Chickens for 10-20 years or more? Pull up a rockin' chair and lay some wisdom on us!

[galanie]

I'm a complete newbie still and have lots to learn, but the first thing I learned is that time spent watching them is time well spent.

 

[AnimalLover99]

help!!!!! on the third day of incubating, our incubator got unplugged for the night but since it was so early we thought they would be ok. a lady we talked to said to restart the 3 weeks from then so we did. we were going to take them out of the turner today because they were supposed to hatch tuesday. 3 weeks ago was the day we originally set them in the incubator, but like i said we restarted the time. when i went in to take them out of the turner, i heard peeping and 1 had hatched and 2 were pipped. the one that had hatch had a lot of blood on his head and i think he hit the motor of the egg turner. i know you're not supposed to open the incubator but i had to to take them out of the turner. should i take the one chick out and try to clean his wound or something like that? and are all the rest of the eggs ruined? dont know what to do,

 

[stonykill]

I'm a complete newbie still and have lots to learn, but the first thing I learned is that time spent watching them is time well spent.

absolutely. That is the only way to get to know your flock. Observe them

 

[stonykill]

help!!!!! on the third day of incubating, our incubator got unplugged for the night but since it was so early we thought they would be ok. a lady we talked to said to restart the 3 weeks from then so we did. we were going to take them out of the turner today because they were supposed to hatch tuesday. 3 weeks ago was the day we originally set them in the incubator, but like i said we restarted the time. when i went in to take them out of the turner, i heard peeping and 1 had hatched and 2 were pipped. the one that had hatch had a lot of blood on his head and i think he hit the motor of the egg turner. i know you're not supposed to open the incubator but i had to to take them out of the turner. should i take the one chick out and try to clean his wound or something like that? and are all the rest of the eggs ruined? dont know what to do,

I once had a hatch start in a turner. At this point in the process they need to stay in the upright position they are in. Here is what I did and had a good hatch rate after 3 hatched in the turner. I removed them, put them in a brooder. Then I put the eggs in egg cartons in the same position the eggs were in the turner in. Pointy side down. Removed the turner and put the cartons in the bator. It is IMPORTANT to keep the eggs in the position they are currently in. Some of the chicks undoubtedly have positioned themselves to hatch and laying the eggs on the side may, I stress may stop them from hatching.
Perhaps simply turning off the turner would be enough, but I did what I did

BTW I would not have restarted the count. I would have pretended it never happened and counted from the day they were set

 

[AnimalLover99]

i put the eggs in egg cartons in the incubator and i took out the wounded chick. i hope they will be ok and thanks for youre help

 

[stonykill]

i put the eggs in egg cartons in the incubator and i took out the wounded chick. i hope they will be ok and thanks for youre help

good luck.

 

[71stbrew]

So here's a question for the OT's, if this has been addressed sorry but I had to skip a lot to catch up. My grandpa is always saying that chicken don't taste right. What is the difference in flavor between a CX and a DP (I am assuming that is what he means).

 

[NikkiMiChickie]

The comb conversation got me thinking. I have a leghorn that I absolutely adore. Crazy chicken, runs in a zig-zag pattern as if she's dodging bullets if anyone tries to approach her, but she has laid one larg-sized white egg every single day since she started laying in July. I realize that I will have no idea about her longevity come spring, but I intend to hatch some of her eggs bc she's such a reliable layer. Even when the other birds' eggs got soft-shelled and funny-shaped with the shorter days, ol' reliable kept right on laying. She forages well - I hardly ever see her at the feed dish except when I throw some goodies in there or when the FF first hits the bowl. Being a leghorn, she won't be much for dual-purpose, but that's not my goal with her. I have my eye on a BR that's in the 8-10# zone right now and an extremely good forager, for a dual purpose breeder. Anyways, so far, these are my two choices for hatching eggs next year. My comb question is this: the leghorn I've chosen has such a large comb that it flops over to the side. I kind of like her look, as in my backyard flock it sort of adds to her funny appeal and it certainly doesn't affect her egg laying, but is this giant comb enough of a fault that I should not hatch her eggs?

I have gone from a total newbie who had idealistic views of what chicken-keeping was all about, to a much more knowledgeable (but still newbie!) chickener thanks to my BYC studies, and I have you ALL to thank for that! Here's proof: the silkie roo that I got out of the assorted bantam bin last spring? Thanks to all the chat about what makes a good rooster, I started to seriously evaluate my two boys. The over-sexed, big-mouthed Silkie has a new home lined up and will report there for duty tomorrow or Tuesday. . My first cull!

Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!
-Nikki

 

[Beekissed]

So here's a question for the OT's, if this has been addressed sorry but I had to skip a lot to catch up. My grandpa is always saying that chicken don't taste right. What is the difference in flavor between a CX and a DP (I am assuming that is what he means).

The difference is in the age. The older the bird, the darker and more flavorful the meat will be. If you keep CX as long as you would a DP for finishing out, they will taste the same. This last batch I finished processing at around 12 wks but could have taken them on past that to process out at 4-5 mo., I've no doubts about that. But, even at 12 wks they had a better, richer flavor and a darker muscle color on them.

Your typical yard bird DP will be processed at anywhere between 4-6 mo...at least at my house they do, depending on how large they are at that time. Their meat will be dark, will smell different when cooked and will have a rich flavor profile.

That is one reason why I try to slow down the CX and take them further down the road of life for processing...the flavor is so much better the longer you wait.

 

[AnimalLover99]

another incubating/hatching question. a chick in the incubator is oretty far along in gettng out of its shell, but it hasent really been making any progress over the last few hours so im worried its stuck. do i help it or no?