Consolidated Kansas

[ChicknBaron]

Thanks a bunch HEChicken and chicken danz! FYI the incubator i am using is a little giant from TSC, the basic one with no fan, and all is good now with the chicken incubator. It is relieving to hear that you can have the humidity down to 60% or so without worrying because i was definately worrying! But I got the humidity up to 64%, the temp at a solid 99-100 and plenty of oxygen (i took out the two red plugs, and added another damp washcloth, and added some marbles to the pan, and i got everything to in the "acceptable" range! YAY!) thanks a TON for the input, BIG sigh of relief! I got the brooder next to it all setup and ready for chicks, so thats good too... another "just curious": I have the incubator and brooder in the basement, and was wandering what temp i should have the brooder pre-warmed to? i think it's at 80 or so right now, AND i have pine shavings as the bedding on the floor of it and since it's in my basement i Definately would'nt want a fire, i don't think the heat lamp would catch the chips on fire? do you??? My dad said he thot it'd be fine soooo... i just can't say enough how much of a help everybody on here as been! i can assure you that the hatch i'm doing right now would be NO WAY possible without your advice! THANKS A TON!

p.s. I took all the pictures of the incubator/brooder setup, in the basement, on my smartphone (a motorola defy xt) but i'm not sure how to upload the photos from it onto BYC, so i can show everybody, any ideas???

p.p.s
I'm not sure if i ever miss anything on here, but i'm sure i probably do, but incase anybody mentions me or asks me anything and i don't respond, it's probably because i only have time to check it once a day for only like 2 minutes, and from, say, the monday night check to the tuesday night check there is like 4 more pages of posts, and i cant read them all so i just skip to the last post... sorry

 

[tweetysvoice]

What kind are you thinking about getting? We can all keep our eyes open for you.

another "just curious": I have the incubator and brooder in the basement, and was wandering what temp i should have the brooder pre-warmed to? i think it's at 80 or so right now, AND i have pine shavings as the bedding on the floor of it and since it's in my basement i Definately would'nt want a fire, i don't think the heat lamp would catch the chips on fire? do you??? My dad said he thot it'd be fine soooo... i just can't say enough how much of a help everybody on here as been! i can assure you that the hatch i'm doing right now would be NO WAY possible without your advice! THANKS A TON!

I would say that you might want to up the heat to a bit closer to 90 when you put them in. You'll have to play with it and you'll soon be able to tell if it's too hot or too cold for the chicks. If they huddle under the lamp it's too chilly and if they stay far away all the time it's too warm. Pine shavings are good, but you might want to cover that with papertowels or something the first couple days as well. This will help when you start to scatter food for them to be able to pick at the food without eating the shavings. Once they know where the food and water is, then you can remove them. Just don't put anything slippery so they get spraddle legs. Also, something that I learned - you'll want to put the waterer up on a small brick or something, otherwise it will be filled with shavings all the times, and might put a frisbee under the food bowl cuz they will scratch it out and waste a lot of it. If it's scratched onto a frisbee, then they can still at least eat it Have fun! Sounds like it's going to be an exciting week!

 

[chicken danz]

The optimum temperature right under a lamp should be about 90. I've read where 18 inches is a good height but it really does depend on how cool it is where the brooder is sitting. You would probably have a little better luck hatching if you had a fan for your incubator because it keeps the heat more even but that doesn't mean you won't get a good hatch. Yes I would have definitely recommended both plugs be out if you have no fan.
I would suggest if you are using a light to wire it or clamp it or tape it so it is sure not to get knocked down. I use lamps but I am pretty darned cautious about them Just the same I've had two occasions where they accidentally got knocked down.
I put my chicks out in the brooder house earlier but didn't even do a count. The blue barred rocks and the blue copper marans look way too much alike. I thought I could tell by leg feathering but even that wasn't real plain. Guess I'll wait and see when they get feathers!

 

[Hawkeye95]

I really have my back in an uproar. I don't know how I'll ever get things done I need to today. It's just a reminder I have way too much on my plate. I spent so much time working on the sea van yesterday I didn't get anything else done.
I need to remove chicks from the hatcher today. They should be done and dried for the most part. Unfortunately I don't see any splash chicks in the Marans. Maybe next time. I haven't done a count yet. I had a bunch of chicks die out in the brooder house in the last 2 days, so I cleaned and disinfected again. I am totally confused what might be the problem. I found no mold or anything. I put some ACV in their water last night just as a preventative. I have no idea if it will help anything or not. Luckily they were just some chicks I had hatched and not anything expensive. But I do have some lavenders and Swedish Flower hens out there. They were fine.
I hope I can get the feed moved with the tractor so I don't have to lift any of it. I just don't think I can do it today. I also need to get another load of my other feed soon. Darn birds cost a fortune!!! Next Friday I am selling a bunch of my polish so that will reduce the number of birds around here a little.
I'm in the mood to buy more eggs for fancy breeds. I need to quit!!!

Bummer about the chicks. Nice they weren't your expensive ones, but it does make you wonder what is happening. I hope you feel better quick! Are you still going to keep your nice Polish, or are you getting rid of all of them? Yours are so pretty, it would be kind of sad to see you get rid of all of them.

I have someone coming over in a few to take the ducks and two roos, cross your fingers for me that it all goes well.
It's sad to see the ducks go, but I'm so much more into chickens and these guys are a lot more work than I realized.

Yeah, I don't think I'll ever get ducks. My parents had them when I was growing up and I was always stuck with the chore of cleaning out their water and pools. YUCK. That has killed the idea of ducks for life. ha!!

Actually I called my Dad and told him I wasn't going today. I am really in a lot of pain. I can't take aspirin cause I'm allergic to it. I have some prescription meds but have to be careful or they will upset my stomach. Yeah I'm a mess. I just hope I am feeling better in the morning. So far I haven't done anything today but read a magazine. I normally don't take the time but I didn't want to get up. I do have a tens unit I will try later and see if it helps. It does wonders some times.

I did walk out in my jammies and check mouse traps. 49 mice this morning and my dumb dog had taken two traps, and opened them and ate the peanut butter. I had rocks on top of them and she still got them!!! So the count for the last 4 days is pretty close to 200 mice!!! That's just crazy.

Uh oh-- and you never miss church! Maybe lay around and use a heating pad?? You are a mouse trapping machine out there! Nice!

Ducks and silkie roos now have a good home. One with a huge pond and lots of land. I'm glad they all went together, it might be less stressful for them. Now i'm going to get myself about 5 more chickens, don't think I want to start with chicks though - I'd like them to already be used to the outdoors. It sounds like Chook's are pretty much gone or she's selling them in sets that includes a rooster. I'll just keep my eye out,

YAY! So glad you found them homes and they are gone. I'm sure that will be a relief not to have to worry about them crowing! I love hearing my boys crow, but I wouldn't want to be stressed about it. I don't know if Jen (RevolutionMama) has any birds for sale, but she's in Lawrence again, and you might check with her for pullets or hens. She mostly sold everything off and is now just doing the Heritage breeds. But she may have some culls that don't meet her breed standards and would still make a great egg layer.

I need some rooster advice. I love Cyrus - he is huge and a great flock protector. He isn't rough on them at all - none have bare backs or feathers notieceably missing. Fertility is good. He is beautiful. But he seems to see me as a rival. Me and only me

. Anyone else can go in and he is good as gold. Recently DD took one of my friends in to meet them and when she told me afterwards, my heart was racing to hear how this went. DD is afraid of the adult birds and the friend is terrified of all birds period. But all they could both do was rave about Cyrus, the chicks, the ducks, how beautiful some of them are. DS and DH can likewise, come in and wander around and Cyrus leaves them completely alone. But I go in and wham - there he is trying to flog me again. I've tried everything that has been recommended. I've picked him up and carried him around, I've picked him up by the legs and let his hens see his humiliation as he is held this way, I've even sparred with him until I "won" and he backed off and acted submissive.

After each flogging attempt (no spurs so he hasn't done any actual harm yet) and each punitive measure, he is good for a few days and then I can see from his behavior that he's planning another attack. Today's attack was only 2 days after the last, and that resulted in him spending some time dangling upside down so I thought it might work for longer.

So - how likely is it that this is hormonal (he's only 7 months old) and will outgrow it, and how likely is it that it will only get worse?

Another --uh oh!! I don't know, I've had many mean roosters growing up. I tell you, they only seem to get worse. If you decide to eat him, I have a really sweet cockerel silkie that might make a good boy? I'm thinking I have to get rid of him. I've been watching his wings and they are looking very ify to me. Sigh. I may list him in a week or two, so I'll let you know before I do. But he's already "of age" (about 6.5 months old) and he's a sweetie. Definitely not mean. Anyway, I used to walk outside using a broom to keep them away from me. Seems like they never get any better.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We had a really nice day so far. Went to church, had lunch, and now we're all kind of relaxing while I do laundry. I did sew up a couple more of those dolls for the hospital. I only have 3 done now. I should take a pic! Anyway, I have fabric to still do a bunch more yet. Tomorrow we have school, Piano and then our 4-H club meeting. We need to get signed up for next year's projects! This is going to be a super busy month for us, about every weekend is becoming booked quickly. Seems like as soon as we hit October, the next 3 months go in fast forward.

 

[chicken danz]

I did an egg count since I couldn't decide what was what on the chicks. I had 9 Marans and 6 barred rocks hatch. So at least I know the outcome. I have 3 more eggs that haven't pipped so those are probably died in vitro. I may forego the mouse traps tonight. I haven't even finished my watering yet. Poor birds!!

 

[medawinks]

Chicknbaron- congrats!!!! BTW Tapatalk works fairly well for BYC on an iPhone. I think it is also an android app.

Danz, I don't like hearing you are hurting bad enough for a tens unit. I hate mine and it is always my last resort too. Hope you feel better! We are trying the vitamin e capsules and this little one happily eats and drinks while we support her. I am going to make her some chicken shoes to try to keep her feet straight. They are curly fries now also. The bigger one seems much better now, and only needs one foot in a shoe now. Makes me wonder if it is related..... Who knows. I do greatly fear that if this chick doesn't improve, it will have to be put down. My vet is gonna think I have lost it, but I will have to have them do it I think....

Akkk.... Kids are yelling from the other room

 

[maidenwolfx80]

I have to get my make shift brooder set up, I am nervous that it wont be warm enough. Guess I should do some text runs. This is the first time doing chicks this young so I am trying to get all the info I can.. I am so excited

 

[chicken danz]

Medawinks that definitely sounds like a brain injury if it's toes are curling. Could have been something as simple as another chick pecking on its head. Don't give up yet ...give the vit E a few days to work. I'm not good at putting chicks down either. I always make Dennis do it. But I usually try everything possible to heal them first. I would much rather just fine a chick dead than one that isn't doing well.
The chicks I hatched yesterday look great. I made a point to look at their toes just in case. I saw one foot that wasn't perfectly straight but it wasn't completely dry so I think it will straighten out. I am getting more eggs from Eileen. Many of her birds are in molt right now but I am taking everything she can gather up in the next couple weeks.
Maidenwolf, you have quite an adventure in front of you if you haven't had new hatches before. When I got my first batch of baby chicks after not having them for 30+ years I studied for months ahead of time, built my coop, my brooder, my pen, bought a couple books, researched on the internet, and still was a total mess.
I spent hours every day sitting in the coop with them and carefully checking every bird's bottom for pasty butt and signs of trauma. I really wish I still could do that sometimes. I guess if I weren't so greedy I would have time to enjoy babies again.
But now I am just in awe with the beautiful colors and the wonderful breeds available.
I just ordered a couple more dozen eggs to add some diversity to my lemon cuckoos and my Swedish flower hens. I want to have stock from several different breeders so I can be sure to have unrelated groups. These are coming from Florida. Sure hope the postal service doesn't destroy them.
I sure hope next year is a good year for chicks since I've manged to spend a fortune on hatching eggs this year.

 

[JosieChick]

I just made my first sale, and I know I totally got taken and I won't even say how much because someone would surely shoot me. She took 6, she took one of my older hens which I don't even know how old she is. I felt totally uncomfortable because my husband is her boss and I kept looking to him to communicate with her and he does all of our stuff when it comes to selling anything. He kept saying I'm the chicken lady and it's my deal and I just said I don't care and whatever is fine. She did sell us 3 pigs really cheap a long time ago so maybe it's fair that way but my heart was racing because I'm sure I have more than that in them just in feed. *sigh* So I talked to him after, I've never been good at that stuff and I we defined our rolls, I'm not a sales person, not even a little, I just freeze up. I'm not good with asking people for money and I always feel like I'm burdening them and as much as I want to make money I want to give them a good deal.

Don't feel bad, I always do this too! I have found that if I price birds before someone arrives that helps me stick to my list price. Also, I will bring up the pricing over the phone or via email too before they arrive so they have the money with them. It also reduces bartering if you have already settled on a price before they arrive. I treat it like a breeder selling an animal, I have a certain amount of time, feed and money invested and need to at least make some of that back. Hope that helps, it really helps me. Sometimes I even write it down before they get there in case they are interested in a couple different things.

Ducks and silkie roos now have a good home. One with a huge pond and lots of land. I'm glad they all went together, it might be less stressful for them. Now i'm going to get myself about 5 more chickens, don't think I want to start with chicks though - I'd like them to already be used to the outdoors. It sounds like Chook's are pretty much gone or she's selling them in sets that includes a rooster. I'll just keep my eye out,

Tweety- I am sending you a PM, I think I have exactly what you are looking for. Glad your ducks and silkies found a great home!

I need some rooster advice. I love Cyrus - he is huge and a great flock protector. He isn't rough on them at all - none have bare backs or feathers notieceably missing. Fertility is good. He is beautiful. But he seems to see me as a rival. Me and only me

. Anyone else can go in and he is good as gold. Recently DD took one of my friends in to meet them and when she told me afterwards, my heart was racing to hear how this went. DD is afraid of the adult birds and the friend is terrified of all birds period. But all they could both do was rave about Cyrus, the chicks, the ducks, how beautiful some of them are. DS and DH can likewise, come in and wander around and Cyrus leaves them completely alone. But I go in and wham - there he is trying to flog me again. I've tried everything that has been recommended. I've picked him up and carried him around, I've picked him up by the legs and let his hens see his humiliation as he is held this way, I've even sparred with him until I "won" and he backed off and acted submissive.

After each flogging attempt (no spurs so he hasn't done any actual harm yet) and each punitive measure, he is good for a few days and then I can see from his behavior that he's planning another attack. Today's attack was only 2 days after the last, and that resulted in him spending some time dangling upside down so I thought it might work for longer.

So - how likely is it that this is hormonal (he's only 7 months old) and will outgrow it, and how likely is it that it will only get worse?

Hmmm, that sounds really naughty. I don't know. I have had bad experiences with EE roos. All my boys are good as gold, you could turn your back on them and kneel down and they wouldn't try anything. I have several orp boys, a brahma, a wheaten ameraucana and tons of bantam cochin roos. They are all sweet as pie. I have one black cochin rascal that likes to do the wing thing at me but he is just a show off! I pick him up and he melts like butter. He is just a big baby. I don't like roos that are nasty, they turn into soup here. I like to enjoy my chickens, not be threatened by them. If you decide that Cyrus is too naughty I have several extra lavender orp boys.

Well, we went to the cider festival in Louisburg today and ate a bunch of food. Had a great time with DH and was nice to not work on a chores. I have to get organized and round up birds tonight so I will be ready in the AM.

If anyone wants four guineas for FREE let me know. The turkeys are going next weekend and they are all buddies so I hate for the guineas to be left here. They are about 4-5 months old and I don't know on sex but they all get along. I will bring them along tomorrow if anyone wants them and lets me know before the morning. I can't catch them in daylight so they would have to be caught tonight on their roost.

 

[chicken danz]

Wish I'd known you were going to Louisburg. I love Louisburg cider for making spiced cider.
You really are reducing for winter aren't you? I am trying really but buying more hatching eggs so I don't know how far I am actually getting. You don't practice danzsizing very well!! I am sending you a PM cause I have a question for you.