Here's a quick, easy, and inexpensive water container that's ideal for use inside of a brooder or coop. The water stays clean so it doesn't need to be changed daily, and there's virtually no waste or spatter, so bedding stays dry. This procedure can be used on larger or smaller containers. While I haven't attempted metal, they work great on most any plastic containers... as long as it's thick enough to provide a good seal on the threads. I previously had a Sterilite 2-quart pitcher in my brooder, but with a large number of chicks, it requires refilling every day. I bought a 1-gallon pitcher from a dollar store to make a new one with the extra horizontal poultry nipples I got from Amazon. Start by drilling 1/4" holes in three places (or how many you want) near the bottom of the pitcher, swap to a 3/8" bit to get the final size hole. Drilling a smaller hole and changing to a larger bit helps keep the plastic cooler so there's less melting and balling up of the plastic. Once the 3/8" holes are drilled, I trim off any burrs that remain, and give the holes a slight bevel since the nipple threads are tapered. Making sure the nipples are not going in at an angle, screw them in until they're almost flush with the pitcher. You don't want to screw them all the way down, or you run the risk of stripping out the hole! Once the nipples are installed, it's time to leak-test them. I've made several of these, and have yet to have one leak.
Chicken hawk, chicks hatch they have part of the umbilicus and wetness in the bator and get that all over the other eggs, after two days of hatch that crap reeks and is already getting discusting, how about you putting gunk out on the patio table and letting the sun and wetness hit it at high humidity and 99 degree temps!! GROSS and fuzzy GROWTH
Yes! I'm really considering pursuing a career with poultry, I've heard there are some internship possibilities with Metzer Farms and Ideal Hatchery, I may explore that in the future. My mom observed this weekend that dad has built more things in the past year for me than the last 20 for her! And he hasn't even started building my chicken tractors/breeding pens yet!
That's the part I don't understand. Why would someone rather have eggs from a place like that (and there are many of them) rather than a fresh egg from a healthy chicken that lives in a healthy environment and eats healthy food? Is it because the eggs have had a bleach bath and come with a cute little EB stamp on them? Maybe an Omega-3 emblem on the carton label? The logic defies me...
I dreamed last night that I set eggs in the bator, but after a few days realized the bator was still dirty from the last hatch. Does that qualify as a nightmare?
Hello all! The days are getting longer, I know this because we finally got a white egg from one of our Andalusians
. I wish I had more time to chat this weekend but I have been so busy trying to catch up on my days off. The coolerbator vs styrobator test is in full swing. I am noticing a little late now that I have hot and cold spots in the coolerbator . I failed to test that earlier. So I am going to research on how to fix that. Hope everyone is having a wonderful day ! I will try to pop in though out the day.
. Studies have demonstrated an interaction between the time of hatching and the time until the chick has access to food and water [15], [42]. In commercial settings, hatched chicks are removed from the incubator only at a point when most eggs have already hatched, leading to differences in the time from hatching to feeding. Early hatchers thus spend longer time in the sub-optimal hatcher environment, and this also affects them differently than late hatchers when it comes to post hatch growth development [15] http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0103040
Note: Just because we Know chicks can live off of yolk for up 48-72 hours does NOT mean its BEST for them!
You could create a page and enter it into this contest ~https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...y-contest-2-show-us-your-project-and-win/0_30 
