California - Northern

[tommysgirl]

I may have good news on my Silkie acquisition debacle.

I did a little research (snooping/stalking) on the gal I have been in contact with. Turns out she is young. I am assuming 20 tops and I mean no offense to our young but extremely well spoken and articulate posters here, but it explains and forgives certain aspects of our communication. She used to work at the petting farm at the Petaluma KOA but now that she is no longer employed there, they are getting rid of the chickens in their program. So I figured that out and I have made an end run around her and contacted the KOA directly. The people there are super nice and took my number. The NEW person who has my contact's former job will be on duty this afternoon so I will be able to call when she comes on at about 3:30. They also took my number and are asking her to call me, odds are good I will be way less in the dark then I was by tonight and I feel quite proud of my sleuthing and I hope it works out so that I can go get her tomorrow or Thursday.

 

[Americangame]

I bought a hova bator 1602N
and man that thing is all over the board as far as the temp i am going to try to rig up the stc-1000 temp controller to it and remove the wafer,
i likeits size and te automatic egg turner if not ill have to use the stc-1000 on my homemade icechest incubator

 

[Kaylish]

Merging works best when the little ones are 3/4 the size of the big ones. You can add a temporary fence in the run to keep them apart.

The big ones will think the little ones are food if there is too much of a size difference.

Look for a guide on her for integrating flocks. There is a good one or two!

Thank you! I'll do some more reading on specifics.

Am thinking of letting the chicks grow up in the new coop; then bringing my older girls in (when the little one are big enough) so the littles are on "home turf". Or will that make a difference? Are chickens "territorital"? Or is it just more of a higherarchy regardless of the location?

Sometimes I think I over-analize things...

 

[PetRock]

Thank you! I'll do some more reading on specifics.

Am thinking of letting the chicks grow up in the new coop; then bringing my older girls in (when the little one are big enough) so the littles are on "home turf". Or will that make a difference? Are chickens "territorital"? Or is it just more of a higherarchy regardless of the location?

Sometimes I think I over-analize things...

I think that's a good idea.

 

[ronott1]

I bought a hova bator 1602N
and man that thing is all over the board as far as the temp i am going to try to rig up the stc-1000 temp controller to it and remove the wafer,
i likeits size and te automatic egg turner if not ill have to use the stc-1000 on my homemade icechest incubator

Sounds like a good idea!

 

[tommysgirl]

OK...tomorrow looks like a go with this silkie girl

My contact says there are no chicks yet. I need suggestions for how to transport her and the eggs securely home...about 2 hours...

A week ago there were four eggs, now she says there are "Lots" so I have no idea what is really going on. My thought would be to bring the eggs all home in a carton that would be kept warm with a heat pack or something or I could leave them all under her in a dog crate and candle when I got home to see what is what. I could easily gather eggs for her from my girls if none of the silkie eggs are viable. What would you do??

 

[SpringPeeper]

OK...tomorrow looks like a go with this silkie girl

My contact says there are no chicks yet. I need suggestions for how to transport her and the eggs securely home...about 2 hours...

A week ago there were four eggs, now she says there are "Lots" so I have no idea what is really going on. My thought would be to bring the eggs all home in a carton that would be kept warm with a heat pack or something or I could leave them all under her in a dog crate and candle when I got home to see what is what. I could easily gather eggs for her from my girls if none of the silkie eggs are viable. What would you do??

I'd probably do exactly that. Carton, candling, giving her different eggs if all/most of hers are a bust. Good luck with her and her eggs!

 

[ronott1]

OK...tomorrow looks like a go with this silkie girl

My contact says there are no chicks yet. I need suggestions for how to transport her and the eggs securely home...about 2 hours...

A week ago there were four eggs, now she says there are "Lots" so I have no idea what is really going on. My thought would be to bring the eggs all home in a carton that would be kept warm with a heat pack or something or I could leave them all under her in a dog crate and candle when I got home to see what is what. I could easily gather eggs for her from my girls if none of the silkie eggs are viable. What would you do??

Depending on the age, two hours of cooling should not hurt them. Be careful though, too much jarring is bad for eggs during the first week. They are much tougher after that. the problem with a heat pad would be if the internal egg temperature went up to the lethal range over 104 degrees.

It will be interesting to see if they started incubating close enough to hatch under a broody.

 

[tommysgirl]

Oh and there is another slikie girl I can get at the same time. I am balancing my girl's eventual need for a friend with her current need to have a place to quietly hatch and rear chicks. Should I get the other girl or should I wait and see on that, lining something up between now and whenever she is out of mama mode?

 

[casportpony]

Hello all -

Saddle shaped air sacks from shipped eggs. Day 9. Any tricks to improve hatch rates?
I let them be still as long as possible before turning. I think 5 days.
Brabanter eggs - we'd love to have them hatch!

Excuse my ignorance, but what is a saddle shaped air sack?

-Kathy