Jacin's Poultry 2022

[JacinLarkwell]

Two of them were completely blind. One hen and her daughter. I test set a few eggs and the chick that developed was just as blind as their mom. I made them a small round pen where there weren't any corners. A broomstick as a roost pole low to the ground and food and water that were always in the same spot and they lived for many years. The lawnmower terrified them. And if I moved their pen closer to a rooster, for instance, the first few times they'd crow the girls would just stop and blindly stare around before they got used to it.

This girl I just noticed a bit of cloudiness in her left eye. She's getting around fine, but I'll keep an eye on her. Now I need to find a male. This breeder lost her rooster, and the breeder she got them from also lost her rooster. Ughh.

Well.... worst case scenario, Murray McMurray and I think Cackle have buttercups.....

 

[ColtHandorf]

Well.... worst case scenario, Murray McMurray and I think Cackle have buttercups.....

I refuse to order a single male from them and get 35 sex-link cockerels as peanuts. lol If I can't find anything at all locally I'll get the local feedstore to order a few and I'll get them there I suppose.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I refuse to order a single male from them and get 35 sex-link cockerels as peanuts. lol If I can't find anything at all locally I'll get the local feedstore to order a few and I'll get them there I suppose.

No. You order a single male and then lots of pretty ladies for him

 

[NatJ]

I refuse to order a single male from them and get 35 sex-link cockerels as peanuts. lol If I can't find anything at all locally I'll get the local feedstore to order a few and I'll get them there I suppose.

McMurray has a minimum order of 15 (6 in the warm months), so you wouldn't need THAT many packing peanuts! (Although they have a small order charge that may cost as much buying 9 more chicks to avoid the charge.)

 

[JacinLarkwell]

McMurray has a minimum order of 15 (6 in the warm months), so you wouldn't need THAT many packing peanuts! (Although they have a small order charge that may cost as much buying 9 more chicks to avoid the charge.)

Yeah, that charge only helped my addiction last year since I wasn't going to waste 60 bucks when it would only be like 70 to get the normal minimum and I wouldn't have to worry about certain reeds not making it

 

[NatJ]

Yeah, that charge only helped my addiction last year since I wasn't going to waste 60 bucks when it would only be like 70 to get the normal minimum and I wouldn't have to worry about certain reeds not making it

Speaking of last year, I remember you had trouble with newly-arrived chicks and heat plates.

I was looking through Cackle Hatchery's page of policies, and found this bit very interesting:

"MAIL ORDER CHICKS REQUIRE HEAT BULB NOT HEAT PLATE

"Mail order poultry is entirely different than poultry hatched out in an incubator at home or under a hen. Mail order poultry require much more heat initially for the 4-7 days than a heat plate generally can provide. Mail order chicks need their body temperature rapidly and immediately and artificially warmed up to 104 degrees (which is a mother hens’ temperature). Most heat plates do not do this. The chick does not have the ability to generate enough of its own heat immediately on arrival and sustain its own temperature. About the time of arrival, the chick is losing it’s (mother nature protection). Generally, after the first 7-10 days of using a heat lamp you can switch to a heat plate that does not put out any light so the chicks can adjust to a more circadian rhythm."

https://www.cacklehatchery.com/guarantees-policies/

 

[JacinLarkwell]

P

Speaking of last year, I remember you had trouble with newly-arrived chicks and heat plates.

I was looking through Cackle Hatchery's page of policies, and found this bit very interesting:

"MAIL ORDER CHICKS REQUIRE HEAT BULB NOT HEAT PLATE

"Mail order poultry is entirely different than poultry hatched out in an incubator at home or under a hen. Mail order poultry require much more heat initially for the 4-7 days than a heat plate generally can provide. Mail order chicks need their body temperature rapidly and immediately and artificially warmed up to 104 degrees (which is a mother hens’ temperature). Most heat plates do not do this. The chick does not have the ability to generate enough of its own heat immediately on arrival and sustain its own temperature. About the time of arrival, the chick is losing it’s (mother nature protection). Generally, after the first 7-10 days of using a heat lamp you can switch to a heat plate that does not put out any light so the chicks can adjust to a more circadian rhythm."

https://www.cacklehatchery.com/guarantees-policies/

Hmm. Thanks. I didn't order from them last year so I did miss that. But I did end up having to use a bulb until they were acting normal at a week or two.

 

[NatJ]

I didn't order from them last year so I did miss that. But I did end up having to use a bulb until they were acting normal at a week or two.

If they felt the need to add that to their page of basic information, I'm thinking you were not the only person to have trouble with newly-arrived chicks and heat plates!

They also have a note on the brooder plate they sell:
https://www.cacklehatchery.com/product/ecoglow-20-chick-brooder/
"Note: This brooder is recommended to be used on chicks at least 2 weeks of age."

(I find other places selling that same brooder plate with no such notes, and the manufacturer's own website gives a capacity of 20 "newly hatched chicks," so obviously the maker of the brooder plate thinks it should be fine.)

 

[Tonyroo]

Some manufacturers don't test it throughly and get there research and development from customer complaints. ( I really hate that).

So any product you buy you must test it first and know how it will function under your own conditions.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Some manufacturers don't test it throughly and get there research and development from customer complaints. ( I really hate that).

So any product you buy you must test it first and know how it will function under your own conditions.

We did try to test them before the birds came, and they felt plenty warm when we were touching the plate like the chicks needed to. But the chicks obviously didn't thrive like we had hoped. Plus the reviews from Brinsea seemed to be just what I had wanted. But as we're all learning, I have abysmal luck judging based on reviews.

If they felt the need to add that to their page of basic information, I'm thinking you were not the only person to have trouble with newly-arrived chicks and heat plates!

They also have a note on the brooder plate they sell:
https://www.cacklehatchery.com/product/ecoglow-20-chick-brooder/
"Note: This brooder is recommended to be used on chicks at least 2 weeks of age."

(I find other places selling that same brooder plate with no such notes, and the manufacturer's own website gives a capacity of 20 "newly hatched chicks," so obviously the maker of the brooder plate thinks it should be fine.)

At least someone is trying to spread the awareness. I'll take that over no one trying. Just means by the time they're old enough to use them, it might be warm enough to pull them out