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

[appps]

Oh and guess what! I'm finally getting a concrete floor in my coop! Was talking to hubby about getting the load of mulch and he wanted to know what other options there were and I said well I'd rather concrete as the only thing keeping a fox out with our dirt floor is the fact he hasn't visited yet. So we went to Bunnings and bought 15 bags of concrete mix! OMG. For so many years I've been asking! Next time it floods I will just have concrete to dry not a big mud puddle! And I'm getting an auto coop door! It's like xmas!

This is the one I'm thinking? http://www.hensafe.com.au. Didn't somebody else get one? Thoughts? Especially this time of year we are often not home till after dark so will be a good backup and we will then only have to go up and cover their feed from the mice and check they are all in bed when we do get home.

 

[Henriettasmum]

Once you do it over thousands of eggs it been proven that temperature does not affect sex of chicks, however storing the eggs at lower temperatures (in a fridge) before hatching seems to seriously reduce the viability of the boys whilst having little effect on the girls. I haven't found anyone that has done the experiment properly on that.

That's interesting to know. I can only go on my own experience and I am only incubating very small numbers. But this latest batch will be interesting to watch grow. My husband and I based our theory on the fact that reptiles (e.g. crocodiles and turtles) are highly sensitive to temperature in their nests. Boys come from the warmer part of the nests, girls from the cooler parts. And that is scientific fact. The reptile farms work on it here. But of course it could be quite different for chicks. Some people maintain that boys come from eggs with a pointy end but how does that explain that my broodies lay both boys and girls whether their eggs are pointy or not? Oh, it's a strange world that we inhabit, isn't it? So many questions. So few answers.

 

[sjturner79]

That's interesting to know. I can only go on my own experience and I am only incubating very small numbers.  But this latest batch will be interesting to watch grow. My husband and I based our theory on the fact that reptiles (e.g. crocodiles and turtles) are highly sensitive to temperature in their nests. Boys come from the warmer part of the nests, girls from the cooler parts. And that is scientific fact. The reptile farms work on it here. But of course it could be quite different for chicks. Some people maintain that boys come from eggs with a pointy end but how does that explain that my broodies lay both boys and girls whether their eggs are pointy or not? Oh, it's a strange world that we inhabit, isn't it? So many questions. So few answers.

Yes the full studies on incubator temperature on chickens has been done properly like the reptile ones, and chooks don't follow it. The pointy eggs is also a myth. There have been so study done properly on the storage temp

 

[Fancychooklady]

That's interesting to know. I can only go on my own experience and I am only incubating very small numbers.  But this latest batch will be interesting to watch grow. My husband and I based our theory on the fact that reptiles (e.g. crocodiles and turtles) are highly sensitive to temperature in their nests. Boys come from the warmer part of the nests, girls from the cooler parts. And that is scientific fact. The reptile farms work on it here. But of course it could be quite different for chicks. Some people maintain that boys come from eggs with a pointy end but how does that explain that my broodies lay both boys and girls whether their eggs are pointy or not? Oh, it's a strange world that we inhabit, isn't it? So many questions. So few answers.

It think it's safe to say that if temp could dictate the sex of chickens the commercial egg producers would be onto it. Sexing chicks is a laborious and time consuming exercise. A lot of 'old wives tales ' have been debunked over the years, including the pointy egg one.

 

[appps]

That's interesting to know. I can only go on my own experience and I am only incubating very small numbers.  But this latest batch will be interesting to watch grow. My husband and I based our theory on the fact that reptiles (e.g. crocodiles and turtles) are highly sensitive to temperature in their nests. Boys come from the warmer part of the nests, girls from the cooler parts. And that is scientific fact. The reptile farms work on it here. But of course it could be quite different for chicks. Some people maintain that boys come from eggs with a pointy end but how does that explain that my broodies lay both boys and girls whether their eggs are pointy or not? Oh, it's a strange world that we inhabit, isn't it? So many questions. So few answers.

There is a whole thread dedicated to proving or disproving the point egg one on here somewhere.

 

[sjturner79]

There is a whole thread dedicated to proving or disproving the point egg one on here somewhere.

There is. It was over 5,000 posts long last I looked, and that's where I saw the pointy egg thing disproved. Over 5k eggs hatched for the tests.

 

[Fancychooklady]

There is. It was over 5,000 posts long last I looked, and that's where I saw the pointy egg thing disproved. Over 5k eggs hatched for the tests.

I prefer science over hearsay. The problem with hearsay is that it's a bit like a ' Chinese whisper '
People add and subtract certain ' key ' facts. I once had someone tell me that they pour sump oil over wheat and feed it to their chickens because that's what their grandad did. I came to the conclusion that somewhere along the line of communication rubbing sump oil onto scaley leg mite became completely misconstrued to a food additive. Sad thing is that they were consuming the eggs and birds.

 

[sjturner79]

I prefer science over hearsay. The problem with hearsay is that it's a bit like a ' Chinese whisper '
People add and subtract certain ' key ' facts. I once had someone tell me that they pour sump oil over wheat and feed it to their chickens because that's what their grandad did. I came to the conclusion that somewhere along the line of communication rubbing sump oil onto scaley leg mite became completely misconstrued to a food additive. Sad thing is that they were consuming the eggs and birds.

Wow - I'm surprised the chickens survive having sump oil added to thier feed. All the old people I know say sump oil is for the outside of the chooks not the inside

 

[SilkieChickStar]

I prefer science over hearsay. The problem with hearsay is that it's a bit like a ' Chinese whisper '
People add and subtract certain ' key ' facts. I once had someone tell me that they pour sump oil over wheat and feed it to their chickens because that's what their grandad did. I came to the conclusion that somewhere along the line of communication rubbing sump oil onto scaley leg mite became completely misconstrued to a food additive. Sad thing is that they were consuming the eggs and birds.

Woah!

 

[Fancychooklady]

Wow - I'm surprised the chickens survive having sump oil added to thier feed. All the old people I know say sump oil is for the outside of the chooks not the inside

The birds weren't healthy which is why they had contacted me for advice. I would imagine none of them lived very long. Just goes to show the power of an old wives tale. Some of the old ways are tried and true but not all and to be armed with knowledge is power.