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

[K Spot]

Sorry to hear about your little Wyklie, Fancy

All that snow, though! Wow. I agree with Satay - as beautiful as it looks, you can keep it

Lovely Ara's, Ash

Sam, yours too. Lovely colour on her

I'm waiting patiently for my hens to go broody so I can hatch more.. I may be waiting a while -sigh-

 

[Findtex]

Ok thanks

I have a JN 48, and Yes you need to keep the foam packing as insulation, logic, most expensive incubators have foam on the inside, these guys have combined the insulation and packing together, very clever!

Their biggest problem is water, or getting it in there as explained above.
The most accurate way to measure humidity is by weight loss, hen eggs should loose 13% of the weight over 21 days. To measure this you need to weigh your eggs, I use a sample of five, calculate 13% and graph this. Every few days, weigh your sample 5 eggs and place on the graph.

I have used several hydrometers etc and have found that they can 10% out. Weight loss is the most accurate way to measure humidity.

 

[vehve]

Quote: Small addition. It might be a good idea to switch the eggs around a bit in the incubator to even out the effects of different heat zones within the incubator, especially if it's a still air model. Also, by weighing the 5 same eggs at the same time will probably give you better accuracy in determining the weight loss, if all 5 eggs have lost 0.2 grams, you will not see that on a 1g interval scale when weighing the eggs individually, but with 5 eggs it will show the difference.

 

[smhoekzema]

So I'm in Western Sydney and all the girls have pretty much stopped laying. I assume it is the shorter days, yes?? This is my first time with chooks and I was just wondering when I could expect that they will start up again? Also, should I be doing anything in this time to ensure they are in best condition for the next laying season and to help prolong their laying over their lifetime?

 

[Fancychooklady]

So I'm in Western Sydney and all the girls have pretty much stopped laying. I assume it is the shorter days, yes?? This is my first time with chooks and I was just wondering when I could expect that they will start up again? Also, should I be doing anything in this time to ensure they are in best condition for the next laying season and to help prolong their laying over their lifetime?

Most of mine are still laying. I mix a bag of free range grains to a bag of laucke game bird finisher MP ( 22%) to raise the protein level at this time of year.
Nows a good time worm them , less waste , you won't have to discard many eggs. Spring is only a month away , hopefully yours will molt in this time and start back up in spring. With the weather patterns we have been having our animals don't know whether they are Arthur or Martha. My daffodils are already in flower.

 

[IamSamSam]

Hi Fancy. Up early this morning. (Or very late?)

smhoe I'm in Sutherland area and I have a pullet that just started to lay and maran about too. My Aussie lays every 2nd day.

I give them hour free range in the afternoon when I finish work and I give them red hen red label "scratch" mix and their supreme crumble. Fancy is at the South Pole so I don't think we need to up protein as much as her!

But it is a good idea to check their protein intake and to check they have enough calcium and grit (2 different items)

Ensure the coop is not too drafty and well lined with straw/hay too as we are getting a few -1 and -3 nights that are unusual for us to get.

 

[Fancychooklady]

Lol, up early again.

 

[satay]

Hi Fancy. Up early this morning. (Or very late?)

smhoe I'm in Sutherland area and I have a pullet that just started to lay and maran about too. My Aussie lays every 2nd day.

I give them hour free range in the afternoon when I finish work and I give them red hen red label "scratch" mix and their supreme crumble. Fancy is at the South Pole so I don't think we need to up protein as much as her!

But it is a good idea to check their protein intake and to check they have enough calcium and grit (2 different items)

Ensure the coop is not too drafty and well lined with straw/hay too as we are getting a few -1 and -3 nights that are unusual for us to get.

Most of mine aren't laying at the moment but I let them be. They will come back on in spring or so. I don't add anything extra as I prefer them to lay as they would naturally.

 

[satay]

Lol, up early again.

I showed mum your pictures of the snow in Tassie when she was up on the weekend. She said beautiful but glad I went in Feb

 

[smhoekzema]

I have just looked up the protein percentage on my feed and it is quite low :/ I will be changing when this bag is finished. Thanks as I hadn't thought of that. Will be worming at the end of the week! There is no draft in the coop but we have had some very cool nights! I have been closing the pop door and getting up early to open it to keep out the draught. I feed calcium and grit both separately due to a mixed age flock.