NY chicken lover!!!!

[Lynzi777]

Quick question...you know how a chick will usually pip on the upside of the egg? If it pips on the downside, should you turn the egg over so the pip is up? Or leave it?

That's what I've always been nervous about. I haven't had it happen but if it does and the egg doesn't roll I would give it a quick turn. However, I think it would be fine if you left it alone as well.

 

[Sweetpea3829]

I turned it. This particular egg arrived with a dent in the fat end. I repaired it with super glue and Elmer's glue, not expecting a lot to happen but sure enough! So I turned it and am keeping an eye on the humidity.

I must have had high temps or something...I wasn't expecting any to hatch until tomorrow. But I have two out and four more pipped.

 

[armorfirelady]

Thanks everyone! The hoop coop might fit the bill (literally)! Does it stay warm enough in winter for the chickens? I'm in Jamestown, NY - not sure if there is an ALPCO or other recycle place nearby.

I am north of you in Hamburg. Girls were toasty warm all winter. I do put hay bales around the perimeter for extra wind block for winter. I use a billboard as the covering for the hoop coop. I roll the sides up during the summer & put them down for the winter. All they need is drafts blocked but lots of ventilation. The cold wont bother them. They acclimate to it. I have never used heat in their coop nor lights & have never had a problem.

Check craigs list for pallets. I always see them listed for free. If you ever make it to the city Buffalo Reuse has a ton of good stuff. No pallets tho but lots of wood.

 

[Lynzi777]

I turned it. This particular egg arrived with a dent in the fat end. I repaired it with super glue and Elmer's glue, not expecting a lot to happen but sure enough! So I turned it and am keeping an eye on the humidity.

I must have had high temps or something...I wasn't expecting any to hatch until tomorrow. But I have two out and four more pipped.

What kind of eggs are you hatching? the 5 silkie/polish (bantam) eggs I hatched all hatched a day early. The last silkie egg I pipped a day early but hatched on day 21.

 

[Sweetpea3829]

What kind of eggs are you hatching? the 5 silkie/polish (bantam) eggs I hatched all hatched a day early. The last silkie egg I pipped a day early but hatched on day 21.

These were a mix of eggs. Speckled Sussex, Buff Orps, and Australorps from Meyer. A couple of BR from my hen. A couple of BRxEE from my flock. And two days after the initial set, I also set several BCMs, EEs, and a Cochin from a BYCer (Cayuseranch). Of those, there are only two BCM and the Cochin left. I have them upright in the back of the incubator, separated with a rail.

So far, it looks like two Speckled Sussex have hatched. Pretty sure, anyways, because the Meyer eggs I originally set are all pretty different looking chicks. My flock eggs haven't even pipped yet. The upside down pipper is also a speckled sussex I think. (I'm assuming the four small eggs that Meyer sent were the SS).

I need to get ahold of a second silkie for my little TSC bantam! Soon as I find out what sex it is, I'll be looking for a mate for it! It's a white one, so I'm probably going to look for a black or blue.

 

[Sweetpea3829]

I am north of you in Hamburg. Girls were toasty warm all winter. I do put hay bales around the perimeter for extra wind block for winter. I use a billboard as the covering for the hoop coop. I roll the sides up during the summer & put them down for the winter. All they need is drafts blocked but lots of ventilation. The cold wont bother them. They acclimate to it. I have never used heat in their coop nor lights & have never had a problem.

Check craigs list for pallets. I always see them listed for free. If you ever make it to the city Buffalo Reuse has a ton of good stuff. No pallets tho but lots of wood.

How does the Hoop Coop hold up in high winds? We have some WICKED winds here. And because there's a huge farm field across the street from us, the winds whip off of it straight into our property with nothing to slow them down or break them at all.

We've lost two trampolines because of wind...the first during Hurricane Sandy (we had NO idea that could even happen, lol). And the second was the brand new replacement we had put in last year. It blew clear across our property, our neighbor's, the road, and into the farm field way the heck across the way.

Hubby repaired it and then reinstalled it with concrete ground anchors. When he installed our Gorilla swingset, he used concrete footers for that, too...lol.

So a Hoop Coop would have to be able to withstand some nasty winds for us...would hate to see my chickens going all Wizard of Oz on us!

 

[Pyxis]

Well, I'm going to try to not worry, but when you have little 5 yr olds all waiting for the eggs to hatch, you don't want to disappoint them. I did investigate last year why some of the fully formed chicks did not hatch.. Can't say there was a lot of "water" inside, the membrane seemed "tough- so I couldn't really tell. I haven't candled yet-maybe in a couple of days I"ll check. I'm not sure how to determine whether the air space is too little or too much. I know some writers have talked about weighing the eggs and calculated the percentage of weight lost but ??? Guess I'll err on less humidity now and jack it up at the end. Is 70% appropriate. Some years I've had 65 and some as high as 80. I do appreciate all advice & will let you know how things progress.
K.........

I have an air cell chart that shows proper growth that I'll post for you.

That is roughly what the air cell should look like at each stage. I usually lock down at 60%. As chicks pip the humidity naturally rises. They can't handle too much humidity and they will drown if it's too high. I usually only go top 75-80% if I'm hatching ducks, not chicks.

 

[Cass]

That was me that asked...thanks for answering! I'm particularly concerned because my dominant hen can be nasty towards other chickens. She's fine with two of our other hens, but the runt hen, she terrorizes her. Then again, ALL of the flock terrorize that chicken (poor thing).

You mention the egg size...I know that they lay small eggs..how small? I was thinking the smaller eggs would be a great snack-size for my kids.

We have this same issue and not just with our coop. My husband's garage-worth of tools is currently located in my dining room....which means I do not have a dining room, lol. Its driving both of us nuts, but we just can't swing the $$$$ to put in a decent garage. With our chickens, I really would like to add another coop, but again, the $$$.

The LARGEST egg my silkie laid was on the high end of "small" on my scale. And yes, they are PERFECT as hard boiled snacks and on tossed salads.

IF you have 3 silkies/bantams your mean hen will not know where to go to take out her meaness. If you have more than 3 she will be outnumbered and will have to back off a bit. My silkies had attitude. NO ONE messed with them. She was the fierest momma too. No one came near her much less her chicks without losing parts of their bodies....myself included. I learned to back off quickly, even when I was feeding the brood.

 

[rancher hicks]

Well finished the corner nest boxes made bigger than planned due to not being deep enough. They are 23.25 in on short sides 33 inlong side. I think like 15 inch from back to frong already had one girl use the top one. Used 2x3s for fronts except bottom is 2x8 but have 2x3s under nest part to raise it some.

Trying to get pics to load not working atm

I'll be adding more exterior boxes to give my girls more floor space.

 

[Sweetpea3829]

The LARGEST egg my silkie laid was on the high end of "small" on my scale. And yes, they are PERFECT as hard boiled snacks and on tossed salads.

IF you have 3 silkies/bantams your mean hen will not know where to go to take out her meaness. If you have more than 3 she will be outnumbered and will have to back off a bit. My silkies had attitude. NO ONE messed with them. She was the fierest momma too. No one came near her much less her chicks without losing parts of their bodies....myself included. I learned to back off quickly, even when I was feeding the brood.

How do you adjust the cooking time? I'm assuming they take less time to cook correctly, lol.

And speaking of HB eggs...have you all seen this?

http://pathsofwrighteousness.wordpr...ard-boiled-egg-yes-even-with-fresh-farm-eggs/

Seriously, this method WORKS! I have never ever been able to successfully HB eggs that were easy to peel until I tried this method.