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[winteree]

That sounds like it will be easy to drain and refill, but it will go all green from algae so you'll have to scrub it out too! lol that's what i mean - just more work!

it just depends on how much effort you want to put into it if i didn't think i could do the work i wouldn't have bothered. it is alot of work but it will be fun i'm outside everyday anyway why not enjoy some ducks

 

[winteree]

well i'm out good night

 

[imogene08]

Day 7 and the chickies so far Are growing rapidly.

 

[Joplus]

This is the chick that i assisted. All of my other chicks started hatching at 5am day 21 and they were all out, apart from this one, by 5pm. By 1am this one still hadn't pipped but it had internally pipped days before and was tweeting loudly, so i made a peep hole and stuck it back in the incubator expecting something to have happened by morning. By about 6am, now day 23, still nothing was happening so after reading and rereading the bit on assisting hatching, and after asking for advice on here, i decided to go ahead and start zipping the shell manually. I picked the shell off with tweezers and the top came off. I wrapped it in a dampened paper towel and stuck it back in the incubator and waited......and waited.....and waited......i was advised to peel back the membrane although i think maybe i shouldn't have, and i waited some more......and finally by 5pm day 23 it got itself out! It's now in with the others, although i'm a bit worried because they're pecking it but they're also pecking each other too. They're all still in the incubator because the wee chick is not fully fluffed up. I'm going to move them all to the brooder when i go to bed, hopefully the red light will stop them pecking each other so much. Anyway, here's some pics! Took about 12 hours from when i opened up the shell for it to come out on it's own. That's it in the middle lying down. All my chicks made it!!

Good job! They're so cute and fluffy.

 

[Demidog]

yeah tha's why alot of the heat lamps bought at most stores have clamps so they don't fall. Just keep an ear out for the panic peep if they get to hot.

Just noticed your post! Yes, it's a really old light that i borrowed from my neighbor. That's another reason why I've covered them with chicken wire too, so if it was to fall it wont fall onto the chicks! And I've got the thermometer in there to keep track of the temp. The weather here is getting really hot now so I'm only using the lamp at night. Today i took the chicks with me when i went out to plant more sweet potatoes. I sat them in the sun half covered with a blanket for shade. And they were staying under the shade mostly so i think it was even too hot for them. I can feel my back is burnt! But that's another plus with using a plastic baby bath as a brooder - it's lightweight and portable! Since we got back i took them in the garden and made a wee pen for them under the fruit trees and they're having a great time in there pecking at stuff and chasing bugs. They got a hold of something that must have been tasty and were running about with it chasing each other. The wee one that i helped out snatched it off another and took off with it! lol and now that it's properly fluffed out and standing up it's actually bigger than some of the others I can't help staring at them, they're so cute like little fluff balls and i can see them starting to develop their own characters. I was trying to wing sex them and if that's accurate only 2 are female. We're planning on eating the boys, that's going to be tough .....

 

[winteree]

Just noticed your post! Yes, it's a really old light that i borrowed from my neighbor. That's another reason why I've covered them with chicken wire too, so if it was to fall it wont fall onto the chicks! And I've got the thermometer in there to keep track of the temp. The weather here is getting really hot now so I'm only using the lamp at night. Today i took the chicks with me when i went out to plant more sweet potatoes. I sat them in the sun half covered with a blanket for shade. And they were staying under the shade mostly so i think it was even too hot for them. I can feel my back is burnt! But that's another plus with using a plastic baby bath as a brooder - it's lightweight and portable! Since we got back i took them in the garden and made a wee pen for them under the fruit trees and they're having a great time in there pecking at stuff and chasing bugs. They got a hold of something that must have been tasty and were running about with it chasing each other. The wee one that i helped out snatched it off another and took off with it! lol and now that it's properly fluffed out and standing up it's actually bigger than some of the others I can't help staring at them, they're so cute like little fluff balls and i can see them starting to develop their own characters. I was trying to wing sex them and if that's accurate only 2 are female. We're planning on eating the boys, that's going to be tough .....

yeah thats a good safety measure. that sounds so cute just make sure to give them some chick grit soon so you won't have to worry about crop problems later. and i hear you with plastic brooder i just moved my baby's to a big Rubbermaid because they where jumping over the sides of the small brooder when i saw the first duckling hit the ground i thought i was going to have a heart attack but they can't get over the walls in this one thanks goodness here are the babys all fluffed
this is the old brooder works great for chicks but not for jumping ducklings the duckling is ok but god it scared me

 

[Demidog]

They're so cute

and i'm glad the little one that fell is ok.

Well, i have some bad news about my chicks. I made a pen for them in the garden to let them run about in a bigger space and peck at the ground. They were loving it. However, it was not enclosed from the top and i went in the house to make the dinner for an hour and when i came back to check on them i saw the neighbors cat in the pen! I chased it away but it was too late, it had eaten every last one

I guess i'm learning the hard way. I'm gutted. All that effort just to feed the neighbors big fat ginger cat! I feel awful.

But my friend bought two chicks from the market last week and she was intending to give them to me so i went round and picked them up this morning. I'm not leaving these ones outside unattended!!

Here they are, these ones are now 10 days old. Hopefully they're female but even if one is a boy I'll keep it if it looks pretty to mate with the hens. And i was watching on youtube how to sex baby chicks by their wings so i'm going to buy some more day old chicks and try to just pick the females.

 

[Joplus]

They're so cute and i'm glad the little one that fell is ok. Well, i have some bad news about my chicks. I made a pen for them in the garden to let them run about in a bigger space and peck at the ground. They were loving it. However, it was not enclosed from the top and i went in the house to make the dinner for an hour and when i came back to check on them i saw the neighbors cat in the pen! I chased it away but it was too late, it had eaten every last one I guess i'm learning the hard way. I'm gutted. All that effort just to feed the neighbors big fat ginger cat! I feel awful. But my friend bought two chicks from the market last week and she was intending to give them to me so i went round and picked them up this morning. I'm not leaving these ones outside unattended!! Here they are, these ones are now 10 days old. Hopefully they're female but even if one is a boy I'll keep it if it looks pretty to mate with the hens. And i was watching on youtube how to sex baby chicks by their wings so i'm going to buy some more day old chicks and try to just pick the females.

Oh my gosh I'm so sorry. I have my chicks in a seriously overcrowded rabbit hutch because I'm afraid of cats. Now some have bald patches on their backs and I think they really need more space. I wonder how big they need to be til cats aren't a threat?

 

[Demidog]

I was wondering the same thing. Can cats kill fully grown chickens? Or do the chickens chase them off? Would a big cockerel attack a cat?

 

[dannyisforreal]

Um... when i had cats i used to have a lot and they didn't kill a single bird. Though depending on the cat they could kill a full grown hen. A rooster would attack a cat just like my rooster attacks me. Actually my rooster attacks my 80 pound dog but it doesn't faze her.

Hens however would not attack a cat. they most certainly would earthier anore it or run away from it.