***OKIES in the BYC III ***

[mefordz]

I'm good I made the offer and meant it. If you all haven't figured out by now the last thing I'm in this for is the $$ I'll be fine the longer you leave them the more certian you can be.

if your in this for the money, you in the wrong line of buisness!

unless your in the buisness of SPENDING money, then it's kinda like a free puppy, the dog is free but it sure costs a lot to keep it!

if i didnt like the birds so much, i would have a yard full of trucks.

 

[old*cowboy]

Robin - He looks so pretty now! Sorry I didn't have time to bathe him before bringing him to you.

Joe - The eggs arrived today in perfect condition. I'm letting them rest and I'll set them tomorrow. Your timing is perfect. My last big hatch just ended and I have the Sportsman cleaned and the temperature is back where it should be. I'll also be setting some Sussex, Barnevelder, Barred Rock, White Chantecler, Dark Cornish, Cornish crosses, Naked Necks, and a few Blue Andalusians.

Here are a few baby pictures: Barnevelders, White Chantecler & RIR, and Turkens.

Little fuzzy butted naked necks, too cool

 

[Kassaundra]

Robin - He looks so pretty now! Sorry I didn't have time to bathe him before bringing him to you.

Joe - The eggs arrived today in perfect condition. I'm letting them rest and I'll set them tomorrow. Your timing is perfect. My last big hatch just ended and I have the Sportsman cleaned and the temperature is back where it should be. I'll also be setting some Sussex, Barnevelder, Barred Rock, White Chantecler, Dark Cornish, Cornish crosses, Naked Necks, and a few Blue Andalusians.

Here are a few baby pictures: Barnevelders, White Chantecler & RIR, and Turkens.

OHHHHH, Just look at those little half nekid chicks!!!!! I am so getting some this spring.

 

[Ksobgynrn]

Disclaimer: Some of the folks on this thread are addicted to hatching chickens, attending poultry auctions and otherwise acquiring poultry. Since addicts tend to be enablers, we may try to assist you in the acquisition of more poultry than you ever dreamed possible to own.

OK, I have to laugh at this. I grew up with a dad who showed and raised rabbits. We often had more than 200 at a time. After reading this forum for a couple of days I have decided you are all nuts...I'm sure I'll fit right in.

 

[Okla-doodle-doo]

Beautiful chicks PoCo! Can't wait to get mine in.
Ksane it might be that thehen is just a favorite of a roo! Knave one in my flock that is almost ready for a saddle while the others are barely ruffled!
Another nice day here. Finally got all my ornamental grasses cut back. I counted and there are 65 clumps of them!
The warm weathe is bringing all the hens into production. I make sure they either get to free range or I pull some greens for them. Sure wished I lived next to one of you guys with the big incubators!

 

[artsyrobin]

Quote:
actually silkies and cochins both can be outside, honestly, they are happier outside watching things- the big thing with silkies is they are a bit more high maintinance than cochins- i am addicted to both... actually anything with feathers!

 

[Buster52]

Sure wished I lived next to one of you guys with the big incubators!

Yeah, I was teasing about that Little Giant, but truth is I have about 4 of them... which is why I know they ain't much use, at least for me. I'm saving money in my piggy bank to get a real 'bator one of these days.

How you doin', Okla Doodle?

 

[Poco Pollo]

OK went to OSU extention and picked up the incubator they said they would loan us. It is a Little Giant Still Air Incubator. They didn't have instructions so I printed some off of the internet. Anyone have tips on how to increase our sucess rate? I want the kids to experiance hatching some of our less valuable eggs. It doesn't have a turner but we have one we bought at auction a few weeks ago. Soooo now we are taking the next step in this chicken math thing!

Cathie

Hi Cathie,

I know this is going to sound like a jumbled up mess, but working with a Little Giant incubator is like trial by fire. The thermostats are infamously unstable, and many people end up cooking their first clutch. To help prevent that, I'd invest in an Egg O Meter. IncubatorWarehouse.com has them for the best price. You'll have more accurate temperature readings with one of these than with a cheapie Box Store thermometer. Disinfect the incubator and your auto-turner and allow both to dry thoroughly before you regulate the temperature of the incubator. Use hot water in your incubator for humidity. If you use cold water it'll be a long time before you see a stable temperature. Wash your hands. You don't know how the incubator has been used. I use bleach and water in a spray bottle for disinfecting. Mix it like you would for regular household cleaning. Establish a stable temperature in your incubator before setting your hatch. This may take twelve hours, or it may take twenty-four hours. Give the thermostat at least two (three or four is more accurate) hours to work after each adjustment you make. If you keep noodeling with the thermostat, you'll never see a steady temperature. I hatched for one season using a Little Giant. It was agonizing because the thermostat was nearly impossible to stabilize. I replaced the thermostat adjusting rod with a stove knob. I marked the area around the knob in one-inch increments so that I could make better guesses when making adjustments. Since the incubator isn't yours, you could make a paper circle with one-inch markings and tape that to the incubator at the base of the thermostat adjustment to help you guess. . . Read the online hatching resources. Universities have good, step-by-step guides for hatching. Post your questions online. I'm sure lots of BYC Okies have used Little Giant incubators, so there's a good chance you'll get your answers quickly. Once you're hooked, buy a good incubator. I'm partial to my Sportsman. The Hovabator with a fan is good too, and it will work well if you don't plan to hatch too many at one time. Brinsea makes a nice incubator too. Let us know when you set your hatch and we'll all send good hatching mojo your direction.

 

[Ksane]

Those are some pretty pigeons.
Ksane-- those debeaked sexlinks do like to peak anything, but the ones we had never were aggressive just persistent. Now that you have the birds separated you should be able to figure out if they were the cause of feather loss.

That describes these sexlinks. Not mean a bit, just persistant like a goat.
Okla, this hen may be a favorite of one of the 2 boys but the other hens don't have a single feather out of place and this one has been gradually getting worse until all of a sudden today it looks like she got coon-attacked. I've never seen the Marans boys bothering her ever (but that doesn't mean much).

Jim, what's that bird with the blue head feathers? Georgeous.
Yes, I have cooties and if you don't watch it I'll toss some at you

Oh it's pretty obvious you're not in it for the money lol I think 3 wks should be fine. I have to talk to Jackie/Firefly and see how she wants to do it.

Poco, I love those Barnevelders babies-wow, they're so pretty!

Cathie, I've got a Little Giant also (with a turner). I've got a few eggs in it now but this is only the 2nd time I've tried it. The 1st hatch was with shipped eggs and about 1/2 hatched but who knows if that was me, the incubator or the shipped eggs. I don't have any words of wisdom except get the temps set ahead of time.
Here's some picture of the Cochin boys with their girls, they're really so polite to them. I thought they'd go nuts over them but nope. My favorite (the dark one) has the prettiest EE's in with him. I like that pen a lot. And all he wants to do is feed them, he practically begs them to come eat I really love that boy.
Edit: You can see the messed up combs on the 2 splash boys that were fighting.

 

[Cjarvis]

Soooo now we are taking the next step in this chicken math thing!

Cathie

Since yoo brought it up... Chicken Math 101

Chicks don't count as chickens
Roosters don't count as chickens
Bantam Hens are 1/4 of a chicken
Serama Hens are 1/8 of a chicken
Molting hens do not count as chickens
Count how many eggs you got today, that's how many chickens you have..

End of lesson 1 there are other rules that apply to selling swaping, trading and processing