Consolidated Kansas

[sunflowerparrot]

RIR you can tell fairly early because they have a single comb. Any sign of a comb getting large and/or pink, or wattles developing at an early age, is an indicator it could be a boy. I've seen wattles appear as early as 2 1/2 weeks, and a red comb by about 3 weeks in obvious boys. EE's, can be tougher since they don't have a single comb, but again, getting pink/red at an early age is not generally a good sign.

I will get pics of the 3 little RIRs tomorrow and put them online to get opinions. I have my receipt and have no problems taking them back and asking for my money back if needed.

 

[lizzyGSR]

I know we have had a lot of people join recently, so I will post this again for their sake.

I am looking to buy a female goose that is friendly and is in the northwest KS area (I am willing to drive 2 hours from Goodland, KS). I am specifically interested in pilgrim or white or brown chinese but would consider any of the smaller breeds of geese (a.k.a. NOT embden, toulouse, african)

 

[mommahen10]

Thanks HEChicken, I'm not in the least bit offended, organization is a good thing. Congrats on your awesome hatch. I'm going to go through the list.
1. Don't I have to keep the eggs at a certain cooler temp to save them up to hatch all at once? Some of my eggs are hard to tell which end is teh big end, maybe I will just leave those out. I do like the idea of them hatcing all at once, my incubator is stinky now and I can't clean it until they're done.
2. I have no idea how fast the incubator temp recovers but I will watch. We have our AC set on 85 and it's warm in here, well, I guess we just turned it off all together this morning but still it's warm in here so it shouldn't take too long for it to recover to 99.5 degrees.
3. I like what you're saying about turning them an odd number of times during the day. I can't imagine trying to turn them every hour either, I usually do 3 times per day but sometimes just 2. That makes a lot of sense.
4. I don't know what TSC is, we live 2 hours away from any city. What about ordering online? I know what you're talking about with those cover thingies for wires, and we have those and we have some little things that you shrink wrap over the cord where you join it. We can handle the basics of the electrical stuff, my boys love electrical stuff, I've installed light fixtures and replaced a motor in a baby swing and if all else fails I call my dad, he's an electrical engineer. I would really like to put some effort into building a better incubator. I think I can use it as a school project for the kids and we can repurpose some things and see. I won't put eggs in until we test everything though. I can't handle the losses.

checoukan~ I can't believe your story!!!!! That's just terrible! I don't know anything about the competition stuff so there is a lot I don't understand I'm sure. But wasn't there security of some sort there? Can they hire security for next time? I would make sure that whomever is in charge of this competition is very aware of what occurred. Also, send all correspondence in writing. In general, if you verbally complain that something happened they can say thanks for letting me know and I'll take care of it. If you send a written complaint there is a paper trail and it's much more likely to be addressed seriously and through proper channels. Better yet, send your complaint in writing and certifieid mail so you have proof that it was received and by whom. This will likely be enough to get something done by itself. I totally agree that it was wrong to take the ribbons from one and give them to another, it's too late for that at this point. That's just wrong. Did anyone explain where the mistake had been made to begin with? I wouldn't ever take kids to that again either, they shouldn't have to be subjected to that. GRRRRR, and people wonder why we don't get involved in stuff, this is just why. I've seen this in other places too, like sports and even when the kids were in a theater club. It's not the kids, it's the adults. I don't get it, they take the fun out of it all. The next thing I would do is find out who is in charge of the other team(not sure what you call them). Is it a county team? I would start writing letters again, in the same manner. I would write what occurred and make sure it gets to whomever is in charge, not just leaders but the county or town or whatever. They need to know that their chosen leaders are behaving unethically and poorly representing their group. Also, you could have others who were present write their view of what occurred and what they saw and include these other stories with your letters. I certainly would follow through, if you don't it will keep happening. I'm sorry you had to go through this, our world can be quite ugly at times.

chicken danz, I'm so sorry about your loss. I know it's hard, wish I could help. I think that's a great idea to get a camera, at least you may find out what exactly you're dealing with. It's funny that you say that about the smell after it rains. When we bought our property 12 years ago it had been sitting abandonded for many years but there was a chicken coop about where our house is, and when it rains we get a puddle in the driveway and it smells soooooooo bad. I've been smelling something really rancid by the baby chicken area and I've been so worried about it because it smells so terrible, there's nothing to clean up because it has to be in the dirt. It stays more wet in that area than our big chicken coop. When you said that it just dawned on me that is what I'm smelling, the same smell as in the front puddle. I think I'll talk to my husband about moving them though to where the dirt dries out better, but the shade was nice in the heat.

I think you have a really cool idea about using an old computer fan, I'm pretty sure I could find one in my closet and my boys love to rig. I could get done pretty quickly. We have one chicken outside laying on eggs, we thought we would leave her and see how it goes since she was so intent on keeping them. I never ever see her get up, surely she does when I'm not looking. Can I move her and the chicks after they hatch to their own private area?

Update on my little hatch. Last night when I went to turn my eggs I found my sick one standing up and I was pleased and he ate well and went back to sleep, he didn't hold his head well though, like it's floppy. As of this morning he pooped and I was so happy but his head still seemed floppy, he still ate well when I dipped his beak. His breathing changed though, I don't know how to explain it. It continued to get slower and he breathed his last this afternoon. It was so sad, he tried so hard to make it. When I went to turn the eggs last night, I opened the incubator and there was one hatching, has a pretty good sized hole in the egg and I got scared and quickly closed the incubator. This egg should be dated for 8/29 judging by where it is in there, I couldn't see it. This morning, there was tons of peeping and I was so thrilled but it wasn't that one that hatched, it was one from 8/27 and he's perfectly fine and still restful. The egg that I saw with a hole in it last night is still in there with no progress, now at about 18 hours with the same hole. There is another at about the same stage in there. I'm scared to help them, scared not to help them. They both should be 8/29 so I know it's too early anyway and I don't want to see another unabsorbed yolk. I got the one that hatched out and quickly closed it but I haven't turned my eggs. Can I go ahead and turn the other eggs? I don't want to shrink wrap them. The membrane on the ones hatching looks fine, it's not all dried out like the ones the last few days. Sigh, my heart is seriously pounding over baby chicks.

 

[chicken danz]

Lizzy I wish you were closer. There were tons of young white chinese geese at Gardner and most sold for $9-$10 each. I could have loaded you up. I thought about buying some for you but had no idea how I would ever get them to you.
Trish I had a whole new batch of guineas hatch this morning. I have pearl,pearl pied, lavender, and maybe lavender pied. I also have eggs if you want to hatch some, assuming they will still be laying by the 28th.
Mammahen, The fan I have, has 4 holes in it. I simply made small holes in the styrofoam to match the fan holes. Then ran long machine screws or bolts up through the top. I put a washer underneath the styrofoam and on top of it so it wouldn't break through and then put a nut on top. Voila it was mounted. For wiring, I just used an old plug in type end off an old cord I took off something else. I didn't wire it into the incubator cord like the factory one does. I just made a small indent in the styro bottom so the cord wouldn't interfere with the lid shutting. You could do it either way. If you buy the fan kit, they have a clip thing that hooked the two cords together. The only place I found them, sold them by the hundred and they were pricy that way. You could do it with wire nuts though if you didn't mind the extra bulk. I just thought it was easier to just plug in another cord.
Sorry about your chicks. I have purchased several digital thermometers and hydrometer combinations at Walmart for under $10. They are great, seem accurate,and are small. I also have a couple from Harbor Freight that have a cord and a sensor head that you can set outside your incubator.

 

[Trish44]

Josie, the male RP will have a longer snood than the hens & will have a much bumpier looking head & neck than the hens. I could tell mine by that age & also the tom will start gobbling too. Mine has been gobbling for awhile when there is excitement or they are alarmed at something. I got so tickled yesterday when Sunflowerparrot & her boyfriend & R came over. We were trying to get him to display like he usually does for company, he likes to show off. He waited until everybody was looking at the chickens & then he started doing his posing to get attention, he is a clown. I just love that breed of turkeys, they are so much calmer I think than other breeds & I like the size of them. They're pretty to look at too.

 

[lizzyGSR]

Lizzy I wish you were closer. There were tons of young white chinese geese at Gardner and most sold for $9-$10 each. I could have loaded you up. I thought about buying some for you but had no idea how I would ever get them to you.

Danz - I really appreciate the thought. I only have room for one additional goose, but I am having problems finding even one. Another thing, i really want the goose to be friendly (and female!). Friendly, as in it will let me approach it without running away, I can pick up and handle it without worry about being bitten, etc. I make monthly or semi-monthly trips to the Salina area. Does anyone know of any geese in that area that I could possibly pick up when I'm down that way next time?

 

[lizzyGSR]

Danz - I really appreciate the thought. I only have room for one additional goose, but I am having problems finding even one. Another thing, i really want the goose to be friendly (and female!). Friendly, as in it will let me approach it without running away, I can pick up and handle it without worry about being bitten, etc. I make monthly or semi-monthly trips to the Salina area. Does anyone know of any geese in that area that I could possibly pick up when I'm down that way next time?

Honestly, I am beginning to think I'm not going to find one. I got my current goose from my DH's grandmother who THOUGHT she was giving me a duckling (her eye sight isn't very good these days). I knew better, but she wouldn't listen to me, she was convinced it was a duck and didn't want any more ducks. I can always wait until her birds start laying again and ask her to hatch one for me. My husband really didn't want to go through the work of raising another young one, but I really wanted something that was friendly, and I'm beginning to think that is the only way I'm gonna get something that's friendly. I've had a couple of different opportunities fall through - 1) because the owner couldn't catch her birds (and therefore they weren't friendly enough) 2) another owner who wouldn't return my calls after the first call 3) friendly birds but they were the larger variety that I really prefer to stay away from (i.e. toulouse).

One thing is for sure. Living out in the middle of nowhere is nice most of the time, until it comes to finding certain things. Then, it just becomes very frustrating!

 

[ChicknBaron]

Wow, theres so much helpful info on here, but i just don't have enough time to read it all... so i have a few questions and if i ask something that was answered on here, i probably just didnt get to it, so bare with me(this is my first hatch, remember, so this is all a learning experiment)... With 5 eggs of my own in the incubator i'm trying to absorb as much info as possible... I remember hearing something about unabsorbed yokes? i don't what that is???

If that happens to won of my eggs/chicks how do i know what to look for? Is it serious? what do i do about it? And if a chick has trouble pipping/hatching how do i know when/how to help it out. (my eggs are all set to hatch Oct. 1st/2nd) And just a personal preference question here: if a chick hatches before the others should i leave it in there or take it out? I have a brooder prepared right next to it but if i take it out it will probably let out all the humidity and "shrink wrap" the others, right? I'm going to be candling tonite soon, any suggestions on that? How long can each egg be out of the bator??? Any help is good help to me so feel free to reply!


Thanks a bunch, NWH

 

[HEChicken]

1. Don't I have to keep the eggs at a certain cooler temp to save them up to hatch all at once? Yes, it is better to keep them around 60 if possible. Do you have a basement that stays a little cooler than the rest of the house? Some of my eggs are hard to tell which end is teh big end, maybe I will just leave those out. I do like the idea of them hatcing all at once, my incubator is stinky now and I can't clean it until they're done.

4. I don't know what TSC is, (Sorry, Tractor Supply Company, TSC for short. It is a farm store that is a national chain) we live 2 hours away from any city. What about ordering online? Yes, you should be able to order online. If you do a search for "Little Giant Incubator Fan" you will find one. Here is one on eBay right now: http://compare.ebay.com/like/130588167290?_lwgsi=y&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar. I know what you're talking about with those cover thingies for wires, and we have those and we have some little things that you shrink wrap over the cord where you join it. We can handle the basics of the electrical stuff, my boys love electrical stuff, I've installed light fixtures and replaced a motor in a baby swing and if all else fails I call my dad, he's an electrical engineer. I would really like to put some effort into building a better incubator. I think I can use it as a school project for the kids and we can repurpose some things and see. I won't put eggs in until we test everything though. I can't handle the losses.

[big snip]

I think you have a really cool idea about using an old computer fan, I'm pretty sure I could find one in my closet and my boys love to rig. I could get done pretty quickly. We have one chicken outside laying on eggs, we thought we would leave her and see how it goes since she was so intent on keeping them. I never ever see her get up, surely she does when I'm not looking. Can I move her and the chicks after they hatch to their own private area?

Update on my little hatch. Last night when I went to turn my eggs I found my sick one standing up and I was pleased and he ate well and went back to sleep, he didn't hold his head well though, like it's floppy. As of this morning he pooped and I was so happy but his head still seemed floppy, he still ate well when I dipped his beak. His breathing changed though, I don't know how to explain it. It continued to get slower and he breathed his last this afternoon. It was so sad, he tried so hard to make it. When I went to turn the eggs last night, I opened the incubator and there was one hatching, has a pretty good sized hole in the egg and I got scared and quickly closed the incubator. This egg should be dated for 8/29 judging by where it is in there, I couldn't see it. This morning, there was tons of peeping and I was so thrilled but it wasn't that one that hatched, it was one from 8/27 and he's perfectly fine and still restful. The egg that I saw with a hole in it last night is still in there with no progress, now at about 18 hours with the same hole. There is another at about the same stage in there. I'm scared to help them, scared not to help them. They both should be 8/29 so I know it's too early anyway and I don't want to see another unabsorbed yolk. I got the one that hatched out and quickly closed it but I haven't turned my eggs. Can I go ahead and turn the other eggs? I don't want to shrink wrap them. The membrane on the ones hatching looks fine, it's not all dried out like the ones the last few days. Sigh, my heart is seriously pounding over baby chicks.

The computer fan is a good idea too. I did try that once but couldn't get it hooked up. The problem was (I think) that I had requested an old computer on Freecycle and found someone with an old box they didn't need, but since I couldn't get the fan to work (DH and I both tried for awhile) in the end we drew the conclusion that the reason the original owner had given up the thing was because the fan didn't work. At that point I found the Little Giant fan at the feed store and went with that instead.

The problem with opening the incubator while chicks are hatching, even if only for a moment, is that the intake of air as you open it, can cause a "whoosh" and the sudden draft will cause the membrane on a hatching chick, to dry out instantly. Once it has dried out around them, they become shrink wrapped and it is extremely difficult for them to hatch at that point. On the eggs you need to turn, how close are they to going into lockdown themselves? Even if they are on day 16-17, at this point I would probably stop turning so as to avoid opening the incubator and shrink-wrapping any chicks that are pipped.

Some people have essentially two incubators - but they call the second a "hatcher". When eggs go into lockdown, they are transferred to the hatcher. That way, eggs that are not as far along can still be turned, while the eggs in the hatcher can be left alone.

One thing is for sure. Living out in the middle of nowhere is nice most of the time, until it comes to finding certain things. Then, it just becomes very frustrating!

Sorry this has been so frustrating for you - hope you are able to find a female goose soon.

 

[medawinks]

Don't have much time.... Am working in our sun porch roost...neighbors can't complain if they roost there! Grrr..... But had to share this pic! The thing isn't even finished and my white Rick HAD to try out the new nest boxes.... I caved and put in some shavings. Voila! Egg laid with sawing and hammering right next to her!!! I think she likes her new digs!!!