Smoky Mtn East TN

[littlechicklet]

a buddy down the road from me, just got six TSC bantam chicks.. three silkie mixes, two bantam austrolorps, and a chipmunk guessing old english game bantam or hoping tiny easter egger. he told his GF on phone already, and she is ticked and way home!.. lol maybe if i get attached to any hens or quiet cocks, ill trade some white racer babies, flying birm rollers, or parlors for them, further frustrating her. hahaha

yay!!! think theyre allowed to stay.. she said all except one she fell in love with are destined for the stew pot though. maybe i can stash the bantam ameraucanas and bantam rhode island reds over here with his, in his fenced in shed area. hehehe

Glad they get to stay and good luck on getting some for yourself.

 

[cybercat]

Well, I did not put eggs in incubator. Since it is still so cold roosters are sterile still. I cracked 4 eggs and all were infertile. Happened last year too and I was told to wait till warm weather and roosters fertility will rise and all eggs will be good then. I so knew that but forgot it. LOL Anyway I am waiting now for warmer weather to put eggs in. Last year it had to be when nights were above 40. First hatch I did last year out of 42 I had 8 hatch. Second hatch after temps rose I had 40 hatch. Guess we have eating eggs for now.

On a good note temps are up today but I see that will not last by tomorrow. Hoping this weather from Canada stops soon I have had enough of it. We are in Greeneville out side of city limits.

 

[littlechicklet]

Well, I did not put eggs in incubator. Since it is still so cold roosters are sterile still. I cracked 4 eggs and all were infertile. Happened last year too and I was told to wait till warm weather and roosters fertility will rise and all eggs will be good then. I so knew that but forgot it. LOL Anyway I am waiting now for warmer weather to put eggs in. Last year it had to be when nights were above 40. First hatch I did last year out of 42 I had 8 hatch. Second hatch after temps rose I had 40 hatch. Guess we have eating eggs for now.

On a good note temps are up today but I see that will not last by tomorrow. Hoping this weather from Canada stops soon I have had enough of it. We are in Greeneville out side of city limits.

I too will be glad when the weather gets warmer. I am ready for Spring.

I checked fertility prior to setting my eggs. I had 100% fertility so I am hoping some hatch. I had never heard anything about the higher fertility in warmer weather. I guess I just got lucky and hope I get lucky on my first try at incubating eggs.

 

[TNBlacktails]

Quote: Good luck, when they start to crack open make sure you keep the humidity UP so they dnt dry out i learned this the hard way Id get it up to about 80 or 90 if you could the higher the easier it is for them to get out .you prob knew this but i read 50 pages of stuff bout incubating nd still made this mistake and i dnt want anyone else to make it

 

[littlechicklet]

Good luck, when they start to crack open make sure you keep the humidity UP so they dnt dry out i learned this the hard way Id get it up to about 80 or 90 if you could the higher the easier it is for them to get out .you prob knew this but i read 50 pages of stuff bout incubating nd still made this mistake and i dnt want anyone else to make it

Thank you. I have read bunches about hatching & asked friends that hatch so I kinda have a heads up on the humidity increase during hatching. I am just hoping I get some chicks.

 

[tnchickenut]

Hope this is okay to do here....our rooster passed away yesterday. I wonder if anyone has an extra young guy that needs a home. Not too fussy about breed, just that he not be agressive. I'm fond of mutts. I live in rural Blount County, Seymour/Walland.

Thanks

Bill

All I have in the way of younger boys that I'm willing to spare are Sulmtalers and they are not human aggressive but hard on their girls. They are also bigger and hatchery hens wouldn't be good for them... they would be 'loved' to death, so to speak. lol

You might have to wait for someone's hatches to grow up. On the plus side, you can be a tad pickier!

 

[laughingdog]

I have some little chip monk babies too I hatched them from my bantam partridge cochin

aww.. i bet theyre adorable! pics? his are hatchery stock mutts, but theyre still cute as can be, and hopefully tough, as he hasnt had chickens since he was small child and his father fed him his (he woudnt eat chicken on bone since), and he is keeping his to cold worried about them and tank getting too warm in this weather and starting a fire or melting bin they are in, so when i go out by them with him i move it down and he moves it back up again when he notices. lol
the local co-op takes much better care of their chicks than does the TSC across street (except one woman who was halfway decent), but hate to see that the chicks at the co-op are having freshly cut beaks from when sent out, with bleeding beaks and tongues at times, and beaks melted and warped from when cut. i feel lucky the ducks like hanging and trying to come home with my pigeons, as now im not tempted to buy baby duck pair.

 

[crystal10asee]

aww.. i bet theyre adorable!  pics?  his are hatchery stock mutts, but theyre still cute as can be, and hopefully tough, as he hasnt had chickens since he was small child and his father fed him his (he woudnt eat chicken on bone since), and he is keeping his to cold worried about them and tank getting too warm in this weather and starting a fire or melting bin they are in, so when i go out by them with him i move it down and he moves it back up again when he notices. lol
    the local co-op takes much better care of their chicks than does the TSC across street (except one woman who was halfway decent), but hate to see that the chicks at the co-op are having freshly cut beaks from when sent out, with bleeding beaks and tongues at times, and beaks melted and warped from when cut.  i feel lucky the ducks like hanging and trying to come home with my pigeons, as now im not tempted to buy baby duck pair.

omg that sounds so crule!!! As far as starting a fire and all,where are they and what are they in? I have mine inside where its warm and I can watch them.they are in a storage tote w/ heat lamp rigged up. I had the same concern ,but now I see that plastic doesent get hot enough and I duck taped around clamp to make sure it doesent fall or get knocked off and for sure kill babies and start a fire when I'm not around. I'll post picks in a min.

 

[crystal10asee]

[/IMG]
Even duck taped a fan on cause even tho I have lamp up,they were panting and getting to hot w/out it.

Chicks one and two now not as chipmunk looking as they are getting a lot of feathers at two weeks old

 

[littlechicklet]

laughing dog- I haven't seen any chicks at my local CoOp but when I did their brooders looked much nicer than the tubs the local TSC keeps theirs in. Glad the ducks are coming by to visit.

Crystal10asee- I have never used a plastic tote for a brooder but many people do. I usually go to Lowe's: start out with the largest moving box and if I can't get them outside soon enough I will go back to Lowe's and get an appliance box to use. I also put the side or top from one of my dog crates on top to keep the light from falling in. It works well for me.

I just got 10 buff Orpingot chicks from Don Chandler and they are starting in a box and hopefully by next week PS will be well enough to go back to the flock. She had a horrible injury from the rooster and had surgery a week ago yesterday. She is in the small coop I use for a brooder until she heals and stitches are removed.

Here she is after her surgery





ETA: this was an accident. the rooster cut her during breeding and it continued to rip when he bred her. I did not discover it until I went to put a saddle on her.