Maine

[CoopChick719]

double post

 

[MustardTiger]

I have thought about the dog bowls. Don't they kick dirt into it constantly or have you rigged it to hang up?

Sorry about your fav ash :/

 

[Clover Run]

I know this is off topic but am fairly certain someone with more chicken knowledge than me can answer this one! I have searched the threads to no avail... What does the "8+" or any number followed by the plus sign mean when people in the selling eggs forum describe their eggs as 12+, 8+,etc.? Can't be weight - holy eggs, batman! Circumference in centimeters? Help!

I am behind on reading the thread so maybe someone already answered you - but if not - the "+" means you will get a couple more eggs than the stated number. Also ask questions always - someone else is wondering the same thing usually and eggs are certainly not off topic!

 

[annabananaandfamily]

Quick hatching question for you guys-

I have heard a lot of people suggest hatching the eggs in cartons or baskets inside the incubator. Can you give me specific how-tos on this? Do I just pop them in a carton before lockdown? I read someone saying to cut the bottom out of the cartons...Does the carton hinder the chicks ability to hatch? Or is it helpful to prevent the first hatchers from sending all the others rolling around the incubator?

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Quick hatching question for you guys-

I have heard a lot of people suggest hatching the eggs in cartons or baskets inside the incubator. Can you give me specific how-tos on this? Do I just pop them in a carton before lockdown? I read someone saying to cut the bottom out of the cartons...Does the carton hinder the chicks ability to hatch? Or is it helpful to prevent the first hatchers from sending all the others rolling around the incubator?

If you use cartons I suggest you don't use the pulp ones - they can absorb the moisture that the eggs need to properly hatch. I used to use the plastic ones, and I would cut the bottom out of each well, so the air and humidity could circulate. I stopped doing it, however, because it didn't help at all with clean up, and I felt like it made the hatching harder on the chicks (they couldn't roll around). Also once hatched there was significantly less room in the incubator and the chicks would flop all over the place and sometimes dive head first into a crater, and have a hard time getting out. That was my main reason for stopping. It also decreases the amount of space in your incubator - if I have more than 24 eggs hatching I can't use the cartons.

 

[joanie_maine]

Quick hatching question for you guys-

I have heard a lot of people suggest hatching the eggs in cartons or baskets inside the incubator. Can you give me specific how-tos on this? Do I just pop them in a carton before lockdown? I read someone saying to cut the bottom out of the cartons...Does the carton hinder the chicks ability to hatch? Or is it helpful to prevent the first hatchers from sending all the others rolling around the incubator?

I'm assuming you don't use an egg turner. With a turner you just stop the turner on day 18.

With the X O method, with eggs lying on their side, you stop turning them on day 18 and just let nature take it's course. The hatched chicks will not hurt the unhatched eggs.

Adding cartons, etc just makes changes in humidity, which is needed at hatch time!

 

[Widget]

I used one of the heated dog bowls a couple years ago and had great results. It holds about a gallon of water. Of course at that time the chickens were in a coop under my back deck and the outlet to plug the dish in was only five feet away. Have no complaints about it. But now that the chickens and ducks are about as far away from and outlet as they can possibly be it doesn't make sense to run a cord. I use a two gallon feed bucket and give them fresh water two or three times a day. I have to do the same with the goats so it isn't too much work. The horses on the other had take about 12-15 gallons two to three times a day. After watering them taking water out to the birds is a breeze.

 

[buckabucka]

I have mixed feelings on cartons. I cut mine way down, taking off the top and the bottom. I used paper cartons, because I wondered about the chemical content of the foam ones, which is really crazy because my whole incubator is foam and plastic!

On eggs which have a very clear air cell, I felt like the carton helped position them correctly. But if your egg pips on the wrong end, you won't see it. When I hatched in a Hovabator, I took the auto turner out, replacing it with the cut-down carton. Now that I use a Brinsea, I find it is too crowded. I've had some hit the fan, not to the point of injury, but even the fluff hitting the fan makes a horrible grinding noise!

I have not had a problem with humidity either way. I monitor closely and add water with a straw as necessary. I think the carton probably only benefits the hatcher (in that it is easy to spot the pips without everything rolling around), but as far as the chicks are concerned, it is just fine without a carton.

 

[buckabucka]

Forgot to mention that I set my heated dog bowl on a square cinder block. It is a good height for drinking and keeps most of the dirt and shavings out. I just add water each day, and try to change the water twice a week.

This may be obvious to everyone else, but it took me two years of reading on the forum that you do not need to unplug the dog bowl and precariously carry it outside to empty it! Bring a bucket inside, dump the old water into it, wipe out the bowl and refill with fresh water. Why I was so blind to this for so long is beyond me. I think it was partly because I used to use snow as a cleaner. Now I use a paper towel.

 

[joanie_maine]

Just a last word on poultry shows....

Remember, The CMBF Club has a show coming up in May. For us Mainers, it's not a far trip, the Windsor Fairgrounds are spacious & convenient and it's a one day event.

The club will make sure that entry forms are easy to find.

Hoppy is our resident go-to person for the club.

Clover Run is our Mainer Poultry Tester, so you can get your testing certificate to send in with your entry (required). Book a date with her for your NPIP testing early (she's a busy lady)!

If you want to start show your birds, this show is a good place to start