Australia - Six states..and that funny little island.

[Fancychooklady]

Hey guys!  I have returned from the void!

Hiya nutcase. Long time no see.

 

[Fancychooklady]

A picture tells a thousand words. Makes clean up easier. Just pick the bag up from the corners carry it to a garden bed and ' voilà ' mulch.

 

[Teila]

Tut .. I didn’t have an Option 3 when I replied; lol

Put me down as a vote for option three with some bedding etc.

ChristieB I am so sorry to hear about Hermione

; may she rest in peace.

Roll on 4pm .. I have a pinch test to carry out on a Pekin!! …………….

When you feel the chicken from the front, the first thing you are likely to encounter is the crop, which will probably be full. This will feel like a sort of soft bag at the base of the chicken’s throat.
Feel down from there, to the underside of her belly. You are feeling for her “keel,” the bone which separates the breasts. If you have ever carved a chicken, this is the bone that sticks straight up when carving, which you scrape the breast meat off.
Gently feel through the feathers for this bone. If it is sharp and prominent, if you can pinch it between your fingers without feeling any meat, then your chicken is underweight. On the other hand if you feel cleavage, then your chicken is overweight.
Tee hee even I can follow that .. it is like Chicken Obesity Check for Dummies

 

[appps]

Aaaw ChristieB, they are adorable!

OK, I think I might have a problem ... LuLu weighs 1.3kg!  All my research indicates that Pekin hens should weigh approximately 600-700gms.  

Does the 600-700gms sound right to you guys n' gals?  Is 1.3kg definitely too much for a bantam? If it sounds like she is overweight I am going to have to try and get some weight off her before the heat of summer hits along with rethinking their diet.  However, no-one else in the flock appears to be overweight but seen as it was my lunch 30 minutes, I did not have time to weigh them all.  However, as I mentioned, LuLu has always been solid and heavy and is not particularly greedy.

If she is carrying excess weight, could this actually be a side effect of something else going on and the reason she is not laying?

I "think" my frizzle bantam was about 1.2kg. 600g sounds very light? I mean that's not much more than a large tub of margarine?

 

[appps]

Okay, question for the incubator experts amongst us

I just got the incubator I borrowed last time again and am trying to get it all up and running consistently by the end of next week when my eggs arrive.

I've read about wet and dry incubating and a lot of info is in F not C. Can I just get the temp and humidity that you use and that is working well?

 

[satay]

*ignorance alert* what is a chaff bag?

I have definately turned country. I sure know what chaff is

I

 

[Teila]

Thanks appps … LuLu passed the pinch test with flying colours; I was able to feel her keel with no cleavage and while she is definitely heavier than Blondie and Cilla who I definitely know are Pekins and lighter than her, she appears to just be my chunky little monkey that she always was; even when she was laying she was always heavier and fondly referred to as ‘my little brick’ .. also, watching her today, she is a bit bigger than Cilla and Blondie. KiKi is actually a little chunky also; could just be a Frizzle thing

Anyways, while I was there, I pinch tested everyone else and they were all good; except maybe Cilla who could be on the light-side but she is probably still getting some condition from the last hatch and as you know, has decided that she wants to be a mum, yet again!

I wish I was able to help with your incubator question but sadly I have no experience whatsoever and will leave you in the hands of those who do.

Shame you do not live closer, you could slip those precious eggs under GodCilla

 

[appps]

Thanks appps

Shame you do not live closer, you could slip those precious eggs under GodCilla 

Lol. Two broodies would be easier .

 

[Sidhe13]

@Fancychookladythe picture is indeed worth a thousand words...we have them, but plastic weave....same thing?

Definitely going straight on to concrete! Thanks for the input, everyone!

@ChristieB sorry for your loss

@appps I had an incubator with a fan. I dry incubated then on day 18 filled the channels with water and sponges to ramp it up to 75%
Temperature stayed at 35.9 the whole time. I had an 80% hatch rate.

 

[appps]

I've been wondering about dry incubating Sid. I've just filled the channels and it says it's 75%. I'm wondering if dry incubating might be safer since the humidity seems to jump up so much between it running low and me topping it up. I "think" without the water it's going to be around 55%. Sitting at 37.5c