Consolidated Kansas

[maidenwolfx80]

I personally never candle until I am ready for lockdown. ... unless I am desperate for room. I've also candled at day 10 and thought there was nothing but when I broke the egg there was some development. I would wait until about day 14 because by that time it should be much more evident. But that is just me. One of the other reasons I wait is that I am a klutz and have dropped more than one egg while checking them. My theory is the more you candle them the more chance you take to introduce bacteria. Always be sure to wash your hands thoroughly before and after candling eggs.
Try to keep the temp as dead on to 99.5 as you can. At lockdown do whatever you can to crank that humidity up. One thing you might do if you are usig the cake pan and flower pot pieces for humidity is to keep the level in the pan lower but don't let it dry out. Then when you get ready to hatch raise the water level up higher and throw a clean rag or small towel in it. Even let one edge lead off outside the pan so it wicks out more water. More surface means more humidity.

Thank you. I am using a suffle cup with the pot pieces. It is about half full, maybe thats too much? I hope not I dont want to have to open it up for that long. the temp is holding steady and was thru the night at 99 it is a coil thermometer so I cant get an exact temp on it. They were the ones I used for my lizards. I like them because they are very accurate. I like the towel idea. I saw somewhere that someone put a damp sponge on the level of the eggs at lockdown, will this work too?

Oh- mommahen- I had that same therm/hygro in my hand yesterday at orschlen but had to put it back because I didnt have the money for it. If it doesnt HAVE to be carhart Berne makes wonderful coats. Orschlen has them at wonderful prices they are just like carhart, same benfits and look.

 

[chicken danz]

I'm still turning eggs by hand and we keep meaning to build a tray for that. My son is going to build a little tray to fit, just haven't taken the time yet to do it. The tray will be like a ladder kinda, it'll have little boards making a square almost the size of the incubator minus a few inches on one end, there will be dowels going across just far enough apart to fit the eggs. When I put the eggs inbetween the dowels, all I will have to do is push the tray to one end of the incubator and it'll roll the eggs. I'll push it the other direction to turn them back over. This could be made to fit any incubator.
That is the identical system they used for old incubators before they made them with auto turners, except they used thin slats of wood instead of dowels, and a handle ont he otuside that slid back and forth.
We've about got another small incubator ready to go, the temps were stable when I went to bed last night so I'll see how they did last night. We started with a thermostat in it from a water heater and I was getting a temp range of about 5 degrees. We have removed the thermostat and are working with bulbs of different watts and changing venting to see if we can balance out heat output to heat loss for more stable temps with less fluctuation. We will see, I need this today so if it isn't good this morning the thermostat will have to go back in and go with the 5 degree temp range. We also have a computer fan in it, which I don't have a fan in my incubator. The fan my ds hooked up to a cell phone charger, he said it's 5 volts, I didn't know they got that low. We have a little tub that is in my closet full of misc. cords, usually cords that we don't know what they go to. I mark everything when we get it now so I'm still don't understand where all these cords come from. Anyway, he took the cord out of there. It's funny Danz that you meantioned taking off the cords of old things. My kids take off cords to everything, they each have their own little copper pile and when we go to the metal recycle they all have to turn in their own.
I am going to try to explain a little about types of thermostats. There are two basic kinds. Proportional thermostats and off/on thermostats. An off/on thermostat turns on at a certain temp and then off again at a certain temp. This leaves a fluctuation in temperatures. Most of the less expensive incubators use the on/off type. i.e. it would come on at 98 degrees and turn off at 101. Most of the thermostats you will find on appliances and such will be this type.
A proportional type thermostat however measures an exact temp and sends various levels of electricity to the heating element to maintain a constant temperature. These obviously are the best and most reliable. These would be controlled by a electronic board most likely with a digital readout rather than a dial. You pay for the difference if you buy one or the other. As far as thermostats go, stop and think what junk you have around that operates on heat. Electric blanket controls, old electric skillet controls, anything with an adjustble temp range between about 95 to 110 might work. A lot of thermostats have a swing range. That is why water heater thermostats are undependable. Their swing range is 5-15 degrees. I always thought if the range was higher a cheap digital central heat thermostat would be perfect because most of those have a 1-2 degree swing. Unfortunately the heat doesn't go quite high enough. A dimmer switch should work well if you can get it adjusted to a specific point and make sure it doesn't get moved. They are also reasonably cheap.
Danz, can you do anything for the rooster with a broken toe?
I tried vet wrapping it but it is at such an angle it won't stay in place. He is walking fine. Just doesn't look perfect. Yay for more eggs, I'm betting you'll get an awesome hatch. A couple of days ago we opened one pen and the door opens up and it always catches on the fence and stays for me while I get them food. I left it open thinking if the chicks flew out into the other pen and got along with the others they could stay out there combining them would just make more room, right? Well, one of my EEs flew from the outside onto the edge of that pen and the door slammed down on her. I'm so glad my dh was outside and heard the commotion or she would have been trapped longer. The door fell onto her body, it's not extremely heavy, it's like a wooden screen door with a small wooden frame and lots of screen but still. She laid on the ground and didn't move and we put her into a small cage to rest and see how she did. She tried to get up and walk but one foot won't hold her weight. She has swelling right where the toes connect to her foot so I'm assuming that's what's hurt even though they said the door hit her in the middle. I don't know what to do for her other than to provide a safe place for her to rest.
If you have some children's tylenol drop a tiny bit in her beak. That seems to help them a lot with pain and swelling. If you have vet wrap I would take a gauze pad and make her a foot cushion, and vet wrap it (not tight) on the bottom of her foot to help keep it secure. It most likely broke her toes or foot joints. Keep her away from the others or she'll get abused. You could also mix some epsom salts in some warm water and let foot set in it. She probably won't mind at all once she gets in there. It might help draw out some swelling. But do keep in mind she might have some internal injuries so watch for her to stop eating or drinking. I had a cochin hen with a hurt foot that I kept wrapped for over a month.I just took the pad and the wrap off a few days ago and she is walking perfectly now.

I'm sorry about the dog house Danz, I hope it gets done quickly. It doesn't make sense to me to build the box first, maybe it's just the way his brain works. Maybe it's eaiser for him to see what he needs to do to support it after the shape is made. I agree, it would have to be easier to get done without that on yet. Sometimes my dh will build the oddly shapped wall backwards like that but not put it on yet. He doesn't like to measure so much and he certainly doesn't enjoy angles.
My DH is an extreme perfectionist when it comes to building things. I process quickly and just do stuff. He plans and plans and plans. When I try to explain things to him he can't seem to think about them unless he does his long process and figures it out as a whole piece by piece. It's just the way he is. I like his work but not when I am in a hurry. And when I build something I prefer to be alone. Of course even if it looks perfect he will always say he would have done this or that different. After 23 years you'd think I'd be used to it. But it does bother me when I am in a time crunch.
UGH, the school shooting hit me really hard, I didn't even know that anything happened in Topeka, that's terrible. We don't have TV or cable so I don't get the news just what comes up on yahoo news.

HEChicken, if the temps don't fluctuate in the house much it seems logical that you should be able to balance the amount of heat being generated to the amount of heat lost. I started with a thermostat on the one we just put together but took it off because of a 5 degree temp range wich probably isn't that bad. I like the dimmer idea because I'm just going from bulb to bulb trying to find the size that generates the perfect amount of heat to keep it balanced. Then trying to fine tune even more by adjusting the amount of venting too. The dimmer could adjust the amount of heat ever so slightly, that's a great idea.

Congrats on the puppies Danz, I can tell you're very worried. I understand the urgency of this dog house. I understand your worry and teens do sometimes have a harder time delivering but sometimes they don't. I'm just going to hope and pray that her body was ready enough to conceive and that it's also ready enough to deliver these pups safely and perfectly.

Trish! Living in 10 gallon aquariums???? That's crazy! I wonder how they'll adjust to better conditions.

I dilute essential oils a lot. Like about an oz of carrier oil and only a few drops of essential oil. Some dilute way more than that, the only essential oil I've ever used straight is tea tree. I never dilute essential oil in alcohol because it'll separate. The essential oils are pricey but they last a really long time too. I'd like to see the wipe solution recipe, my dd was asking about that just the other day. I've never had essential oils go rancid.

That's my typical candling schedule too HEChicken, not for any particular reason but it just worked out that way.

 

[Chickies-duckies-etc]

White peahen on CL. The seller had an india blue male also.

http://topeka.craigslist.org/grd/3482064130.html

 

[Trish44]

White peahen on CL. The seller had an india blue male also.

http://topeka.craigslist.org/grd/3482064130.html

Wow, that is a high price for that peahen, I would love to have another hen, but I can't afford that much for one.

Danz, thanks for the link I'm going to check that out & see if it's cheaper than the seller I found on eBay. I'm planning to order some when I get paid this week so I will have some on hand. I like the idea of the peroxide bottle, I have one of those.

I found some leghorn hens just at laying age that I'm going to get this week, 4 of them, so that should increase my better layers. I wanted two whites but they had already sold all but one so I'm getting that one & 3 brown leghorns. Since I didn't end up with any chicks this spring of that type that will replace those. Now I know who raises leghorns in this area too so I can get more later if I want them. They have 4 colors of them, I have never seen red or black leghorns before, but I just found out recently there are buff too. I really need some more reliable layers & I know the leghorns are good at cranking out eggs. I'm thinking of selling my two Australorps, I really don't like broody types when I just want eggs. One of them is broody most of the time it seems like, she even was being broody in this cold weather, silly hen. So if anybody wants a really broody type of hen this is the girl for you. She is still trying to grow all of her feathers back after molting, so she's kind of ugly right now, but I see that they're starting to come back in.

 

[mommahen10]

I saw that the coats were $15 off at Orscheln's too. I can't spend that much until 12/21 and I hope they're still on sale if I can't find a used one. They last so long too, I don't feel like it has to be new. In Iola they also didn't have much to choose from in Size M, there were a lot of XL, 2XL and L but Med was kinda scarce. He wants the usual color too.

That's cool Danz, I think that would be easy enough to turn eggs then. We've been meaning to get that done, but haven't got there yet. So I keep on turning each egg. That's great info about the thermostats, I'm going to work on that for sure. Yet another tidbit to copy/paste and save, thank you. I know right where an electric skillet control is, actually 2 old ones and 2 inside that are the same so I could surely find one that will do the trick. I need to get this accomplished today or else I'm spending on another incubator. I have a couple of dimmer switches avaliable at the moment too and enough supplies to get several test units going at once to get this figured out asap. If we put the switch inside I won't have trouble with someone turning it when they're not supposed to. Thanks for the help with the hurt chick, I'm just going to move her inside so we can care for her better.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

I am so excited, Iam busting at the seams here. I am getting some little baby duccles for my dd for xmas... I just have one problem, the only working vehicle is the one my dh drives to work. I want to get them this week, asap actually. I am trying desperately to try to find someone to help me get them but I only 8 bucks to give someone in gas. I have to get this done. This will be the biggest xmas surprise ever. She has always loved them and the 2 we had, we lost the one to a hawk, she is in love with. I have everything ready fot the chicks, I just need to get them,,, something always happens to delay me.

 

[chicken danz]

If there is a thrift store or something near by once in a while you can find the electric blanket controls there for a little of nothing. If you use one from an electric skillet you will have to dismantle it and unhook the wire that attaches to the plug in probe. Then hook those wires to what you want to heat with. In reality though, you could also use the heat coil in the electric skillet if you can get it out of the skillet. Don't use the skillet itself if it has teflon in it. It would kill the chicks. I think I would mount that overhead rather than underneath because the coils get pretty hot. You wouldn't want the chicks to touch the coils. I have one electric skillet I haven't used in years. But I don't want to sacrifice it. But now that I think about it if I can come up with one somewhere that might be a perfect incubator heater and control by itself.
Maybe I should just start building incubators out of junk for a living!! LOL!
One other thing in case no one has thought about it. If you have any old coolers around they make an excellent insulated incubator. You can cut the top out for viewing just like you could a styrofoam box.
Trish leghorns are great layers but they are pretty flighty. That is why I don't have any. I also like brown egg layers better. But I guess that is a case of individual taste. Did you get your heat bulbs ordered from ATR? I just ordered 36 more which is leaving them with only 10 more left. I hate to see that source dry up cause no one else even compares in price. I used 24 of them in about a year or so. It's amazing how many heat bulbs I use. I guess when you hatch thousands of birds a year you have to have a lot.
I keep sitting back down here and I'm not getting anything done. I have to go pick up another load of feed at 4:00 so the birds can continue to eat. Never ends!!

 

[lizzyGSR]

How long can an egg sit outside (without the hen/duck/goose sitting on it) before it is no longer good to eat?

I added a goose and gander to my flock a week ago this past Friday. On Sunday, I found my first egg from the goose. I had been checking for eggs every morning since, but I apparently wasn't doing a very good job of looking. When I went out this evening to clean out the cage they had been staying in (an extra large dog cage with a tarp on it), I found two eggs. I know that they can't be more than 9 days old, though I have no way of knowing exactly how old they are. Are they safe for humans to eat?

Also, when I've received eggs from people, they are never washed. Is there a reason to NOT wash eggs intended for eating?

ETA: It has not gotten above 55 during the day, and the low has been in the 20's. There are no visible cracks anywhere in the eggs.

 

[chicken danz]

The reason you don't wash eggs is that when the hen lays an egg her ducts close off preventing poo or whatever else to get on the egg. Her glands spray "bloom" on the egg that is a protective coating that protects the egg from bacteria. When you wash the egg you remove the bloom so bacteria can enter through the shell. You must then refrigerate the egg if you want it to stay good.
If you leave the bloom on eggs are still safe to eat for at least 7 days at room temperature. I would assume since they have been kept cool they would still be good to eat. If you want to use them, just crack them in a separate bowl before using. If the yolk stays in tact and there is no blood and no odor it will be safe to use.
What a busy afternoon I had. I had to go to Burlington to pick up some stuff for DH cause he was late getting down for a nap before work tonight. Then I drove on to the coop in another town and got my load of feed. Of course the guy loading the feed spent 30 minutes asking me questions about dogs and chipmonks. Then I drove the extra distance back to Burlington and stopped and got a sub sandwhich for DH to take to work. Then back home.
When I got home there were two mowers in the way so I had to start those up and move them to get the truck backed in to off load the feed. By then it was getting dark so I guess I have to start my morning shoveling feed. I used all I had this afternoon before I left to get more.
It seems like my days just whiz by and nothing gets done.
I have to get up early tomorrow and go to a retirement breakfast. After that back home to shovel feed. I need to try to do some more work on the dog house but I'm afraid I'll run out of time. I really would like to go to Topeka and get some Christmas shopping done. I have some small items to get and really need to go look to figure it out.
Mammahen is your 11 year old a boy or a girl? If I make it to Topeka I'll check toysRus for the color changing cars. I need to go there and see if I can find magnetic letters for my youngest granddaughter. I really hate shopping. I think I'd rather someone kick me! I wish I had a jacket to donate to your son. I wear one of those all the time.

 

[Trish44]

Danz, yeah I know the leghorns are more flighty, but I just need some egg laying machines right now. I'm disgusted with some of my hens, there are a few that need to go soon. I already have the two Lakenvelders that are flighty, they act like I'm an ax murderer even though they see me every day & I feed them all the time. They're just not calm birds at all, but I kind of hate to get rid of those two little hens because for one the gold ones are getting more rare & for another thing they are pretty good little layers of white eggs & they're small & don't eat much. I only have one other hen right now that lays white eggs until I get my leghorns & they start laying & that is the one Ancona hen that survived after the other got eaten while I was gone on vacation. I do like the brown egg layers too, but I like to have a variety of different colors too. I'm keeping two little chicks that Sunflowerparrot hatched out from my eggs. One I know is from my EE hen & my Speckled Sussex roo, so I'll be interested to see what it ends up looking like & I hope really hard it's a pullet. I sure don't need any more roos around here. The other one just looks like a speckled sussex chick. Oh yeah, I did order some of the red light bulbs earlier on. I hate to see them run out of them too, I don't use as many as you, but wanted to make sure I had a few on hand.

I'm really glad we're done with our Christmas shopping, I haven't gotten anything wrapped yet, but I probably will do that this weekend. My son called me today & said he would like for us to come down, but hasn't figured out the date yet & we'll have to get a hotel room to have somewhere to visit. His girlfriend Dana as you all remember is ill with cancer & just had her third surgery & isn't up to company. The outlook for her is very poor, they removed another big tumor on the thyroid & 14 cancerous lymph nodes, it's just so sad.

lizzy, I never wash eggs unless I absolutely have to if there is a really dirty spot, they stay fresh much longer without it. I know some people believe they have to wash all of their eggs, but I just don't & prefer not to. I don't even wash the eggs I sell unless it's to spot clean. I try to keep my nest boxes very clean so the eggs stay clean.

I went out this morning & the hen that had been so congested & sounded just awful yesterday seemed just fine today, weird. The rooster that has been honking is still doing it, but seems to be getting better. He is still running all around the yard & seems to be doing OK. Things could change again with the cold front coming, who knows. I wasn't feeling too well myself last night & today, but I think I'm a little better tonight. I kept going today even though I had some stomach problems earlier in the day & it kind of made me feel weak. I just knew there were things I needed to get done today & I had to keep at it. I went this afternoon & got another load of cattails & then unloaded them all after I got back, so I have a pretty good pile of them out there. The dogs should be very happy about that, they love to use them for their bed. That experiment has worked out very well for us, I'm very glad Sunfloweparrot has the areas she has on her land that grow them so we can get some use out of them. Who would have thought you could use dried cattails for bedding for birds & animals. Tomorrow I have to go to the CO-OP & get my feed for the next month also, I have been trying to hang on until then & am just about out of everything, down to the bottom of all of it. I had a friend give me some more pumpkins today for my birds, so they will be really happy about that, they love them. The turkeys could care less about them & the peafowl & guineas also didn't seem too excited, but the chickens go crazy for them.

I had a lightbulb moment today. I think what I want to do is to build another hoop coop in the spring & use it for the broilers I want to get, I need something to house them anyway after they leave the brooder. Then after they're processed I will have the hoop coop to use for my rabbits through the winter. They live in outside hutches in the warm months, but that way I could hang the cages in the hoop coop & I would be able to just scoop the poop out instead of having to put them in the garage & keep having to clean out trays all the time. I would have the issue with frozen water, but maybe I could figure something out for that if I do some research. I still have two livestock panels, all I need are two more & I have enough for the hoop coop. Then I would need to get my wood & hardware along with the hardware cloth & tarp for the top. I just really like the hoop coop concept much better, it works out great.