North Carolina

[skitzkle]

My first attempt at hatching has failed. I am not sure what went wrong, but I want to try again. Currently cleaning out the incubator now. Does anybody close to Lincolnton have any hatching eggs available. My failed hatch was a ship-in from Ebay, so I want to try something local. The eggs seemed to. stop rright at lockdown. Temps were at 99-100 for the entire run. Humidity was 65-70% during the entire run...probably the cause. Any pointers from the professionals would be appreciated.

my eggs where shipped from eBay also. I let them rest in an egg carton for 24 hours then put the carton with eggs( just the bottom) in the bator. Homemade cooler with fan & wafer thermostat. I did not turn for the first day then I only tilted the carton 3 times a day. Blocks under one side. Till day 15 then I rotated 5 times a day. I had a Tupperware under my light that I put water in once a day. Humidity ranged from 20% to 50%. I let it dry out between filling. When I went into lockdown I get it filled and added warm water if it started to get under 60%. Fan is blowing on light & water. I have 9 out 15 hatched. Today is day 22.

 

[lindz8504]

Where are you?

Surry county

 

[Banriona]

Hey guys, should I anticipate more than usual problems introducing a 20wk old roo in with (5) 9 week old pullets and a 9 wk old cockerel?

 

[soupysmomma]

Need advice... what to do? I got a broody hen that i have put an egg under her that I believed as fertile but after 4 days she moved to another nesting box and left the egg. I am worried if I put another under her she will just move again. Do u think I should try again or should I tty to break her by other means.. she is going on 4 weeks of broody?

 

[Banriona]

Not that I know anything myself, but maybe remove all other potential nesting spots first? I've read a lot on here about people isolating their broodies in their own space with just the one nesting box.

Completely unrelated note: "Raven" is doing great! We've renamed him to "Captain Chook" - "Cap" for short. After a day or two of "discussing" which of us was head roo he settled right in. He's now pretty content when I come in to check on him or sit with him. Quite a happy boy. Eating well etc. Will introduce him to the girls in a few more weeks. Waiting for them to get a bit bigger in case there are any problems with the age difference. My main concern is that one of my "pullets" is almost certainly a roo.

 

[Fireantz iceman]

Spitzhaubens

 

[Fireantz iceman]

Can you say double parked? Several going into lockdown Monday night so everyone will have a space then...love staggered hatching

More in the brooder

Little guy said it is crowded down there!

 

[quirkybeeper]

What do you all use to clean your incubators? I just have the generic styrofoam still air incubator from Southern States.

 

[Coop Scoop Boogie]

Good morning folks

I am hoping the weatherman is right with his
forecast of gentle rain. It is very dry here
and the trees and shrubs need some water. I'm
sure the chickens will enjoy the bugs that will
show up after the rain.

hope everyone has a good day

 

[tammyfarms]

Good Morning everyone!

Southpawtech - I had issues with hatching until I tried the dry hatch method. Thanks to BHep for the instructions. Don't add any water to the incubator for the first 18 days, your humidity will be whatever the ambient humidity is, mine ran between 40 and 50%, I have read not to let the humidity drop below 20%. On day 19, increase the humidity to 70% and don't open the incubator until either all of the eggs are hatched or until day 23. Newly hatched chicks can live just fine for 3 days without food or water. If you open the incubator, the humidity will drop and even if you raise it right back up, the chicks get sticky inside the eggs. The test hatch I did with my first and so far only dry incubation was very successful. I hatched 7/8 that went into lockdown. All of them hatched within 24 hours from the first pip.

Quirkybeeper - water with a little dish soap and a splash of bleach works great. Wash the incubator well with this mixture then dry well before re-using or storing. Ideally, I put it on the porch in the sun to dry.

CSB - Since my Lavender Ams are from you I know you are familiar with them. They are 3 1/2 months old now. While free ranging most of my layers decided to move into the "youngins" coop so now I am deciding if I feed the layers starter or the "youngins" layer feed or disrupt the whole bunch and move the ams to the old layer coop. One cockerel has started to crow so I know they are maturing but the girls are still chirping like babies. Everyone gets along just fine. What do you think?

DST - be careful, I seem to want every kind of chicken I see! I have "tried" several breeds and some I like some I sold. My hubby wishes I could decide on what I want and just keep something. LOL I am still in the trying mode. I really like blue eggs and have ordered some Crested Cream Legbar eggs. It will be a long time before I will get any money from these babies and I doubt they will ever pay for themselves. Then again, I don't think any of my chickens have paid for themselves or their feed and certainly not their housing. LOL

On home news - I have never really thought I would be interested in leghorns, but a co-worker of my husband called on Saturday saying he had to get rid of his 6 hens as the neighbors were complaining. We went over to take a look and they are healthy and looked good so they went into the quarantine coop at the house. I am already planning on breeding them with my ameraucanas to see what kind of ee layers I will get. LOL.

And another question - when do you all worm your chickens? How many times per year? I have been thinking fall and spring, but what months and is fall and spring the best time?

Can you all tell I am still off work (govt employee) My hubby is back today which is good but I guess my admin job is truly not considered necessary.... I happen to think it is... LOL

Have a wonderful day everyone!