Keeping eggs separate during hatch... any advice?

[duckluck]

Here's what I did with the hardware cloth, not a great picture but it gives you an idea:

See the guy in the upper right hand corner? I made like a little cage with the hardware cloth to keep the chicks separate...this is a trial run, I don't really care about these chicks mixing but I will care with my call ducks once I have them separated. Hint: wear some kind of gloves when messing with that hardware cloth.

 

[hipeatall]

Thank you so much for the pic! This really helps!

 

[OutInTheStiks]

I'm so glad you asked this question. We will (hopefully) have a similiar situation in our first hatch and now I have the solution for it. Thanks!

 

[ccrawf]

Hadn't thought about it, but this will come in very handy when I hatch mine. I'll have three different sets I want to keep separate.
Thanks.

 

[duckluck]

Quote:
Sure! That's just our prototype...will likely have to make something larger with a lot more compartments, or many more smaller cages that are not quite so tall, to completely fill my hatcher drawers with them. I have seven breeding pairs of call ducks right now, soon to be eight, and I want to separate out the eggs from each parent pair, so I will have to divide the drawers into quarters this way.

 

[chickenmeadow]

hipeatall: I have successfully used plastic canvas mesh in my incubator with a very good hatch. It cleans easily after & doesn't have any sharp edges to cut chicks on. When I need to create a divider wall it can be secured (against strong chicks) with yarn or string by attaching to the floor. I have replaced the mesh floor in the incubator with this plastic canvas because a chick once cut it's face on the wire mesh edges. Mine is a round, doomed Marsh incubator & the floor does not fit super snug against the lid which is also the sides. Maybe you don't have this problem in your incubator. The wire mesh is an excellent idea, this just gives you another option.

 

[Apprentice_egger]

Quote:
Good Luck to you as well! So what breeds are your hatching?

I have Silkies and Bantam Cochins in this set. The Cochins are from my own chickens. They layed 3 today which is a new record since I got them.

 

[Buckhorn Farm]

What will you do to know who is who when you move them to the brooder?

 

[hipeatall]

Buckhorn Farm, I plan to put little strips of colored velcro around their feet so I know who is who

I read about it in a different thread here on byc... of course!

Apprentice_egger, Silkies and Bantam Cochins... I love both of those breeds. My little boy has a lovely trio of Black Bantam Cochins that he got from Dan Dykes... they are our first bantams and they are such sweet beautiful birds. We boy can't wait for them to start laying... he's checked every single day since we got them in November

!

save the favs, plastic canvas mesh... what a great idea... I will have to see if they have some at Michael's!

I really appreciate all of the feedback on this... it is sooooo wonderful to have this forum... what a huge wealth of information!!!! LOVE IT!

 

[duckluck]

Quote:
Usually, call ducklings are punched with a special hole punch on the webbing between their toes. There is a code for this but some breeders use it differently than others to keep track of their hatches. They also use the plastic bandettes but these sometimes come off, and they would have to be kept track of as the ducklings grow so they don't get too tight. I have seen domestic geese in the park that have been abandoned and it's horrific what happens when the bands are outgrown but still stay on. This is why everyone should cut up the plastic rings that encircle six-packs of cans, because they can get their legs/heads/necks entangled in them. Somehow those things get into the waterways a LOT.