Calling All New Brinsea Owners!!! February Hatch-a-long... PRIZES!!!

[7L Farm]

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I'm sure you have everything handled ....just a little check list.....Is the brooder area in the shed up to temperature? Since it's metal...do you have them confined to a specific area so they can't wander off into a corner or too near the walls? You have something on the floor for them to lay on that isn't cold...plenty of bedding, etc? You may want to put them in a tote or box with a heat lamp in the house until you are sure they are completely dry. I've never brooded outside in the cold, but have had experience with goat kids being born in cold weather: Nothing kills them faster than being wet in the cold and the smaller they are the faster it kills them.
Once the chicks are dry and you have a few ready....you could put them in a cardboard box to carry them out. That way, their bodies can help keep each other warm on both the short trip out and in the brooder as well. Just a suggestion. Maybe somebody who broods a similar way will kick in? Good luck fishing all those cute little fuzz-balls out of the bator!

My first hatch with a freinds bator was done in the shed. I got the heat lamps going & I'll be using card board box's at first with shreaded newspaper. It was cold during my first hatch & they made it. The only difference this time is I cooked them in my house. They feather out quicker if their raised in a not so controled environment. I don't wanna start raising animals in my house. I just check on them alot when its cold out & move the lamp to keep them warm. Hopefully ,the biddies will be ok. Its warming up today but tonight it will be cold again. I'll be back & forth alot I'm sure. Thanks so much & more vibes your way.

 

[bordergurl]

When I left for work, I had two hatched and 3 other pipped. Two not doing anything! It was amazing to watch the humidity rise after the chicks got out of their shells. Hope to find everything progressing well when I return home this evening. Won't be able to post pictures until this evening!

 

[BooBear]

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I loved the carton method I tried it too. The chicks hatched out pretty easy and it made clean up much easier.

the carton method?

Yeah you take an egg carton and use the part the eggs sit in in the bator.
Cut holes at the bottom of each egg cup so the eggs can breath. This helps keep the eggs from being knocked about.

 

[1MrsMagoo]

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It's weird isn't it...they seem to come in waves. Nothing...nothing.....oh a couple pips.....nothing....nothing....somebody started to zip...them wham half a dozen pips at once...then back to nothing....nothing.....
I'm sure when you get home that you'll have lots of

in your bator.

 

[wsdareme]

Arrrggghhhh!! I checked my water reservoir in my Mini Advance yesterday and it was EMPTY!!! I know it had water the day before. I don't have a humidity gauge and I don't know how low it dropped. Am I in trouble?????

Can anyone tell me if there's a humidity gauge that will fit in the Mini Advance??

 

[BooBear]

Petsmart and Petco carry small round gages in the reptile section. Debi posted about these as they calibrated pretty good and cost reasonably.

 

[1MrsMagoo]

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I know what you mean about brooding in the house...I did it once...never again. Now, I will keep them in here the first week or so in a large guinea pig cage (put cardboard walls on it), just because it is easier for me. Then we'll move them to the garage in a large incubtor we made that's on legs (I'm tall and its easier having them at waist height) for three weeks...then move them to the nursery section of the coop where they can see the flock and the flock can see them for a good while before trying to mix them.
Let's all hope for everyone's sake that this cold snap ends and we get back to at least seasonal temperatures. All the poor ranchers are having a terrible time keeping their feedlot animals fed and warm...not to mention everyone's heating bills: I shudder to imagine. We don't run our central heat here because we are on propane and the furnace drinks the fuel...so have a couple of those infared furnace heaters: the house stays about 63 when its 23 out so I can't complain. Sure beats NE Ohio where I was raised....brrr....

Keep warm!

 

[leahthor]

My first Coturnix hatched! Its a little british white, so darn cute and man, they weren't kidding when they say quail pop like popcorn! Sent Brinsea Facebook my photo.

 

[bordergurl]

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Hi I used a Mini Advance for my first hatch (day 21 today, two chicks out when I left). I ended up using only a drop of water in one of the wells for most of the hatching period (purchased a round hygrometer from Petsmart). I only put the hygrometer in between the eggs when I was home as it interfered with the auto rotation. Here's a pic taken at lockdown Wed afternoon- there was room for it after I took the turner out.

The humidity is cumulative over the period of the hatch- chicken eggs should lose 13% of their weight, Buy a gauge and weigh your eggs- it's the only way to know for sure. The petsmart hygrometer calibrated at 70% for me.

 

[1MrsMagoo]

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