Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

Pics
Date sort Score sort
fisherlady said:
Be careful of overly warm brooders, make sure they have a sleeping area at the recommended temp for their age but try to have it cooler on the other end and put their food and water in the cool area. They will be fine at the cooler temperature for short periods of time and will go back for warm ups as needed. You may notice them spending more time on the cooler side than you would expect.

Edit to add... the CX have incredibly high metabolisms and ours did better with lower than normal temps for chicks. Make sure the heat lamp is set so that there are cooler areas available around the outer edges of the sleeping area.
Click to expand...


My brooder is 4 ft long, so there is plenty of room for them to spread out.

Any ideas on the backside issue?
 
LadyJane8 said:
400


400


400


Here's some pics of my crazies this morning. I've had them now for a week, so I suspect they're just a day or so over that. My Ranger and Cornish maybe another two for good measure.

My Amberlinks have a tendency to get muddy butts, I think this is evident in pic #2. I don't hold them often and am trying to come by an easy way to fix this without having to manhandle them. They don't seem to be blocked from going in any way.
Click to expand...


What fisherlady said, but also... getting poop stuck on their butts us called pasty butt and it can cause blockages of the vent. It us often caused by stress (like from being shipped in the mail) or too warm brooding conditions. Making sure there is a cooling down area like fisher suggested should help with that too. You probably want to clean it off right away though before it accumulates enough to cause blockage problems. Warm running water and a q-tip is all you need, just try not to get the whole chick wet.
 
emorems0 said:
I'm beginning to doubt I will be able to hatch any turkeys... these girls are not cooperating. Every time I put a pile of straw in their shed for nesting they just kick it all around and dust bathe in it and then lay their eggs in the mud.

I appreciate their need to dust themselves since it has been wet here lately, but last time I made a straw pile in the shed and a second in the run and they still kicked them both up until it was all mud again. It's hard to keep bedding in the runs here because everything just washes down the slope.

I blocked off this corner in the shed to keep the bedding from washing down slope and within 5 minutes the hens had it kicked everywhere. I can't incubate muddy eggs (right?), how the heck can I keep these eggs clean if they won't keep the bedding in the nesting area? *I have been putting the straw piles where I find eggs, so I'm not trying to force a nesting area where they don't want one.

Also, how long can I store eggs on the counter before incubating? With all the muddy eggs, I'm having a hard time building up enough for the incubator.

400


I took a video of her dust bathing too, but I have to upload it to YouTube first I think. She was having so much fun in the straw it was hard to be annoyed with her... but I'm still at a loss for what to do. I wish she would just sit and brood, or at least lay some eggs in the clean straw for me to incubate!
Click to expand...

You can set muddy eggs, and if they are too bad just wipe them off with a paper towel. If you can get to them when the nud is still wet, you can just kind of squeeze the egg inside the towel and not have to actually rub.
They can sit for about 12 days without losing hatchability. For better results, put them in a cool area like the basement. For even better results, turn them three times a day. Not that I do those things, but it will give a better chance for a good hatch.
 
LadyJane8 said:
My brooder is 4 ft long, so there is plenty of room for them to spread out.

Any ideas on the backside issue?
Click to expand...


You can't avoid handling them to get their bottoms clean. A pot of warm water and a washcloth, remove as gently as possible but expect some feathers to be pulled in the process. Dry them off, dab their backside with just a little triple antibiotic or Vaseline, give it a spritz of BluKot if their bottom is bare or looks bright pink (to avoid attention from the other chicks) and return to brooder. Added benefit of the BluKot is it marks the chicks so you can identify repeat problem chicks.
 
fisherlady said:
You can't avoid handling them to get their bottoms clean. A pot of warm water and a washcloth, remove as gently as possible but expect some feathers to be pulled in the process. Dry them off, dab their backside with just a little triple antibiotic or Vaseline, give it a spritz of BluKot if their bottom is bare or looks bright pink (to avoid attention from the other chicks) and return to brooder. Added benefit of the BluKot is it marks the chicks so you can identify repeat problem chicks.
Click to expand...

:lau and it marks you, so that you know you're a problem chick! :lau
 
emorems0 said:
I'm beginning to doubt I will be able to hatch any turkeys... these girls are not cooperating. Every time I put a pile of straw in their shed for nesting they just kick it all around and dust bathe in it and then lay their eggs in the mud.

I appreciate their need to dust themselves since it has been wet here lately, but last time I made a straw pile in the shed and a second in the run and they still kicked them both up until it was all mud again. It's hard to keep bedding in the runs here because everything just washes down the slope.

I blocked off this corner in the shed to keep the bedding from washing down slope and within 5 minutes the hens had it kicked everywhere. I can't incubate muddy eggs (right?), how the heck can I keep these eggs clean if they won't keep the bedding in the nesting area? *I have been putting the straw piles where I find eggs, so I'm not trying to force a nesting area where they don't want one.

Also, how long can I store eggs on the counter before incubating? With all the muddy eggs, I'm having a hard time building up enough for the incubator.

400


I took a video of her dust bathing too, but I have to upload it to YouTube first I think. She was having so much fun in the straw it was hard to be annoyed with her... but I'm still at a loss for what to do. I wish she would just sit and brood, or at least lay some eggs in the clean straw for me to incubate!
Click to expand...


I would elevate the nesting area on a pallet with a light piece of paneling or plywood on it, create walls around it about 1 ft high. It will keep it out of the mud and the low walls will help keep the hay in place.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom