Hello from Newton Grove, North Carolina. I am new to the world of raising and keeping chickens.
I started by buying 3 barred rock and 3 "white rock" chicks via a Craigslist ad a couple months ago (the "white rocks" turned out not to be white rocks afterall). Since then I have been very busy learning everything I can to improve my experience with them, and I am frequent visitor to this site despite just now joining. After my initial 6 member flock, I purchased 5 more Rhode Island Red biddies a few weeks later. The original 6 are about 8 weeks old and the newer RIRs are now about 5 weeks old. I have built a double door brooder, a triangular ark, a 3x3 raised coop for breeding and a 4x8 main coop over the last few months as I have determined what I needed/liked (will post pictures soon).
My most recent adventure has been my first attempt at hatching eggs which went surprisingly well. I wanted 6 Blue Andalusian to add to my flock but could not find anyone near me who had them so I decided to order them from Cedar Ridge Farm in Georgia. In my research I read that ordering eggs typically led to lower hatching rates on the order of 30-50% so I ordered 12 and they sent me 15. They went into my newly acquired incubator setup (Hovabator with circulation fan, egg turner, and hygrometer/thermometer) the evening of May 3rd (after setting out for 24 hours at room temp). To my surprise, at day 7 and 12 I had 100% viability. I was even more surprised when all 15 hatched this past Friday. One required me to "help" it as the membrane seemed to be dried out and leathery a full 18 hours or so after the 14th chick had hatched. I peeled the shell off and the membrane was stuck to the chicks back (very well I might add). I did the only thing I could think of and held it under trickling warm water to soften up the membrane so I could get most of it off. Once I cleaned it up the best I could it went back into the incubator while the others went into the brooder. 12 hours later, once it was able to walk on its own (albeit rather clumsily) I put it in the brooder as well.
Now today, day 4, all are alive and doing well. The last chick is slightly smaller looking, but I think it's due more to less fluffy down from the membrane sticking to it than anything. Now I just have to figure out what to do with all of them as they grow as I was planning on 6!
This site has been a wealth of knowledge and I look forward to the adventures to come.
I started by buying 3 barred rock and 3 "white rock" chicks via a Craigslist ad a couple months ago (the "white rocks" turned out not to be white rocks afterall). Since then I have been very busy learning everything I can to improve my experience with them, and I am frequent visitor to this site despite just now joining. After my initial 6 member flock, I purchased 5 more Rhode Island Red biddies a few weeks later. The original 6 are about 8 weeks old and the newer RIRs are now about 5 weeks old. I have built a double door brooder, a triangular ark, a 3x3 raised coop for breeding and a 4x8 main coop over the last few months as I have determined what I needed/liked (will post pictures soon).
My most recent adventure has been my first attempt at hatching eggs which went surprisingly well. I wanted 6 Blue Andalusian to add to my flock but could not find anyone near me who had them so I decided to order them from Cedar Ridge Farm in Georgia. In my research I read that ordering eggs typically led to lower hatching rates on the order of 30-50% so I ordered 12 and they sent me 15. They went into my newly acquired incubator setup (Hovabator with circulation fan, egg turner, and hygrometer/thermometer) the evening of May 3rd (after setting out for 24 hours at room temp). To my surprise, at day 7 and 12 I had 100% viability. I was even more surprised when all 15 hatched this past Friday. One required me to "help" it as the membrane seemed to be dried out and leathery a full 18 hours or so after the 14th chick had hatched. I peeled the shell off and the membrane was stuck to the chicks back (very well I might add). I did the only thing I could think of and held it under trickling warm water to soften up the membrane so I could get most of it off. Once I cleaned it up the best I could it went back into the incubator while the others went into the brooder. 12 hours later, once it was able to walk on its own (albeit rather clumsily) I put it in the brooder as well.
Now today, day 4, all are alive and doing well. The last chick is slightly smaller looking, but I think it's due more to less fluffy down from the membrane sticking to it than anything. Now I just have to figure out what to do with all of them as they grow as I was planning on 6!
This site has been a wealth of knowledge and I look forward to the adventures to come.
