Ground Hog's Day Hatch

[TinaK]

Welcome to the thread.. and also to BYC HereInOz! It is definitely not too late to join us. Good luck with your first hatch. It's also my first hatch too using a homemade incubator

 

[Mahonri]

The more the merrier... I actually also tried to order the rare pullet special from Ideal but their site went down in the middle of it... Oh well, I already have to sell and rehome a goodly number of chickens... I'm cleaning out the Laree brooder tomorrow and moving the last 4 chicks in it to the grow out pen with the other NYD hatch chicks.

I'm also going to fashion a pop door between the two grow out pens I have.

At 4 weeks and with lows only into the low 40s, all but one of my chicks are feathered out and I think they'll survive without a heat lamp.

I'll have to take a pic of the non-feathered out chick. I'm wondering if it's going to be one of those featherless chickens like the ones in Israel. It only has maybe four tiny feathers on each wing and no other feathers anywhere else.... and it's chick down feathers are getting smaller and fewer with time and as it grows. I think it's an Icelandic... so I may have a new genetic mutation going on here. I hope it's a pullet! The non-feather gene could be really good here in Phoenix... as long as they stay in the shade.

 

[HereInOz]

Welcome to the thread.. and also to BYC HereInOz! It is definitely not too late to join us. Good luck with your first hatch. It's also my first hatch too using a homemade incubator

Thanks TinaK, hope you get an excellent hatch there in Australia as well! Using a homemade incubator definitely has me on the edge of my seat, hovering over it ALL the time...can't wait to see if it actually worked!

And Mahonri, I hope your new chick is a pullet, sounds like a very interesting breed. What a sight that would be...featherless chickens!

 

[RareBreedFancier]

The more the merrier... I actually also tried to order the rare pullet special from Ideal but their site went down in the middle of it... Oh well, I already have to sell and rehome a goodly number of chickens... I'm cleaning out the Laree brooder tomorrow and moving the last 4 chicks in it to the grow out pen with the other NYD hatch chicks.

I'm also going to fashion a pop door between the two grow out pens I have.

At 4 weeks and with lows only into the low 40s, all but one of my chicks are feathered out and I think they'll survive without a heat lamp.

I'll have to take a pic of the non-feathered out chick. I'm wondering if it's going to be one of those featherless chickens like the ones in Israel. It only has maybe four tiny feathers on each wing and no other feathers anywhere else.... and it's chick down feathers are getting smaller and fewer with time and as it grows. I think it's an Icelandic... so I may have a new genetic mutation going on here. I hope it's a pullet! The non-feather gene could be really good here in Phoenix... as long as they stay in the shade.

Yes! Pics please! Sounds facinating.

 

[kefiren]

ok, ok, I know this is splitting hairs, but... I set my eggs at 6 PM on thursday 1/12. I've read on this site that lockdown should occur specifically "after 18 days of growth". So, am I right to assume that lockdown should occur at 6 PM monday the 30th? Does anyone think it is smart to stretch it out a little, like another half a day, or is it best to delve right in to the higher humidity? ok, i'm obsessing..but still! I want to get this right.

oh and DH put a webcam up, LOL! I can't wait. oh, gosh, i've gotta have some hatch so that webcam watchers aren't depressed.

LOL--edited because I had written tues the 31, but it really should be mon the 30th

 

[Mahonri]

It wouldn't hurt for it to go another 6 to 12 hours, but I would take them out of the turners and put them into hatch position.

 

[kefiren]

I wrote this a long time ago. It may be a little bit goofy, but I want to share it with you.

Old Mother Groundhog
by Renee Cyr

Old Mother Groundhog,
When she woke up each day,
Found she and her world
Were in a bad way.

Each day her people
And earth were unwell.
She thought “how will we ever
Get out of this hell?”

When she explained her conundrum
To husbands and wives,
They nodded “What a shame!”
But got on with their lives.

“Please make it stop!”
To her friends she would beg.
“We’re killing the goose
with the golden egg!”

No matter how much
She would rebel and complain,
When she woke up each morning
The world was the same.

After some time
Mother Groundhog could see,
“I can’t change the world,
but I can change me.”

The first thing she did
Was stop the junk food.
She got better health
And an improved mood

She said to herself,
“Now that wasn’t hard”
And stopped using chemicals
In her house and yard.

With all her new energy
She built some raised beds,
And a little chicken coop
For some Rhode Island Reds.

For products her backyard
Couldn’t yet provide,
She found local farmers
Within a short ride.

She learned about home cures
To keep the family on their feet.
And installed a wood stove
For some local-grown heat.

She reduced and recycled
To save our land and air,
And even learned about henna
To dye her gray hair.

And when she looked round
At what she used to think hell,
She was pleased and proud
Things round her were well.

She woke in a better world.
And to those far and near,
She shouted in glory,
“Let’s LIVE here!”

 

[HereInOz]

I wrote this a long time ago. It may be a little bit goofy, but I want to share it with you.

Old Mother Groundhog
by Renee Cyr

Old Mother Groundhog,
When she woke up each day,
Found she and her world
Were in a bad way.

Each day her people
And earth were unwell.
She thought “how will we ever
Get out of this hell?”

When she explained her conundrum
To husbands and wives,
They nodded “What a shame!”
But got on with their lives.

“Please make it stop!”
To her friends she would beg.
“We’re killing the goose
with the golden egg!”

No matter how much
She would rebel and complain,
When she woke up each morning
The world was the same.

After some time
Mother Groundhog could see,
“I can’t change the world,
but I can change me.”

The first thing she did
Was stop the junk food.
She got better health
And an improved mood

She said to herself,
“Now that wasn’t hard”
And stopped using chemicals
In her house and yard.

With all her new energy
She built some raised beds,
And a little chicken coop
For some Rhode Island Reds.

For products her backyard
Couldn’t yet provide,
She found local farmers
Within a short ride.

She learned about home cures
To keep the family on their feet.
And installed a wood stove
For some local-grown heat.

She reduced and recycled
To save our land and air,
And even learned about henna
To dye her gray hair.

And when she looked round
At what she used to think hell,
She was pleased and proud
Things round her were well.

She woke in a better world.
And to those far and near,
She shouted in glory,
“Let’s LIVE here!”

I love it!

My family and I are striving to be more like your 'Old Mother Groundhog'! The world would be a much better place if more people would too!

 

[rsleghornchicki]

My eggs went into lock down already

 

[twentynine]

Rollercoasting along. 102.3* yesterday 97.5* this morning, 103.5* at noon. 101right now.