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AnneInTheBurbs said:
It's contagious! First hatching question: Should I warm up the incubator tonight, or should I wait until I have the eggs and let them come up to room temp while the bator is heating up?
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I would start the incubator and see how it holds temps. Once you have it "tuned", you can power it off if it will be a few days before you put in eggs.
 
dheltzel said:
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I already fired it up the night I brought it home. It works well and holds the temp well. I will be getting the eggs tomorrow.
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AnneInTheBurbs said:
Thank you!
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I have only used an incubator a couple of times when I had too many eggs for a broody, and only for a few days till we had another broody each time, but our borrowed one was touchy for temp. To minimize fluctuations we placed about 6-10 ceramic eggs in it along with the real eggs. It took them a day to warm up to temp but they then stayed warm and the fluctuations seemed to reduce. I also taped the temperature probe to one to get a good read on for temp right at egg level. We never needed to keep it going till hatch, but development was good each time. Don't know if we were just lucky or if our 'heat holders' actually helped.
 
Auroradream26 said:
That's what bothers me
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Hubby was "sure" that rats didn't live around here and didn't believe me when I said they did. He believes me now. I saved it till this morning so I could show it to him. What kind of traps would you suggest? I can't have anything that could hurt the flock when they free range.
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I have found rat bait and bait stations like the ones mentioned by dheltzel below to be the only thing that works when you have an established problem--well, that, and removing the major food source. We had a problem last summer, I think there were rats living under the shed next to the coop. The rats were digging under the coop and getting in at night, eating the food. We ended up making a hardware cloth "basket", screwed into the base of the coop and covering the entire floor (THAT was a pain, but worth it), AND we put in rat proof feeders (http://ratproofchickenfeeder.net), AND we made sure to give treats only in the morning so they'd be eaten by evening, AND we put out the poison bait stations. After that, we seem to have had no further rat troubles. I don't like killing anything, but when the rats decided to move in with the chickens, they went too far. I went out ONE too many nights to check on the girls and had rats skitter across my feet to escape the coop when I walked in.
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dheltzel said:
What I use for rats: https://www.jefferspet.com/products/rodent-cafe-locking-bait-station
and: https://www.jefferspet.com/products/just-one-bite-ii

Keep the bait safely inside the station, and secure it with the posts inside so they can't drag it out. Keep the box of extra bait where nothing can get into it. Rats and mice really like the bait. I have had them dig into the box it came in and gnaw through the plastic wrapper to get to the bait.

Last time I ordered rat bait I bought 40 lbs -- we have a lot of rats . . .
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Thanks everyone for the rat tips. Hopefully, this one was just a stay but I'll look in to traps. We never let any food sit out overnight so I can't see that attracting them (we do fermented feed and bring dishes in every night). I guess we'll see what happens.
 
So I had some feather loss on my girls back so I got a chicken saddle because I thought it was from the rooster but when I put it on it doesn't cover the missing spots. They are right along edge of wing. Could it still be from rooster and if it is is there another way to help her. Still learning my way around site so I apologise for not being able to find the right thread. Thanks!
 
yoopergirl1211 said:
So I had some feather loss on my girls back so I got a chicken saddle because I thought it was from the rooster but when I put it on it doesn't cover the missing spots. They are right along edge of wing. Could it still be from rooster and if it is is there another way to help her. Still learning my way around site so I apologise for not being able to find the right thread. Thanks!
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Most saddles are designed to only cover the back but they can lose feathers on their wings too. I have a girl who is very easy for the boys. Last year her back and tops of wings were completely bare all summer. She wore a saddle all summer long (it looks like she's going to need it back on soon). Once she molted, all her feathers grew back in beautifully, even on her wings. You can get saddles that also drape over the wings top protect them but I personally think that would be annoying to the girls and in the way.
 

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