EDUCATIONAL INCUBATION & HATCHING CHAT THREAD, w/ Sally Sunshine Shipped Eggs

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kajira said:
What sucks is I expect to lose a lot of baby/juvie birds. I do not expect to lose my near-almost adult hens, or my adult hens.

I have plenty of birds, and tons of eggs in my incubator, for this exact reason. I gave a broody 11 chicks, and 1 survived.

And, it still has a couple more months to go before it gets to egg laying age.
Click to expand...
Goodness me, why do you lose so many?
 
kajira said:
What sucks is I expect to lose a lot of baby/juvie birds. I do not expect to lose my near-almost adult hens, or my adult hens.

I have plenty of birds, and tons of eggs in my incubator, for this exact reason. I gave a broody 11 chicks, and 1 survived.

And, it still has a couple more months to go before it gets to egg laying age.
Click to expand...
Losing any...sucks. 900x900px-LL-0ed186b2_LL-33.gif
 
BantyChooks said:
Goodness me, why do you lose so many?
Click to expand...

Because the little buggers don't stay where they belong. All of white fluff's babies, kept going out in the horse area, so a few got nabbed by barn cats, a few drowned in the goats water bucket, one was found way on the back of the property with it's head ripped off not too long ago because it wouldn't stay where it belonged.

The barn cats go after the half-grown and baby chicks a lot, I probably won't let my broodies raise them anymore.

They could fit through chicken wire when they were tiny, I let my birds free range, and I realize that puts them at risk, but they are a lot happier in the long-run and the stupid ones with a death wish die, and the smart birds, live.

I don't want to have offspring from dumb birds.... so, some of it's survival of the fittest around here. Most of the predators I deal with are barn cats. I've been tempted to get rid of them, but we have so many mice, too that we need killed.

I also lose a lot of birds due to the weather, and heat stroke. We get floods, and flash floods, and heat in the high 104-110 degree weather with 50% humidity. I've done my best to pick breeds who are heat savvy, but the weaker ones just don't make it.

Edited to add : statistically, most of my birds live. I lost 3-4 red sex links in the last 2 years. 2 to prolapse, 1 to drowning after a flood in the canal behind our house, and one to challenging a horse and being stepped on.

I lost all my RIR roosters, due to heat stroke last summer, and have found breeds that do better in the head. My polish crested struggle a lot with the heat and I won't be replacing them. The juvie birds often want freedom, and will do anything they can to excape their grow out pens, and it's often to their detriment. I try to keep them confined until they are older and closer to full sized, but if they are going to find every manner of escape as possible, then i'm not gonna stress about them getting themselves killed.

The smart ones live. I've had enough babies make it to adult hood, who are still alive, who don't get themselves killed off, that those are the ones I breed from.
 
kajira said:
Because the little buggers don't stay where they belong. All of white fluff's babies, kept going out in the horse area, so a few got nabbed by barn cats, a few drowned in the goats water bucket, one was found way on the back of the property with it's head ripped off not too long ago because it wouldn't stay where it belonged.

The barn cats go after the half-grown and baby chicks a lot, I probably won't let my broodies raise them anymore.

They could fit through chicken wire when they were tiny, I let my birds free range, and I realize that puts them at risk, but they are a lot happier in the long-run and the stupid ones with a death wish die, and the smart birds, live.

I don't want to have offspring from dumb birds.... so, some of it's survival of the fittest around here. Most of the predators I deal with are barn cats. I've been tempted to get rid of them, but we have so many mice, too that we need killed.

I also lose a lot of birds due to the weather, and heat stroke. We get floods, and flash floods, and heat in the high 104-110 degree weather with 50% humidity. I've done my best to pick breeds who are heat savvy, but the weaker ones just don't make it.
Click to expand...
Poor things. I free range too. Lost a bird last week because it flew into the dog's run. Stoopid bird ran out of lives, after a year of close brushes...
 

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