INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[hoosiercheetah]

Rural king in ft wayne has layer crumble for $8.99 per 50# bag for their grand opening

That's awesome! Too bad I'd spend more in gas than I'd save on the feed. ;-)

 

[leslea]

Yes, it is a more natural way to heat the chicks (like a broody). The chicks go under the EcoGlow when they want to hide or are cold and press against the bottom (make sure it isn't set too high). Then they go out and eat/drink/play until they need to warm up again. People say this is more natural, safer, and they feather out faster this way.

If the thermometer under the brooder reads 80 it won't be too cold for guineas and bantams? I'm getting mixed answers on this and I'm afraid of losing my babies.

 

[leslea]

to get a true reading, you would need to press the thermometer against the bottom of the plate. If the air temp in the area under the plate is 85, I would think you are good. I've never measured the temp under mine (I have both brinsea and premiere1). I just plug them in, wait an hour, then start putting chicks under them. To me, they beat a heat lamp any day of the week. No fire danger, huge electric savings, and better day/night experience for the chicks. @ChickCrazed is right, The chicks will decide when they need the heat and when they don't. Just make sure that when you first put them under there, don't give them a lot of area to wander away from the plate. Just enough room for the plate, food, and water seems to work for me. Once they get used to all three, then I open up the rest of the brooder space.

I should probably close off half the big box, then. Thanks

 

[leslea]

The silkie chickens are only featured in one episode, and it was towards the end of the episode. I think it was the episode Cockadoodledoo and only in the last 20 minutes or so.

Okay!

 

[ChickCrazed]

If the thermometer under the brooder reads 80 it won't be too cold for guineas and bantams? I'm getting mixed answers on this and I'm afraid of losing my babies.

I don't know much about guineas but my isbars were basically bantam sized and they were fine. With them being small you will have the EcoGlow on the shortest setting for longer than a LF chick would need. They need to be able to press up against the heat plate, so you need to make sure it isn't too tall for them to reach when standing. Just research the signs to look for with guineas being cold. For chicks an incorrect temperature can cause things like pasty butt and huddling/piling (which they sometimes do anyway, especially when sleeping). I'm sure you can find similar signs to watch for with guineas. I think you are stressing a bit more than you need to

 

[FlockMaster-614]

Alright, 9 chicks out of 12 eggs that had chicks in them. For some reason three didn't hatch and stopped around day 16-21 I suppose because one was full formed and ready to hatch I think, the others were farther behind but still close. Out of the whole batch of 18, 6 eggs were duds but over all I'm pleased I have 9 cute little balls of fluff running around now and we only had trouble with one who got shrink wrapped and we had to help him out and he looked sort a crippled at first but he is just fine now! He's really small though but he looks good.

We have a new stray cat hanging around. He is a long haired brown tabby and we think he's a tom but that's no good as we've got our two year old girls and they haven't yet gotten fixed. But I'm partial to little kittens!

Sorry about all the cars and this talk about coyotes. We live on 90+ acres of woods and we have coyotes pretty bad I guess. I said this already but we ran into two the other day when we went behind the creek and my dad has banned us from the creek. Good thing too we didn't have anything but walking sticks and they looked about as big as a medium sized dog and I bet they were hungry. All that talk about coyote attacks I'm thinking about honing my shootin' skills.

My hen, Deedee, the one with the um, bad bottom issues from an unknown attack is doing MUCH better. She hates confibement though so I've been putting her cage outside so she could range a bit and I looked out to see the rest of the girls and the roo were all gathered round sitting and giving her company. It was sweet, of course I guess I should have expected it considering she would put up a ruckus when she heard the others from the garage.

 

[leslea]

I don't know much about guineas but my isbars were basically bantam sized and they were fine. With them being small you will have the EcoGlow on the shortest setting for longer than a LF chick would need. They need to be able to press up against the heat plate, so you need to make sure it isn't too tall for them to reach when standing. Just research the signs to look for with guineas being cold. For chicks an incorrect temperature can cause things like pasty butt and huddling/piling (which they sometimes do anyway, especially when sleeping). I'm sure you can find similar signs to watch for with guineas. I think you are stressing a bit more than you need to

I was confident about it until this morning.I keep reading that guinea keets are more delicate, and I came across a rash of reviews on Amazon for the EcoGlow saying they lost their keets and bantams.

 

[browncow15]

If the thermometer under the brooder reads 80 it won't be too cold for guineas and bantams? I'm getting mixed answers on this and I'm afraid of losing my babies.

The temp if the heating plate is actually a lot warmer than 80* I think the literature says as warm as 115* or 120* The plate won't radiate heat like a lamp will but it will be warm enough for your chicks! I have one week olds chicks and guineas out in my coop with a plate with ambient temps in the 40s at night and they've been fine!

 

[ChickCrazed]

Alright, 9 chicks out of 12 eggs that had chicks in them. For some reason three didn't hatch and stopped around day 16-21 I suppose because one was full formed and ready to hatch I think, the others were farther behind but still close. Out of the whole batch of 18, 6 eggs were duds but over all I'm pleased I have 9 cute little balls of fluff running around now and we only had trouble with one who got shrink wrapped and we had to help him out and he looked sort a crippled at first but he is just fine now!

He's really small though but he looks good.

We have a new stray cat hanging around. He is a long haired brown tabby and we think he's a tom but that's no good as we've got our two year old girls and they haven't yet gotten fixed. But I'm partial to little kittens!

Sorry about all the cars and this talk about coyotes. We live on 90+ acres of woods and we have coyotes pretty bad I guess. I said this already but we ran into two the other day when we went behind the creek and my dad has banned us from the creek. Good thing too we didn't have anything but walking sticks and they looked about as big as a medium sized dog and I bet they were hungry. All that talk about coyote attacks I'm thinking about honing my shootin' skills.

My hen, Deedee, the one with the um, bad bottom issues from an unknown attack is doing MUCH better. She hates confibement though so I've been putting her cage outside so she could range a bit and I looked out to see the rest of the girls and the roo were all gathered round sitting and giving her company.

It was sweet, of course I guess I should have expected it considering she would put up a ruckus when she heard the others from the garage.

Awww, please get BOTH cats fixed. It breaks my heart to hear how many cats/kittens and dogs/puppies get put down every year due to overpopulation. Or turn into coyote food....I hate to hear about it. I'm glad your girl is doing better. I have not yet had to separate one from the rest and am sure it is hard to see them bored and alone.

 

[leslea]

The temp if the heating plate is actually a lot warmer than 80* I think the literature says as warm as 115* or 120* The plate won't radiate heat like a lamp will but it will be warm enough for your chicks! I have one week olds chicks and guineas out in my coop with a plate with ambient temps in the 40s at night and they've been fine!

Okay!!!