Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[dheltzel]

Unfortunately, they are Easter Eggers - they don't have a standardized Ameraucana color.
These are Wheaten/Blue Wheaten/Splash Wheaten:

That was my suspicion when I first saw them, at just a few days old. I had already committed to buying them and I got an ok deal. I really wanted the 3 Welsummers they came along with. I was hopeful they might be wheatens because I've since found that the BBS strain I have takes like 5 months to sex out and I've heard the wheatens are sexable much younger. This strain of EE's is pretty obvious about sexes at just a few weeks, so maybe they will be better as production layers than my BBS, and I'll have an easy time culling the males early (we just release the young males to free range, the fittest survive and have a good life, crowing their little hearts out).

Really, I don't need yet one more breed to keep separate anyway and if these are EE's then mixing them with all the other "mutts" is not so bad. I have to say, our current group of EE hens lay huge, colorful eggs, and very consistently. They may not have "high breeding", but I think maybe that makes them try harder.

 

[dheltzel]

Okay, question time again. Hope I'm not being a pest!

What's everyone's experience with Cocci? What are symptoms, any treatments? I do not regret using unmedicated feed, but I do want to be ready if I have a sick chick. From what I read they get bloody diarrhea and I assume would lose weight as they got worse. What age are they "in the clear" as far as it being lethal? I understand most Chickens have it at sometime in their life.

And seriously these guys are growing so fast. They are constantly perching on the side of the brooder box, and I think we will upgrade them this week to the dog huge dog crate. If they keep growing at this rate they will be Godzillas by summer! I only got two small (5lbs.?) bags of food and I am almost finished the first, and they are obviously eating more every day. Time to go to Davis feed mill soon...

Not a pest at all, that's why we are here. I had a chick die from it last fall, before I understood what was happening. He just got very lethargic and stood to the side with his feather fluffed up. I knew he was doomed as soon as I saw him like that. Now if it happened, I'd rush to TSC (or elsewhere) and buy some Corid. It's $23 for enough to last you 100 years, so unless you split it with a bunch of other chicken people, you probably don't want to buy it ahead of time.

Here is some interesting info that will make you more or less an expert: http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/12/coccidiosis-what-backyard-chicken.html

 

[dheltzel]

I hear peeps coming from the incubator

I checked less than an hour ago and didn't see any pips, but just now I found the first of the Bredas already out. Maybe she should be named "Zippy"?

Speaking of Bredas, if anyone is interested in chicks or hatching eggs, let me know. They belong to a friend and have proven more fertile than I had even hoped for, so they will have all the chicks they need soon and will be looking to sell some. All the chicks so far are blue (splash roo over black hen), but later we hope some splashes hatch from the blue hen. There is quite a bit of info about them on this site, just search for "breda". They are pretty new and rare, and rather unusual looking.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Say Hello to half of my weekend! Hubs and I have had a very busy weekend, more time fine tuning our new incubator so it has perfection in temps top to bottom, but our brainstorm has turned out amazing!

Gigantic Cabinet COOLER INCUBATOR w/semi auto turning

I took images all the way through this project even the fine tuning to get no variance top to bottom so I will create a Thread with how we did everything later on when I get all the stuff organized.


150 qt Coleman Xtreme insulated Cooler as big as I could find, $67. free shipping I think its just about 4' long
Dual Fan $17.00 for set of Four(used two), use old power inverter thingers I had, Two 90 Watt Lights in ceramics $1.97 each, single Wafer Thermostat $22., rear Air duct.cost of styrofoam? I had it leftover, foil tape $3.00 have half left over. Three of those egg trays you suggested out of the six in the lot $21. for lot of 6, 3 rods for the trays $1.95 each., Handle $1.97, plexi $1.98 x 2, shelf we had left over from our reno, and a pc of thin cabinet back for the lower shelf, and a tad of caulk and gasket sealant we had on hand. clevis pins were $1.25 ea. x3 and flat pc alum for turning was a buck or two. and one 2x3 lumber $2.97


est $132.00 cost
























Here is hubs showing off his handywork of my GENIUS! HOWEVER I did get yelled at because I put the "darn thermometer" in his way for when he took the tray out!
Has some tweaking needs done, but Its awesome!!





Check out this vid of my fine tuning temps so top to bottom are identical, MIND you I messed with a taped piece of cardboard in the bottom and re-sized the return duct opening numerous times and the depth of the bottom shelf to get the temps the same. It wasn't an easy feat and my bum hurts from sitting in the kids little chair watching the thing and making minor adjustments! HA HA HA

This vid is before I added the permanent backer board shelf at the bottom as I was adjusting for perfection. I could technically include a hatcher in the bottom or another egg rack, but I dont want to hatch in it, but it has plenty room for additions stuff, also if you note the cut outs in the side of the cooler, you can easily take out the racks and turn this quickly into a multi level hatcher, we may do another for a hatcher and find plastic tubs to fit in the slits.

 

[fisherlady]

Say Hello to half of my weekend! Hubs and I have had a very busy weekend, more time fine tuning our new incubator so it has perfection in temps top to bottom, but our brainstorm has turned out amazing!

Gigantic Cabinet COOLER INCUBATOR w/semi auto turning

I took images all the way through this project even the fine tuning to get no variance top to bottom so I will create a Thread with how we did everything later on when I get all the stuff organized.


150 qt Coleman Xtreme insulated Cooler as big as I could find, $67. free shipping I think its just about 4' long
Dual Fan $17.00 for set of Four(used two), use old power inverter thingers I had, Two 90 Watt Lights in ceramics $1.97 each, single Wafer Thermostat $22., rear Air duct.cost of styrofoam? I had it leftover, foil tape $3.00 have half left over. Three of those egg trays you suggested out of the six in the lot $21. for lot of 6, 3 rods for the trays $1.95 each., Handle $1.97, plexi $1.98 x 2, shelf we had left over from our reno, and a pc of thin cabinet back for the lower shelf, and a tad of caulk and gasket sealant we had on hand. clevis pins were $1.25 ea. x3 and flat pc alum for turning was a buck or two. and one 2x3 lumber $2.97


est $132.00 cost
























Here is hubs showing off his handywork of my GENIUS! HOWEVER I did get yelled at because I put the "darn thermometer" in his way for when he took the tray out!
Has some tweaking needs done, but Its awesome!!





Check out this vid of my fine tuning temps so top to bottom are identical, MIND you I messed with a taped piece of cardboard in the bottom and re-sized the return duct opening numerous times and the depth of the bottom shelf to get the temps the same. It wasn't an easy feat and my bum hurts from sitting in the kids little chair watching the thing and making minor adjustments! HA HA HA

This vid is before I added the permanent backer board shelf at the bottom as I was adjusting for perfection. I could technically include a hatcher in the bottom or another egg rack, but I dont want to hatch in it, but it has plenty room for additions stuff, also if you note the cut outs in the side of the cooler, you can easily take out the racks and turn this quickly into a multi level hatcher, we may do another for a hatcher and find plastic tubs to fit in the slits.

Awesome build!! I will keep the cooler idea in mind for if/when we build one for ourselves.... I currently have a similar cooler which we have used for years on the boat and we will be replacing it this year so I will be sure to store the old one!

 

[stake]

Okay, question time again. Hope I'm not being a pest!

What's everyone's experience with Cocci? What are symptoms, any treatments? I do not regret using unmedicated feed, but I do want to be ready if I have a sick chick. From what I read they get bloody diarrhea and I assume would lose weight as they got worse. What age are they "in the clear" as far as it being lethal? I understand most Chickens have it at sometime in their life.

And seriously these guys are growing so fast. They are constantly perching on the side of the brooder box, and I think we will upgrade them this week to the dog huge dog crate. If they keep growing at this rate they will be Godzillas by summer! I only got two small (5lbs.?) bags of food and I am almost finished the first, and they are obviously eating more every day. Time to go to Davis feed mill soon...

Annie:

I have only had one small bout with Cocci; but here's my understandings....cocci affects a number of barnyard animals, there's different types of cocci that affect certain species....cocci can occur naturally in your soil(one or multiple types)....you may have cocci in your soil and your birds are 'strong' enough not to contract...a weak bird may, cocci can also be spread by bringing a 'sick' bird into your flock....this is what happened to me (I think), I isolated the bird into my grow out pen and treated with corrid....I did corrid the rest of the crew as a matter of form....I think I remember treating for a week....no problems with the process....with baby chicks, Randy the pickering guy suggested one week of medicated feed until the little tykes could build up their own resistance....my two cents....somebody probably has a better understanding....

 

[Brittany7]

Holy Cow Sally!!!! I am jealous! I bought stuff to make a homemade one...hubby thinks its an fire hazard! Anyone ever have any issues with a homemade one? I know anything can be a fire hazard and they seem pretty easy to build. Thoguhts anyone?

 

[wingstone]

Quote: Are you there everyday? Really are you ??? I wanted to go yesterday and couldn't get there,,,won't have another chance till sat.

I hear peeps coming from the incubator

I checked less than an hour ago and didn't see any pips, but just now I found the first of the Bredas already out. Maybe she should be named "Zippy"?

Speaking of Bredas, if anyone is interested in chicks or hatching eggs, let me know. They belong to a friend and have proven more fertile than I had even hoped for, so they will have all the chicks they need soon and will be looking to sell some. All the chicks so far are blue (splash roo over black hen), but later we hope some splashes hatch from the blue hen. There is quite a bit of info about them on this site, just search for "breda". They are pretty new and rare, and rather unusual looking.

I do know someone that might be interested if they get any splash or cuckoo

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Holy Cow Sally!!!! I am jealous! I bought stuff to make a homemade one...hubby thinks its an fire hazard! Anyone ever have any issues with a homemade one? I know anything can be a fire hazard and they seem pretty easy to build. Thoguhts anyone?

Fire hazard> do you not use light bulbs all over your house? LOL!!! they are light sockets and ceramic, BETTER than those your using in your house!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

cool beans, cheaper yet!