I am (STILL) surprised so many hatch this late in the year

[stephanie1992]

i have 30 eggs in the bator, 1 due to hatch today and 1 to hatch wed and 12 hatching friday

 

[VI KING RANCH]

Quote:
...My Birds all get there own air conditioner in the summer...I am the only one without one lol

 

[misslady]

Quote:
...My Birds all get there own air conditioner in the summer...I am the only one without one lol

I hope they know how loved they are!

I probably would too if I could afford it, because my poor birds start getting stressed once the temps go up in the summer months. Shoot, I start getting stressed when it gets hot out!

We are most definitely acclimated to our cooler weather! lol!

 

[jmc]

very helpful replies. i may have to blame you all if i end up hatching some babies next month!

 

[babyrnlc]

Quote:
Just remember you need 10 times as many eggs as chicks you want. Make that 100x you may get a lot of boys. You know chicken math.

 

[mommto3kiddos]

If my broody is successful with this first hatch I plan on putting a heat lamp in the coop for them come late Nov/Dec when we hit freezing.. They will be 6 or so weeks old then..

 

[BayouPoules]

We are in south Louisiana,.... We love to hatch this time of year,..we usually brood inside for the first several weeks and it really doesn't get that cold here for a few more months and the chicks are always feathered by then,,.. and they are all of laying age when spring comes!

 

[clairabean]

I am in BC, Canada. We get snow from November to end of March with a few -30*C weeks. I just did my last hatch for the year last week. The brooders are in the coop, hung with heat lamps. It doesn't matter what the outside temp is, as the brooders are constant. No, I don't kick them out in winter. They stay in the brooder area until it warms up in March.

You do not have to kick them out of the warm lamp brooder at 6 weeks. There fore, weather makes no dif.

 

[Gypsy07]

Winter weather in Scotland isn't as extreme as what some of you folks are talking about, but I put my chicks outside at 4-5 weeks old all year round, in an unheated shed with their Brinsea Ecoglow for warmth if they need it. Most of the time they perch on top of it rather than scoot under it...

I agree with toughening them up young. It's, well, not exactly the same as being cruel to be kind, but you know what I mean. Tough love. If you overheat chicks, you can slow down their feather development, and also the feathers that do come in can end up being sparser than they should be. So the bird will ultimately be less able to withstand extremes of cold until it reaches its first moult.

 

[chicmom]

Quote:
OH, I have to tell you, being in Ohio, I brood chicks every spring......and by June I am SO GLAD to get them all outside, I wouldn't even THINK of hatching and brooding chicks this time of year.......