point, I do have my humidity up just a bit more than what I've been doing. Not much more, but around the mid 40's. At lock down, around the 60's. That's me.

 

[Peep_Show]

re: chicken-related items....

Hubby is slowly coming around to the joy of chickens. Every year we give each other an ornament. Here's the one he gave me. I think he *gets* it!



Happy Boxing Day!

 

[Cynthia12]

Good Morning everyone! Hope ya'll had a wonderful Christmas. Mine was great! Nothing better than watching a 3 year old take all morning to open presents.

I did candle (to) quickly Christmas Eve; 1 of the "questionables" is growing nicely; even wiggled for me

(the other is a quitter) But one of the mottles quit and I dropped the flashlight on one of the beautifully veined red orps

I sealed the cracks the best I could with clear nail polish and put it back in the bator...now I can only hope that I didn't kill it...I want to candle it but I'm scared. Guess I'll just leave it until lockdown.

I would have had a heart attack. Sorry that happened, but they really are close to hatching..let's hope it wasn't a very very large flashlight? Red Orpington? Sounds pretty. Good luck..will want to know the out come on this one!