On the scalder build I suggest wrapping the barrel with insulation even if only the foil faced bubble wrap a couple layers thick then cut a floating lid of good quality foam like the 2 inch pink board used in construction. That would really cut down on heat loss and greatly help recovery time. I agree using the whole barrel will also allow larger volume of water which will hold heat longer.
About Hoover's hatchery, I ordered from them last summer and have mixed feelings. I'm in Wisconsin so shipping isn't that far and I've never received a chick delivery damaged from the postal service but when I ordered from Hoover's I got 25 ISA browns and 25 red rangers, 25 rainbows. I had one dead on arrival looked like it was smashed by the others then in the next couple weeks a did lose quite a few birds I don't remember anymore but it was a dozen or more, I also did not get even 1 extra chick which is odd with a 75 bird order. I'm not holding it against the hatchery just yet because I had to have my mom take delivery of the chicks this time and she thought as it was summer they didn't need their lamp so they sat on the brooder for 2 hours with no heat until I found out and called a friend to go turn on their light. I'm sure that contributed to some of the losses in the first day or 2 but I'm skeptical about the rest. Last year their prices were good and they claim to have good success and have decent reviews so I will give them 1 more try but if I have major losses again I won't be giving them my business again. I've ordered layers from McMurray twice and never lost a chick even with their poor shipping practices, but their meat birds are a little pricey
About Hoover's hatchery, I ordered from them last summer and have mixed feelings. I'm in Wisconsin so shipping isn't that far and I've never received a chick delivery damaged from the postal service but when I ordered from Hoover's I got 25 ISA browns and 25 red rangers, 25 rainbows. I had one dead on arrival looked like it was smashed by the others then in the next couple weeks a did lose quite a few birds I don't remember anymore but it was a dozen or more, I also did not get even 1 extra chick which is odd with a 75 bird order. I'm not holding it against the hatchery just yet because I had to have my mom take delivery of the chicks this time and she thought as it was summer they didn't need their lamp so they sat on the brooder for 2 hours with no heat until I found out and called a friend to go turn on their light. I'm sure that contributed to some of the losses in the first day or 2 but I'm skeptical about the rest. Last year their prices were good and they claim to have good success and have decent reviews so I will give them 1 more try but if I have major losses again I won't be giving them my business again. I've ordered layers from McMurray twice and never lost a chick even with their poor shipping practices, but their meat birds are a little pricey
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