INCUBATING w/FRIENDS! w/Sally Sunshine Shipped Eggs No problem!

[Sparky24]

HELP!!I just joined and I am having little to no hatching. I have a farm innovators 2250 model. Out of 41 I have only 2 hatch. This is the 3rd time I have set it. The ones that do not hatch either die during hatching or just before. The ones that don't start to hatch have not absorbed their egg yolk. I never had this issue with my Hova Bator. I did have a chicken last hatch that had a crooked toe so I do think nutrition is playing a factor as well. I am just at a loss I have never encountered this.

 

[kwhites634]

Quote: If you can find someone with a 410 and a youth 20 gauge for her to try out she may surprise you. Have 2 nieces under 11 that shoot a youth 20 like their Momma and Aunt. The girls come here to try out firearms in my family often. 20 isn't a bad kick if you shoulder it as you said. We aren't allowed rifle hunting here that I know of, unless for predators.

this is our camp and where we shoot skeet

how beautiful!!!

Howdy, Lady

 

[BullChick]

A couple of ideas, if I may; one for now, one for future planning:

1.       Next chance you get, buy a Havahart live trap, bait it with meat scraps from the kitchen, and set it close to the coop/run. They work like a champ!  I've trapped several coon, a possum or two, even a skunk. I've also caught a free-ranging hen once, so be prepared. Whatever gets in won't be harmed by the trap. If you can't get to anywhere that sells them, go online...that's how I got mine. Obviously, you'll have to proceed with caution should you get a skunk. Coon & possum will try to get to you through the wire, but can't, as long as you pick the trap up by the handle on top. In your case, a barrel of water large & deep enough to accommodate the trap is the best way to guarantee they don't return; relocation just transfers the problem to someone else. I don't know that I'd try to put them out with the trash, though.

2.       When building new coops, get them a couple feet up off the ground. I've posted several pictures on here of my setup if you want to take a peek. I simply screwed a platform to 4x4's, creating a table, braced the 4x4's for stability, and set the coop on top. Cutting the platform just large enough to support the coop eliminates anything for a predator to stand on while trying to get inside. I put one coop inside the run and the other outside, the open end of the run attached to the coop, with all possible points of entry closed off with h/w cloth or 1x2 welded wire. Naturally, if the coop's outside the run, you'll have to put wire around the area below the coop.
My original run is an old chain link dog kennel, and the ground it sits on is anything but level, so there's enough of a gap between the gate and the post for a predator to get through (my young birds go back and forth at will 'til I figure out a way to eliminate the gap and still have the gate function), but there's nothing for them to do except steal whatever feed has been scattered on the ground. They can't reach the coop, and after I set the ramp aside when I lock up at night there's nothing for them to stand on while they work at getting through the pop door.

Just my suggestions. If anyone comes up with a better way, I'm all ears.

There are, I'm sure, better setups out there, but this is what I came up with, and it's worked for me for a couple of years now, without any predator-related losses.

I have yet to buy a trap, because it seemed like an unneeded expense for the past 4+ years. Apparently, I will be buying one.
There is nothing wrong with any of your ideas, but I must say that this is my first attack in all these years. You were saying that your method has worked for you for several years as well. Things happen. I will not feel like crap for this. Had I closed the coop, the boys (and apparently girl) would not of been sleeping on the pop door.
I am confused by many things. But they don't matter. I will be fixing the door today, and will be locking the pop door.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I was watching a pip, and didn't see a zip. Darn little magicians! They keep doing that!
The zipper was out right after I said good night. I don't know if the other new chick is the pipper. I think that is twelve out now. Two dead (poor pancake chick). One egg unaccounted for, and five unhatched.

I have 16 out, 1 still zipping and only one out of the 18 that did nothing.
One of those that had zipped late last night isn't doing great but it just popped out a couple hours ago. Feet are curled, it's moving but just scooting on the floor. I may try to fix the feet,

Another out since two hours ago. The pip that wasn't quite ready last night is almost out now. It might be out IDK.

All mine hatched a bit early. This last one is almost a day late. I have to figure out why. I think all the eggs were fresh.

I don't need a smart reply. No one does, but they are often offered. If you do, I will do what I must.

Four birds are dead in my run. I can't say I know what happened. I will look harder for the point of entry later. If there is one. I closed the run when I checked on the broody pen. They could have been killed before that. I remember the ducks walking into the run as I was leaving the other side. That isn't odd. Jojo wants me all the time, and will come outside if he can get through the other ducks laying around. So I remember seeing the white of the ducks. I can't remember if the cockerels (three SPR) were roosting on the pop door. They are the ones gone, and it looks like one of my blue pullets. I looked inside, and all was okay. I looked at the roof, and didn't see a gap in the wire.

The only question I have, is what do I do with the bodies? Part of me wants to use them to practice processing, but the flies make me believe that is not a good idea. I don't have woods to put them in. Can I get away with double (or triple) bagging them, and putting them in the trash?

And why not the turkey that roosts on the roof? She is easy to catch.

You know I clearly feel your pain.
When I have large numbers to discard, I build a fire and burn the carcasses. I have huge compost piles so for just one bird, it gets buried in the compost. If I want to put them in the trash, I'll triple bag and put them in the freezer till trash day. Otherwise, the flies have already laid eggs and if not frozen, they'll be a roiling mass of maggots in a day.

It does matter - wood drill bits won't work on metal (destroying the bit in the process, unless used on thin and soft metals) and metal drill bits will increase splintering and tear-out when used on wood (but this depends also on the wood type and the diameter of the bit, and for smaller diameters there is little difference between wood and metal drills bits).
As for how to tell them apart - wood drill bits have two distinguishing features: a spar (also brad) and a lip. The spar helps in keeping the bit centered when starting the hole and prevents wondering of the bit on the surface of the wood. The lip acts like a chisel, slicing through the wood fibers in the circumference of the drilled hole, improving the quality of the finish. This is most important for through holes, where the lips helps reduce "blow-out" of the wood when exiting the wood on the other side. Wood bits are typical black and silvery in color, but other colors exist.

Metal drill bits, on the other hand, have just an angle at the tip. They often are fully black (plain HSS), golden (often titanium oxide finish) or coppery (often cobalt steel) in color:



I'm sorry.

Burn, bury, you can probably get away with bagging and putting into trash, although I think you are not supposed too.

Very good description of bits and the reasons they're shaped the way they are.
I wanted to add that there are a few different kinds of wood bits depending on one's needs.
I've never had the occasion to use forstner bits.
I usually use spade bits for flat wood. I recently needed to drill a few hundred holes in small logs. The spade bits didn't work well nor did normal twist bits.
Screw point auger bits were the right tool for the job.

Normal spade bit works fast.





Screw tip auger bit pulls itself into wood regardless of what the surface is like.



Forstner bits are for the cleanest holes.



These eject chips well.

Town wasn't that small. Maybe 3500 people no signal lights when I first moved there. I miss the place just not enough work to keep a family going. It's a miracle the group I hung with are alive today some of the games we played would make parents cringe. What mom and dad don't know right?

No offense but I've worked in factories with larger populations. There were stop signs, traffic lights and railroad crossings in there too.

I finally cried for a minute. That and waiting half an hour made cleaning up a breeze.
Has anyone ever growled at a chick, telling it to get mad? One baby is all but dead. I took it out, gave it Nutri-drench and wrapped it up. I then walked around the house growling at it, telling it to get mad and peep. It didn't listen.

I found the entry point. I can fix it easily enough today.

Clearly a raccoon attack. Or multiple raccoons. They try to kill quickly by biting the neck or head so they don't have to work so hard. Then they'll feast a little. I've had raccoons kill all the birds in a building and only eat one.

You can do it, whether new materials or found/recycled/scrap. I'm alone, and wasn't all that handy, and I figured it out and built some pretty nice coops (with some messy stuff along the way). Just remember that it doesn't have to be pretty, but it does need to be secure. No gaps or openings more than about 1/2" anywhere is a good rule. That includes an apron for about 2 feet around on all sides, because many predators will dig their way in.

So CC isn't an Earthing?

Congratulations! Any particular reason that you think it went better this time? (I thought you said something about that in a previous post, but can't recall.)

...

- Ant Farm

I'm clearly not a normal earthling. Beam me up Scotty, there's no intelligent life down here.

Not sure except these eggs were all fresh, the incubator is in the house where I can monitor temps better and turn more regularly. The moon is in the last quarter (not good) but it was in the fruitful sign of Cancer during the hatch. I also did an ascorbic acid dip of half the eggs.
I also pay dear attention to breeder nutrition and early this summer I intentionally molted the hens. What that does is give them a break that makes ensuing eggs more hatchable because of the store of nutrients therein.

The wiring was away from the (screen) door, and of course the screen was pushed out. No actual size.

They can squeeze through the tightest spaces. I had raccoons rip the siding off of a building. On another building they chewed a little hole in the door and gained entry.

I have stuff to do.

I don't want to do it.

......

I feel you there. The chores keep piling up.

My coops all each have a separate paddock, surrounded by plastic deer fencing. The coops are predator tight to the best of my abilities, but the paddocks are a deterrent at best - they wouldn't keep a large predator out, but my property fencing does that, and each group has a rooster, and they all do their jobs to alarm and protect during the day.

I close up the paddock "gate" (overlapping netting) after I lock each group up in their coops at night. For the past three nights, I have found the netting "gate" drooping open for the cockerel paddock the next morning. At first I thought I had just not secured it well (it hooks on spots on the posts). But it was very clear this morning that what is happening is something is getting in at night - it could be the water out in pans (it was really dirty this AM, so something probably messed with it), but I'm thinking that whatever it is may also be seeing if they can get at the chickens. The paddock gate for a second coop was also gaping this AM. All birds were fine, no ways for anything larger than 1/2 " to get in, but it's still a bit nerve wracking... MC, your news will have me double checking all the coops for points of weakness today.

- Ant Farm

My separate paddocks are to separate the lines of chickens, they certainly don't provide any protection.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

I have yet to buy a trap, because it seemed like an unneeded expense for the past 4+ years. Apparently, I will be buying one.
There is nothing wrong with any of your ideas, but I must say that this is my first attack in all these years. You were saying that your method has worked for you for several years as well. Things happen. I will not feel like crap for this. Had I closed the coop, the boys (and apparently girl) would not of been sleeping on the pop door.
I am confused by many things. But they don't matter. I will be fixing the door today, and will be locking the pop door.

You are absolutely right - you should not feel like crap for this, so good for you.

Things do happen. We just try to learn from them so that it doesn't happen again due to the same reason (though new ones then come along). I am thankful for everyone on BYC who has ever posted about loss of birds to predators, because it is a way for many of us to learn from others' experiences and hopefully avoid losses ourselves. (For example, I've never lost any due to a digging predator, because I read enough posts about predators digging to get into coops that I put a hardware cloth apron around everything when I built.)

- Ant Farm

 

[BullChick]

You are absolutely right - you should not feel like crap for this, so good for you.

Things do happen. We just try to learn from them so that it doesn't happen again due to the same reason (though new ones then come along). I am thankful for everyone on BYC who has ever posted about loss of birds to predators, because it is a way for many of us to learn from others' experiences and hopefully avoid losses ourselves. (For example, I've never lost any due to a digging predator, because I read enough posts about predators digging to get into coops that I put a hardware cloth apron around everything when I built.) 

- Ant Farm 

Yes, I try to always have a skirt to prevent digging.
The screen door was covered in wire. Sometimes the door will get stuck on ice. Sometimes the door we get stuck in the dirt. The wiring has been wiggled and scraped loose. I should have been more cautious. I had plans to rewire the run anyway. It looks like I'll be getting out my credit card rather than waiting around for money in the bank.

 

[Fire Ant Farm]

Quote: I had raccoons pull big chunks of siding off my house to get into the attic, so, yeah. Freaky.

Like you, I keep paddocks primarily to keep different chicken families separated - and also to help with land management (switching paddocks when the greenery/grass is grazed and dug down and needs to recover). Never intended to keep predators out, but it deters the odd stray cat during the day long enough for them to get terrified of the rooster that comes running and immediately challenges across the fence, and twice in the past has kept dogs out at least long enough for either me or a rooster to do something about it (until I finished the fencing so they couldn't get in any more).

I really need to get some work done. (Don't wanna!!!!!

)

- Ant Farm

 

[kwhites634]

Quote: Confused by something I just said? Of course it matters. What is it?

 

[Jessimom]

I'm finally back home from my trip to panama. I can't believe how much my babies grew in 2 weeks. Lots of chickens roaming around in panama. I saw frizzles, naked necks, aracaunas!

Awesome! Hope you had fun in Panama! Glad you made it home safely, and found such a fun mix of babies!!

My coops all each have a separate paddock, surrounded by plastic deer fencing. The coops are predator tight to the best of my abilities, but the paddocks are a deterrent at best - they wouldn't keep a large predator out, but my property fencing does that, and each group has a rooster, and they all do their jobs to alarm and protect during the day.

I close up the paddock "gate" (overlapping netting) after I lock each group up in their coops at night. For the past three nights, I have found the netting "gate" drooping open for the cockerel paddock the next morning. At first I thought I had just not secured it well (it hooks on spots on the posts). But it was very clear this morning that what is happening is something is getting in at night - it could be the water out in pans (it was really dirty this AM, so something probably messed with it), but I'm thinking that whatever it is may also be seeing if they can get at the chickens. The paddock gate for a second coop was also gaping this AM. All birds were fine, no ways for anything larger than 1/2 " to get in, but it's still a bit nerve wracking... MC, your news will have me double checking all the coops for points of weakness today.

- Ant Farm

So far the only predators I've had attack were the Hawks in my Silkie pen. That pen is now totally secure - from Hawks. Not much else. My laying hens are locked up ok. My babies are the most secure. A real door, then cages inside the coop. But, if an animal is determined, I'm sure they could get into all my coops.


@MotorcycleChick I'm really sorry for your loss. I left the carcasses that the hawks had killed, down near where the coyotes hang out. They were gone within hours. The first ones I didnt' know why they died, I shipped off for testing. For the babies that have died, and eggs that don't hatch I burying them in my compost bin.

Hi Everyone!

I've gotten rid of, or planned a location to move my chickens to for about 1/2 of them. I still have a lot to get rid of....it's slow going. Not many people want chickens right now. I brought 10 more roosters out to the place I've been bringing my others, and they couldn't take them. I'm still not ready to try to process them. Some of them are WAY, way too pretty to eat!!!!

 

[mlm Mike]

Quote: Thanks,but I did not write the description, I lifted from another site, I updated my post to include the link.

Is it safe to assume that the hundreds of holes drilled in logs were for mushroom plugs?

Congratulations on your hatch!