South Carolina

[Patsy29332]

YAY TRIXIE!!! CONGRATS!!! Who's a broody hen now!! LOL

Dee it is nice to see you are like so many of us and will put the farm babies first! We are responsible for them!! GOOD JOB!!

I have a question...is it possible for a chick to sunburn itself under a light? even though it is the one choosing to sit there and it has plenty of room to move away..(I had some singed (okay fried) feathers one time from a light I moved to low a while back)...I am trying to help figure out a lil chick...poo is a lil runny but nothing I have never seen...butt is unfeathered around vent but I have seen some lose them in wierd ways during growing up(butt,belly,between wings,I call it grow out moulting)...a little gripey but not extremely so...but overall feathers seem thin and skin is pink?? no sign of mites but is kinda preening alot?? I am thinking the lil bugger has enjoyed the nice heat light way too much!! LOL BTW it is 2 weeks old...

I have a 3 week old naked-butt polish right now...seen a few naked butt chicks here around that age...I have also had several chicks here and there become very thin feathered between 2 and 5 weeks old...but they feather back in. Don't recall about the pink skin except...my naked-butt Polish I have right now is pink butted...LOLOL I think it will be OK...

 

[polochic]

Does anyone have brown leghorn eggs for sale in SC?

 

[Lroach711]

OK girls who are having trouble ... what incubator are you using, what temp are you using, what humidity are you using and are you using a turner? I did not use a turner the first time and my temp was set to 99.5 at the top of the eggs. This time my temp is higher. I had 3 eggs pip, one came out on his own with curled toes, one I helped out and had to cull, and another that died in its shell. This time I am using a turner and I am doing the dry incubation technique. Have you read this article? https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/incubation-cheat-sheet This is what I am trying to do with my Little Giant. I talk to people who have had good hatches with the LG so I am hoping that with more information I will have a better hatch this time. It is always scary to hear that people continue to have bad hatches. I am not sure I am up for multiple bad hatches!!

I was using a very old LG incubator that I had rigged with a computer fan. It has an old LG turner as well. I've hatched chicks out of it before but haven't ever had spectacular hatches with it. I recently purchased an awesome Brinsea incubator, but my main problem is just the shipped eggs. This Brinsea incubator holds temp and humidity like a champ. I love it. My past 2 hatches have been strictly shipped eggs. The first ones I had a bunch go bad and start leaking in the bator. The 2nd group had a LOT of detached air cells and all quit early on.

I do have 7 eggs still in the bator now from Amy that are still looking good and are in lockdown. My hopes are not up though as I've had such awful luck this year. So I'm just going to expect the worse and maybe I'll be suprised!

I also have some eggs under a broody hen right now. Started with 10 call duck eggs (had to toss 5 last night at candling). Also have 4 chicken eggs (2 pure blue orp, 1 blue orp x dom, and 1 blue orp x marans). All of the eggs left look great and are due to hatch the end of next week. I am going to steal the duck eggs and put them in the incubator to hatch though. I would just DIE if they hatched and the other chickens hurt them or they fell from the nesting box. I MUST hatch some calls this year...and my little hen has stopped laying for the moment.

 

[Southern Bee Lady]

I have had my ups and downs with hatching. We probably all have.

I hatched with hovabators for a couple of years. One came with a fan and I added a computer fan to the other. Just converted a wine cooler to a incubator a couple of months ago. I use turners. I did have an excellent hatch for a friend that I hand turned (I had the turners full of eggs). Her eggs had been stored in a bowl and some were older than I would have tried to hatch but a great hatch anyway.

I use the dry hatch method. In the winter when the heat is on in the house, I do add a little water because the humidity will stays at 16%. I like to see it at 20-40%. At lockdown I add water to get it up to 65-75%. I use sponges if I have trouble getting it up there. Time of year and weather seem to have a big effect on getting the humidity right. I use 2 and sometime 3 thermometer/hygrometers in my hovabators at lockdown. Only use one in wine cooler. LOL I guess I am paranoid when they go into lockdown.

My opinion only......I think the quality of the feed that the chickens that laid the eggs are fed can make a difference in the strength and health of the chick before and after hatching.

I also place my incubators in areas of the house that do not have a big variation in temp. My hovabators (hatchers) are usually in a bathroom that does not have an outside window.

There is some excellent info at the two links below. I have found for our area of the country and our humidity that a lower humidity day 1-18 seems to work better for me.

See how to control your incubator
http://browneggblueegg.com/Article/IncubatorControl.html

incubator tips
http://browneggblueegg.com/Article/IncubatorTips.html

 

[KrisH]

We have the Reptipro 5000. Our problem seems to be the temp adn humidity. We have mostly dry hatched, but our problem seems to be temp. With 3 different thermometers having different readings, which is right. Now, all of the attempts, we have had at least 1 chick hatch except once. so the temos must be clse. This last hatch, of 3 out of 13. The chciks looked like they were wet for the longest time, but when I took them out they were actually dry. None seemed to have any difficulty hatching, just slow. But the shells came right off. So I question teh humidity. I also wonder if the temp was maybe a little low throughout the incubation.

I have been reading the thread on Reptipro. Hopefully it has given us some insight into this incubator. Honestly, I beleive all of our problemns are learning our incubator. It is different from all the others, more like the wine cooler, I expect.

 

[KrisH]

Amy, here is a quick picture of the 3 musketters. Minnie Pearl (bride) and Nepolean (Toby)

babies. Will be interesting what they feather out to be.

 

[KrisH]

Oh, here is a picture of the bantams and turkey.

Now keep in mind, poor Tom is moulting the bantams are in a pen in the stall. Well when Robert went down to lock in the turkeys and chikens, it seems that we had a issue.

Opps Someone didnt lock the Bantams cage door. here is what we found

 

[Moonchild]

Oh, here is a picture of the bantams and turkey.

Now keep in mind, poor Tom is moulting the bantams are in a pen in the stall. Well when Robert went down to lock in the turkeys and chikens, it seems that we had a issue.

Opps Someone didnt lock the Bantams cage door. here is what we found

Love this PIC!!!!!! and I love the walls in this coop!!!! It's Turkey with a side of nuggets. lol !!!!!

 

[Avonshire]

We have the Reptipro 5000. Our problem seems to be the temp adn humidity. We have mostly dry hatched, but our problem seems to be temp. With 3 different thermometers having different readings, which is right. Now, all of the attempts, we have had at least 1 chick hatch except once. so the temos must be clse. This last hatch, of 3 out of 13. The chciks looked like they were wet for the longest time, but when I took them out they were actually dry. None seemed to have any difficulty hatching, just slow. But the shells came right off. So I question teh humidity. I also wonder if the temp was maybe a little low throughout the incubation.

I have been reading the thread on Reptipro. Hopefully it has given us some insight into this incubator. Honestly, I beleive all of our problemns are learning our incubator. It is different from all the others, more like the wine cooler, I expect.

My one chick that I hatched also looked wet. It never fluffed up. So I took it out of the incubator after about 24 hours and it finally fluffed up in the brooder. I was surprised when I picked it up the first time and it was not actually wet. Wonder what causes that?

Love the turkey picture!!

 

[Moonchild]

My one chick that I hatched also looked wet. It never fluffed up. So I took it out of the incubator after about 24 hours and it finally fluffed up in the brooder. I was surprised when I picked it up the first time and it was not actually wet. Wonder what causes that?

Love the turkey picture!!

I've had that happen with my EE chicks. One looked wet(sort of) for weeks. It's big now and all healthy!!!!