"Louisiana "La-yers" Peeps"

[campingshaws]

Boy do you bring back memories of when I first started hatching!
You're doing fine.
Keep.Your.Hands.Off.The.Bator. Just quit it. Remember, temps & humidity are NOT perfect in nature, either! -- eggs can take a LOT of abuse & still hatch.
I've had 100% hatches. I've had 0% hatches. It's like anything else, it just takes practice - and patience - and every time you hatch, you learn something new.
Welcome to chick hatching fever!

Thanks! I'm about to make signs for myself that say "Look in the window and WALK AWAY."

The kids and I are getting stir crazy. Maybe I can bundle them up and throw them out in the yard for a while.

 

[LemonMeringue]

I've read numerous reports in the last 2 weeks about coop or barn fires like this one. http://www.newhampshire.com/article/20141229/NEWHAMPSHIRE1409/141239954&template=newhampshire1409

I'm so glad we decided to not use any heat lamps outside this year. We did use a different kind of heater at the beginning when we had those terrible cold snaps. But our chickens are plenty acclimated. It would be terrible to loose it all in a fire.

 

[TerriLaChicks]

 

[kacklinghen]

I've read numerous reports in the last 2 weeks about coop or barn fires like this one. http://www.newhampshire.com/article/20141229/NEWHAMPSHIRE1409/141239954&template=newhampshire1409

I'm so glad we decided to not use any heat lamps outside this year. We did use a different kind of heater at the beginning when we had those terrible cold snaps. But our chickens are plenty acclimated. It would be terrible to loose it all in a fire.

When I read a man in Alaska did not use lamps I decided not to either. I do have a heat lamp hooked on top of roof but I only plug it in to give extra light when it is dark( better egg production) and I am outside with them. At 8:00 pm I turn light off for the night. It would crush my heart too if I lost my babies that way.

 

[kacklinghen]

It's heart breaking when some struggle. Every hatch I learn more. Good goin so far

AWE they are so cute

 

[Chica Chick]

Well everybody,my early hatch is going fairly well, out of 13 i have lost one due to sufocation, i didn't catch it in time to save it, when i got up yesterday the humidity had dropped to 40% from 65/70 the night before, i raced and added water and got the humidty back up, then at noon the critters started hatching 2 days early, i now have 12 live chicks, although i have 1 that is still a ? mark, it pulled the yolk sack out when it kicked out, i cleaned it up and put it in a folded paper towel in a tea cup, it seemed fine, then when i got up at 4 am to check on them, i found it had gotten out of the cup, the first 2 chicks that hatched had pulled some of its intestines out, i though that was the end, but decided i woul try to save the little feller, i took some sterile tweezers and carefully inserted them back inside, it imediately crapped in my hand, that was over 12 hours ago and he is still kicking, he took water, but hasn't eaten, i am afraid he may starve as the yolk sack was rupured. going to see if i can give him some honey water till it gets an appitite. this was 1 of the 2 CL eggs i had hatching, so far the other one hasn't pippied, the 3 WL X barred rock eggs gave 2 roos, yellow all the way and one barred pullet black with white breast and a white dot on its head, i RSL was successful, black with white spot on head, from the BR cross, i assume it is a pullet asthe dot is small and well defined, i have a few FBCM X EEs, they have down on their legs, and some EE over EE chicks as well. BR roo over WL FBCM over EE BR roo over WL CCL over CL this is the little fellow that is in trouble, as you can see, he /it is resilient other than getting tired real fast, i think he retianed a small amout of yolk, I think i have 22 eggs left to hatch tomorrow on time, I got 4 hours sleep last night and wished i had been awake all night, i think this chick would be better off, and the one i lost would have made it, this is the cherry hatch thogh so i see it as a success even if no more hatch, I know a lot more than before and that was my goal, before i set a hatch that will mean make or break.

Sad for the last little chick but the others are sweet! Congrats!

 

[LindaB220]

Hi everyone. New here and new to chicks. Planning to get some this spring. Thinking of speckled Sussex. Anyone in La or MS breeding them? Considering ordering and hatching eggs if not. Thoughts?

Hey Chica Chick,

Lovely to have you. I love the speckled Sussex but I don't have any. I'm 20 miles east of Shreveport. I do have one lone Coronation Sussex. And is she looking fine. I'm putting her with my Blosl pullet and 2 XW pullets (White Plymouth Rock) and will breed her with my BIGBOY Blosl rooster I got the other day. Really looking forward to it.

 

[LindaB220]

Just my opinion, I keep my humidity around 30=-35% --I found the higher humidity caused chicks to drown in the shells before hatching - I have better hatches with the lower humidity. I don't know how it works in those big bators though/ maybe someone w/more experience w/those will chime in. Once the hatch starts, the humidity naturally spikes up.

Yeah, I'm sitting on 100 and 30-35%. BUT I'm not expert, I just heard this was the better way to go. Dry hatching. A lot of good reviews on it.!!!!!

I'm on day 13 with my doz Marraduna Basques and 3 Lemon Cuckoo Orphingtons. Three are visually clear but I'm keeping them in to be sure. I totally suck at candling.

 

[LindaB220]

Hello Chica, welcome to Layers Peep, from Jena La, got my first chicks in March, i have my first hatch coming off now, if it is successful, they will put me over 100 before the end of the year, ask some one about chicken math.

Thought about you Topdog, as I'm getting ready to place my order for 40, not 30, ISA Brown pullets. They lay over 300 eggs a year and start at 4 or so mo. Townline is the only :US hatchery that sells the French ISA Browns. They are the egg layer version of the CX's. They have 4 different grandparents and what they are doing is so much better than just the regular red sex links. With the shipping the 40 are $125 and will give me, gasp, 12,000 eggs a yr. Twenty something dozen a week. And I'm moving over to Azure organic feed for $22.95 or so for 40 lbs. These are smaller birds than I'm used to feeding. The white rocks are very large and my rescue Cx breeders are gluttons. I'll be saving money on these girls. 1/3 c to a 1/2 c daily for feed and let them play out in the open run under the trees.
I have been getting my design ready for the good size garden. It' will be strawbales and containers. Something I can handle. I'm not opposed to hiring someone to work a couple of times a week for 2-3 hrs to pick and pack eggs. I'ts all going to be organic even though I can't advertise the fact. How much is it to go organic? I've heard hundreds of dollars a year. I'm sitting on a goldmine with 5 or 6 newish upscale subdivisions with 5 min from me. I'm thinking of offering to deliver for a couple of bucks extra if they buy eggs, my artisan bread and a bunch of veggies. Excited!!!

 

[LindaB220]

Oh gosh, Pam, that's not even a joke. I've gone to look at them at least a dozen times. I don't smoke, but this hatch may drive me to start.

I'm on day 13 with my Marraduna Basques and Ron Ott said to take the top off the incubator from day 8 to day 18 for a couple of hours to get a cool down. The incubator companies are now starting to talk about it also. I'll see if it works. Thirty to thirty five percent humidity at 100 degrees. Three clears of 15. So far. I'll bump it to 50% around lockdown. It goes higher when they start to hatch.

Pam, I thought of you when you said that La has coyotes. I've never heard them up here at all. Now I have an ungodly howling outside my window. Aimee has been going gangbusters on her dog boarding. Clint took in a german shephard and low and behold, it's a 100% wolf. Eyes glow at night. She's 18 months old and really friendly. So Clint says. I'm not gonna go out there.