Meyer Hatchery Chicken pics anyone??

[christine9]

So my babies will be seven weeks old. I read integration is best at eight weeks. I tried that last time and just feel like it was too early. However I have six little ones and four big ones, of which one is broody. Maybe I should wait a few extra weeks? I'm not 100% sure what to do. Do you guys wait longer? right now the little ones are in the grow out area which is inside but separated from the coop. They can all see and hear each other. They've been out there for about a month. Plus, peppy still does not roost with the girls. Maybe I should lock the little ones in the coop for a little while first so they know where to roost?

 

[NotableNancy]

So my babies will be seven weeks old. I read integration is best at eight weeks. I tried that last time and just feel like it was too early. However I have six little ones and four big ones, of which one is broody. Maybe I should wait a few extra weeks? I'm not 100% sure what to do. Do you guys wait longer? right now the little ones are in the grow out area which is inside but separated from the coop. They can all see and hear each other. They've been out there for about a month. Plus, peppy still does not roost with the girls. Maybe I should lock the little ones in the coop for a little while first so they know where to roost?

I integrated at 8 weeks last time and it was so-so. Mine are 7 and 8 weeks old now and I'm thinking of waiting until they are 9 and 10 wks old. I'll have 8 little ones and 12 grown girls to mix together. But my set up is different because my young ones will sleep in their own coop and just be together sun-up to sun down. That worked well last time so fingers crossed it is ok again.
They have been able to see each other a bit for about a month now but then I will let them see each other more for a week and then let them mingle completely with lots of hiding spaces.
Not looking forward to it... so stressful for them and me!

 

[NotableNancy]

Beautiful bantam and very pretty eggs! I like the porcelain d'uccles as well. We aren't ready to have bantams yet, there are many other breeds of LF I would like to get first and I would like to have a separate coop and run for the banties. My husband and I like Silver Fawn Dutch. It's why he chose a Dorking.




A couple days ago, she's perched on the tip of a branch sticking out of the woodpile

She's beautiful!! OK, now I have to add them to my want list!!!

So the other silkie egg just hatched! Now if I could just get some of these barred rocks to zip!

Congrats.... so exciting!!!

 

[jonsccm]

Patience is the hardest part. It's ok if the other eggs get knocked around. Just try to restrain yourself from opening it...try.
Oh hatching was so much fun. I hope to order some wheaten ameraucana eggs in the spring. Hopefully my little persimmon will hatch them for me. She's still doing a great job with my golf balls LOL.

Thank you! I have been trying to wait and it work! I have 8 hatched so far. And some more are showing improvment. It's to fogy to get good pictures but it won't be long now. I put the eggs in on Sunday three weeks ago. And I expected to see them hatch on Sunday. Does this mean that my heat was to high? 2 thermometers said 99.5°

 

[trsturself]

I love the hatching update.
I think we'll try hatching some Coronation Sussex next year if we can get our hands on some eggs. Here's a pic from google for those that aren't familiar. They are like a columbian pattern except with grey instead of black. DD thinks they are the prettiest chickens ever.

As for integration there are a lot of theories and methods out there. My first integration I did it at 8 weeks. I gave them their own hiding places and brought them in each evening for about a week then let them all sleep together. It wasn't the greatest integration.
After that I built a grow out pen in the run where they could see each other but couldn't get to each other and put a small wooden box with no bottom (it sat on the ground with some straw/shavings in it) and a closeable door to lock the young ones into at night (if it got especially cold I brought them inside). I left the young ones in this for a couple weeks. Then I'd open the door to it just a crack so they could start venturing out without the big girls getting in. They started running in and out right away. This worked beautifully. I've done it 2-3 times now and I don't have more than a peck at the food dish here and there now. This last batch of chicks I put out there at 4-5 weeks old! It was cool out at night so I would move them into a brooder box inside the coop each night, but same idea as before.

 

[christine9]

Thank you! I have been trying to wait and it work! I have 8 hatched so far. And some more are showing improvment. It's to fogy to get good pictures but it won't be long now. I put the eggs in on Sunday three weeks ago. And I expected to see them hatch on Sunday. Does this mean that my heat was to high? 2 thermometers said 99.5°

It's probably perfect in there! If your temp was off, your hatch rate would be low. Sounds like your hatch is going good!

 

[jonsccm]

It's probably perfect in there! If your temp was off, your hatch rate would be low. Sounds like your hatch is going good!

Thanks! 10 out of 14!! So far.... I have been trying to resurch about lock down is there any other reasons to not open it other then humidity levals? I left the windows open today and the humidity is about 70% in the incubator and about 63% in the house.One of the eggs pipped last night but has not shown progress after that. How do you know if they need help? And how would one help?

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Oh, Dutch are probably my favorite bantams... I'm quite taken by the cream light brown varieties (both fawn and BBS). Your Dorking is so beautiful. My girls still have that teenage awkwardness to them, not quite the beautiful, shapely ladies they will become yet. However, my Kit-kit squatted yesterday! They're only 18 1/2 weeks old, so that was a surprise!

Oh yes the little roosters are so handsome! Thank you, I love them at every stage but I am particularly enamored with how she is filling out. Aww, wow go Kit-Kit! Baby Buff, our Orp squatted for me the first time this morning but her comb and wattles are so tiny I'm not thinking it will be anytime soon. Whereas Morgaine the BCM is so red in the face with a really nice comb and wattles but I don't think she'll ever squat for me, she's so dominant and independent. Can you tell where your girls are in the pecking order? Just curious. I was getting a bit upset with Victoria this morning for hustling and trying to herd Amelia the Golden Buff. She actually chased her into the open pen/tractor during their free range time and got her in a corner and pecked her on the head for no apparent reason. For such a docile Dorking I'm just surprised. She's good with everyone else and really good with people, though she's been wanting to jump up high more often. Even though she has the longest lowest body she has the biggest wing span. A few days ago she flew/jumped from the ground onto my shoulder while I was standing, lol. I'm guessing she'll settle down a bit when she starts laying.

Must be Meyer's line of BCM! I was almost positive my Georgette was a boy because of her attitude! She and my Welsummer, Mabel, are the two bossy birds of the babies. My Dorkings are both very docile and meek, but they do kind of push around poor Violet the Bielefelder, who is even more meek than they are. Other than that, though, they are definitely not bossy! I'm sure they'll be good fliers until they get fat I mean, fill out. That's how most of my girls have been, with the exception of the white egg layers from last year (Leghorns, Ancona, Campine, etc.) and the Sebright bantams.

It is a Brinsea Eco 20. I don't have much to compare with. I know that some folks have had a hard time keeping the humidity up but living in the south I was worried the last few days that my average humidity was too high. But I don't know. It has been incredibly easy to keep up with, I have the auto turn cradle as well and seems to have done a good job. I just wish I locked it down sooner. Next time I will have a humidity gage in it and I will try to get something to candle with other then just a flash light. I have 7 pips now but no zips

Oh, yup, that's the one! I did have some issues with holding humidity at first, but once I got the hang of it it wasn't too bad. Unfortunately, the eggs were shipped, so I didn't have much success with actually hatching. :/ But that was not the incubator--those eggs were pretty much scrambled when they got here. :/ Fingers crossed for your other babies!!

I love the hatching update. I think we'll try hatching some Coronation Sussex next year if we can get our hands on some eggs. Here's a pic from google for those that aren't familiar. They are like a columbian pattern except with grey instead of black. DD thinks they are the prettiest chickens ever. As for integration there are a lot of theories and methods out there. My first integration I did it at 8 weeks. I gave them their own hiding places and brought them in each evening for about a week then let them all sleep together. It wasn't the greatest integration. After that I built a grow out pen in the run where they could see each other but couldn't get to each other and put a small wooden box with no bottom (it sat on the ground with some straw/shavings in it) and a closeable door to lock the young ones into at night (if it got especially cold I brought them inside). I left the young ones in this for a couple weeks. Then I'd open the door to it just a crack so they could start venturing out without the big girls getting in. They started running in and out right away. This worked beautifully. I've done it 2-3 times now and I don't have more than a peck at the food dish here and there now. This last batch of chicks I put out there at 4-5 weeks old! It was cool out at night so I would move them into a brooder box inside the coop each night, but same idea as before.

I integrate similarly. At 4 weeks, my babies start going outside during the day in this fenced-off area in my chicken yard. By 8 weeks, the big girls are used to seeing them and are mostly ignoring them, so I set them loose. There's lots of room in my chicken yard for them to get away if they need to, plenty of hiding places, and I leave the fence up most of the way so they can duck behind it if they need to. Just like you say, a peck at the food dish now and then, but nothing more than that. Integration always goes quite smoothly for me using this method.

 

[christine9]

Thanks! 10 out of 14!! So far.... I have been trying to resurch about lock down is there any other reasons to not open it other then humidity levals? I left the windows open today and the humidity is about 70% in the incubator and about 63% in the house.One of the eggs pipped last night but has not shown progress after that. How do you know if they need help? And how would one help?

Humidity is the reason. A big drop may keep the rest from hatching out. I'm pretty sure that was the mistake I made. I wouldn't know where to begin helping. I'm one of those that let them do their thing.

 

[wermnmnmnm]

Well, Monday, I believe my Dominique laid her first egg... I believe it was Bobbie because when I checked the nest, she came running into the coop chattering like never before telling me all about it... her head was shaking back and forth and she was just cluckin away... I found one beautiful brown egg... a bit bigger than the golf balls I had just put in. IT was so exciting.. I brought the egg in and scrambled it, cut it into thirds and the kids and I had a taste test against the store bought eggs... Bobbie's won... that was it for the excitement... no more since... I think i need to start putting their light on at night as it is getting dark quicker and quicker... I have pictures, but I have a dickens of a time getting them from my phone to this site... I will figure it out soon... I only have 4, so I am hoping more eggs are coming soon... Bobbie was 19 weeks to the day Monday when she laid... Now just the EE, Black Australorp and Barred Rock to go...