California - Northern

[Audio51]

Quote: What do you do if yu see a hairline crack? I have one that might, but I'm not sure. I know with finch eggs you can repair the cracks if they are not too bad with a little nail polish top coat.

 

[Robert Jordan]

Last night I went to Home Depot to get supplies to repair the irrigation system that feeds the raised beds and orchard. I walked by the tool aisles like any guy and couldn't help but buy some brand new Dewalt goodies. Impact, Drill, Radial Arm Saw etc. Well, as I was getting ready to pay the gal, I thought, I think it's time to treat my chooks with some new stuff. Grabbed some supplies, came home and made this unit. I built this whole unit for the price of one commercially made 4 section nest box. And today it is time to build a 45 degree double tier ladder style roost in the coop. They will love this stuff...well, they better haha.

 

[chiqita]

What do you do if yu see a hairline crack? I have one that might, but I'm not sure. I know with finch eggs you can repair the cracks if they are not too bad with a little nail polish top coat.

or wax, I used wax but had limited sucess. Id weigh it and make sure its not loosing too much weight as it goes to avoid a mess.

 

[chiqita]

Last night I went to Home Depot to get supplies to repair the irrigation system that feeds the raised beds and orchard. I walked by the tool aisles like any guy and couldn't help but buy some brand new Dewalt goodies. Impact, Drill, Radial Arm Saw etc. Well, as I was getting ready to pay the gal, I thought, I think it's time to treat my chooks with some new stuff. Grabbed some supplies, came home and made this unit. I built this whole unit for the price of one commercially made 4 section nest box. And today it is time to build a 45 degree double tier ladder style roost in the coop. They will love this stuff...well, they better haha.

oh nice! I have been debating making one of these waterproffed for the yard for the girls that like to hide the eggs... yours is extra excellent however.

 

[Robert Jordan]

 oh nice! I have been debating making one of these waterproffed for the yard for the girls that like to hide the eggs... yours is extra excellent however.

Well thank you! You could make your yard one from hardwood sheeting and not have to worry much about waterproofing. Trying to waterproof plywood or osb is an absolute nightmare.

 

[capayvalleychick]

@ronott1 and other hatch a holics, have you seen this thread? https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ral-nest-incubation-experiment-1-so-it-begins

Bee and I have the same Dels, Ron is hatching mine for me. It should be interesting to see if her experiment works.

Edited to add another link, to a thread that I started... anyone have gates hung on t-posts?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/855124/run-gate-hung-on-t-posts-i-would-like-to-see-yours

 

[tommysgirl]

They are set for hatching(lockdown) on day 18, not 16. It is a good idea to get the incubator stable a day early though. I use egg cartons or flats with the top cut down. The eggs go in big end up and slightly tilted so that the big part of the air cell is up. Make sure the water tanks are topped off.

I thought Bantams went into lockdown on day 17. Today is 15, today and tomorrow I was going to get the LG stablized and candle then friday put them in. I mis spoke. Do I need to do egg cartons with Bantam eggs...I only will have the two in there? They are not shipped eggs.

 

[chiqita]

I thought Bantams went into lockdown on day 17.   Today is 15, today and tomorrow I was going to get the LG stablized and candle then friday put them in.  I wasn't clear.  Do I need to do egg cartons with Bantam eggs...I only will have the two in there?  They are not shipped eggs.

No reason not to unless you have a lack of egg cartons.

 

[tommysgirl]

If you are confident in your temps you can bring them down a notch. When humidity is high there is less o2 in the air. This is not super critical for chicks but can be for turkeys ducks etc that are hatched at high high humidity or if you are at very high altitudes.

Thanks

I think everyone does it a little differently, since humidity needs will depend on your individual climate.

I keep humidity around 55% for the first 18 days and then up it during the last 3 days to 65%-70%, but humidity often reaches 75% when the chicks start hatching.

I have gotten so bad about candling. I candle to look for porous eggs and hairline cracks before I set eggs, and then I don't candle again until day 18. At that point, any undeveloped eggs are tossed and the viable eggs go into the hatcher which has been stabilized between 65-70% humidity and 99-99.5 degrees.

I do not open hatcher for 12-24 hours after the first chick hatches.

Just what I needed. Thank you!

No reason not to unless you have a lack of egg cartons.

I have a plethora

 

[sewandgrow]

Maybe the rain just thru them off. Hopefully they will get back to work soon. I still have 2 AMs that haven't started yet and 2 that went broody. That leaves me with 6 layers. I need those eggs!

I honestly don't know what their problem is. I have 17 layers in the layer pin & it seems like all of them are busy laying. I am giving away eggs like crazy to my friends & the garden club sale/raffle table, but my BCMs are not laying nor the Yokohamas, Shamo, or Light Sussex. They are all fed the same & get barley grass from my fodder feeder project.