ROOKY MISTAKE TO SHARE

[Conan]

I would like to start working on a plan for an incubator. My hubby gets uptight when I start talking about spending that kind of money on our chickens so I would like to get some great ideas on VERY INEXPENSIVE/YET EFFECTIVE incubators

Get yourself a bantam hen! They will sit on literally anything - I have mottled cochin bantams and I can't get the girls to stop going broody. Even had one hide a nest under the deck and now I've got seven six week old chicks! Should be a pretty cheap fix!

 

[ZombieMadHatter]

Hello I joined today, I named off a ton of stuff I learned on BYC but I would like to share one thing I learned on my own. Three years ago, we bought 12 baby chicks. I lost over half of them. This past spring we bought 3 dozen so when we did raise them and lost them we would still have some left. When I was raising my chicks before they transitioned into the yard I put them in the plastic boxes with towels instead of shavings. I also left the water and food in ALL THE TIME. BIG MISTAKE. Huge!!! A day and a half into it and I already lost three. I thought what am doing wrong and how can I fix it. I looked inside and they ALWAYS spilled the water and food. I thought huh, I will change the towel every morning AND evening reguardless. I will only leave the water n food in for a ONLY few hours during the day. HUGE DIFFERENCE! Everyone flourished after that. No more chicks were lost. I ended up with six roosters and A BUNCH of laying hens now egg gathering time is like an easter egg hunt. Boy if I had known what the key was!! Anyway. I have talked to other newbys since then and come to find out it UNFORTUNATELY isn’t uncommon AT ALL. So please share.

Sorry for your loss and having to learn the lesson the hard way. I learned a scary lesson with a heat lamp.
I had the heat lamp on and the chicks were just starting to learn to fly well I was cleaning the bathroom and I hear frantic peeping, and found out they knocked the heat lamp into the pen and it started a small fire my first thing was to get them out of the pen.
Everyone was safe and I was more shaken up than them but heat lamps are dangerous. I learned that lesson, I hope everyone does what they can to safely secure a heat lamp

 

[Blooie]

Sorry for your loss and having to learn the lesson the hard way. I learned a scary lesson with a heat lamp.
I had the heat lamp on and the chicks were just starting to learn to fly well I was cleaning the bathroom and I hear frantic peeping, and found out they knocked the heat lamp into the pen and it started a small fire my first thing was to get them out of the pen.
Everyone was safe and I was more shaken up than them but heat lamps are dangerous. I lgearned that lesson, I hope everyone does what they can to safely secure a heat lamp

There are systems out there which totally eliminate the need for heat lamps. Mama Heating Pad in the Brooder is one I advocate strongly.

 

[ZombieMadHatter]

There are systems out there which totally eliminate the need for heat lamps. Mama Heating Pad in the Brooder is one I advocate strongly.

I will try that this time around when I get chicks again. I rigged up a different heat source when I brought home my 4 chicks last time but that heat lamp fiasco still gives me nightmares.
It was my rookie mistake