NY chicken lover!!!!

[Cass]

Au' contrair, I don't love them. I still think they are aliens from another planet.

They go broody cuz they lay far to few eggs to make them worth keeping. If they don't brood folks might not keep them. I won't keep them even them. They are the pocket pet of the chicken world. I saw a lady with one sticking out of her purse.

Now, now, Rancher...you just KNOW you love them so much you had to set them free.

I disagree with you on the egg laying. When my silkie isn't broody (which she is right now) she lays an egg EVERY day....doesn't even take sunday's off. However if you subtract the days she is broody and then the days she is raising chicks, so still isn't laying, she HAS to lay every day to just keep up with the other chickens who lay 4 - 5 days a week year round. (well, not so much in the dead of winter, but still lay enough I didn't have to buy eggs for eating, just for baking) However my silkie has things to make up to me....I bought her as part of a group of 6 and she was the ONLY HEN in the group. Boy, was I upset to give away $30 worth of birds. And the other chickens *do* laugh at her....she's white so always dirty and when you look at her from the back she looks like a poodle. I wouldn't get another Silkie...they are very high maintanance and funny looking to boot, but I do love the one I have.

 

[happyhensny]

I went to TSC today too. My chicks are still cuter. Theirs all had pasty butt and seemed kinda runty. nyah nyah.

On the sad side, down one chicken at head count this evening. Did not hear any alerts and was outside most of the day, but maybe it happened when I was in the house or maybe it was a snatch and grab while she wandered off. No evidence, so I guess it's slightly possible she went off to be broody or got stuck in a box somewhere. Figures, when I sell off a bunch of my adults the rest get picked off by predators. grr.



He's sexy and he knows it! Four chicks out, lots of pips in the brinsea but not too many in the hovabator. I hope some of annie's eggs hatch for me. =(

Any out yet? We have 4 ducklings and 13 chicks out, only 4 more eggs in there.....

 

[demp4]

I have never done what you are proposing, but let me repeat what Rancher Hicks says he does...parapharsed, not word for word. He takes the first chicks to hatch from the momma and then puts them all back under the cover of darkness when the last chick hatches. So that seems to mean that hens will accept the addition of chicks when they are hatching eggs.

Personally I would not move eggs in lock down. Too high a risk of turning the egg (by mistake) and causing the chick problems (premature puncture of the air sac, neck twisting etc) and decreasing the hatch rate. Again, Personally, I would wait for a few chicks to hatch under the hen then add the incubator chicks under her, after it is totally dark in the coop. I'm not sure she can cover 24+ chicks, so you might want to only add 1/2 of the bator chicks to her load. The nice thing about chickens is they don't have to nurse their young, so you are not limited to the number of teats the animal has when determining adoption numbers.

PS Hens can't count. She won't know that she has more chicks than eggs she sat on for 21 days. Also, she won't leave the nest until the last chick hatches....and once she leaves the nest she won't return to hatch the last eggs in it (meaning she has decided that they are duds) She might leave to poop and eat, like regular broody does, but once she takes those chicks for a walk, she won't return to the eggs and may roll the eggs out of the nest to make room for the little ones.

Gotcha thanks!!

We are nursing the baby chick back to health I had to go somewhere today and came back to the baby chick lethargic. I got her to drink and now have her on a heating pad so hoping she lives... my daughter is heart broken. =(

 

[featherz]

Any out yet? We have 4 ducklings and 13 chicks out, only 4 more eggs in there.....

Going up to check now. I know two chanteclers and a few australorps hatched - but my hovabator is running behind on pips so we shall see! Just got back from a clandestine rooster for eggs swap at the schuylerville auction. LOL.

ETA: Not so hot, I'm afraid. Most of the eggs in the hovabator even with perfect humidity and temps are dead or almost dead in shell. Grr. I hate that thing. Not using it any more except as a hatcher - the ones I put in on day 18 as overflow from the brinsea all hatched. I'll pore through the eggshells in a bit, but I think I got maybe 5 australorps and 2 or 3 chanteclers. I know there's two chanteclers in the brooder, but I'll see if any of the ones I rescued (don't try this at home kiddies!) from the hovabator make it. I'm bummed, I wanted those. =(

On the plus side, I think I have nine new naked neck chicks!

 

[horsekeeper]

Hope I did this right! Here's a picture of the run and some detail of how it is put together.

 

[horsekeeper]

Here's a couple of the boys, Pinky and Don (King) from last year's TSC chicks. They are as big as the LF Marans girls.

 

[Cass]

Going up to check now. I know two chanteclers and a few australorps hatched - but my hovabator is running behind on pips so we shall see! Just got back from a clandestine rooster for eggs swap at the schuylerville auction. LOL.

ETA: Not so hot, I'm afraid. Most of the eggs in the hovabator even with perfect humidity and temps are dead or almost dead in shell. Grr. I hate that thing. Not using it any more except as a hatcher - the ones I put in on day 18 as overflow from the brinsea all hatched. I'll pore through the eggshells in a bit, but I think I got maybe 5 australorps and 2 or 3 chanteclers. I know there's two chanteclers in the brooder, but I'll see if any of the ones I rescued (don't try this at home kiddies!) from the hovabator make it. I'm bummed, I wanted those. =(

On the plus side, I think I have nine new naked neck chicks!

Sorry to hear about the lousy hatch rate in one 'bator....glad you got some of your fav chickens out of the hatch tho.

 

[stonykill]

Horsekeeper. That looks fantastic!


hatch day is going well. I woke up this morning to 4 fuzzy butts. Now there are 14 out, 1 zipping and 5 pips!

 

[happyhensny]

Going up to check now. I know two chanteclers and a few australorps hatched - but my hovabator is running behind on pips so we shall see! Just got back from a clandestine rooster for eggs swap at the schuylerville auction. LOL.

ETA: Not so hot, I'm afraid. Most of the eggs in the hovabator even with perfect humidity and temps are dead or almost dead in shell. Grr. I hate that thing. Not using it any more except as a hatcher - the ones I put in on day 18 as overflow from the brinsea all hatched. I'll pore through the eggshells in a bit, but I think I got maybe 5 australorps and 2 or 3 chanteclers. I know there's two chanteclers in the brooder, but I'll see if any of the ones I rescued (don't try this at home kiddies!) from the hovabator make it. I'm bummed, I wanted those. =(

On the plus side, I think I have nine new naked neck chicks!

Well, I will have more eggs if you decide you want some.

My hatch is just about done.

Highland Moongazer - out of 8 Ancona ducks eggs, all were fertile and 4 hatched. There is one black with a little yellow and 3 yellow with a little black. I have to say I forgot how much more friendly ducks are as babies. They snuggle right up in our hair (me, DD1 & DD2) and nuzzle and nap. Planning bigger duck yard now.

Charmed By Chickens - out of 3 Barnevelder all three hatched, is it possible that there are 2 brown "chipmunk" chicks and one light yellow with "chipmunk" stripe?
Out of 2 BBS Am 1 hatched
Out of 10 Wheaton Am 8 hatched
Out of 3 Buff Am 3 hatched
*(*How do I tell the Wheaton & the Buffs apart?

Talk about super hatches! Thank you so much for giving the chance to hatch such great birds!

 

[Cass]

My silkie is broody again....since her chest is BARE, I figure she is serious about hatching. I gave her 5 eggs last night and I have 2 in the bator in case none of hers hatch. Of course if the bator chicks hatch I'll put them under the broody anyway. I am sick and tired of the dust and SMELL in the house, I think I'll let the hen do a hen's job and raise the bator chicks, if they hatch. Now to find the chicken calendar so I can mark when lock down and hatch dates are. I'll never remember 3 weeks from now to stop turning the eggs.