The 10th Annual BYC Easter Hatch-a-long!!!!!

[mlm Mike]

Egg pusher! I'm thinking about it. I have a small coop that I've used as a brooder for chicks, but I mostly hatch chickens under a broody. It's just sitting empty, but the downside is there is very little light in the coop unless the door to the run is open.

I'll look at the Cage build when I have a chance.

Do they need nestboxes? Can you raise them with chicks? How long do they need heat for after hatching? (since they lay in 6 ish weeks, I'm assuming they feather in really quickly) Can they handle cold/heat well? Would they go in on their own at night, if they have a run? (that is the ONLY reason I do not have ducks, we are in critterville) I had turkeys once and they never went inside, so they got picked off and I had to give the last 2 away.

I don't think they would go in on their own at night. When I raised quail, the door to their pen was left open one night. The next morning Moose helped me gather them up. I was certain we had got them all, Moose kept telling me no, they weren't all there. I counted again, decided they were all there, Moose said no, I took him inside with me. We were sitting in my office, Moose started barking, I looked out and there was a quail out in the yard. We went out and got him, Moose was happy, I swear he muttered under his breath, "I told you so", I never doubted Moose again.

 

[cppeace]

For those who are wondering if they can do it or how hard it is to process quail here are two videos. I will put the links in Spoilers so no one can see who doesn't want to.

Spoiler

In this video the decapitation isn't seen but everything else is

2nd video

Spoiler

In this one the decapitation is shown and everything else

 

[igorsMistress]

I was thinking of keeping mine in a hutch in the garage too but I kind of want them to have a run/dirt. Idk. Maybe they don’t care??

They love the dirt, I found little divots in the dirt where they lay their eggs and they very much like to have baths. If you do a hutch you'll need to provide it for them.

 

[Cynthia12]

Hi Happy! . Long time no see. Wish I could hatch, just can't anymore. Life happens. Going to start keeping laying hens, only during summer months. That makes me happy. I love coming in to see what's up in hatch a longs.

 

[ronott1]

Hi Happy! . Long time no see. Wish I could hatch, just can't anymore. Life happens. Going to start keeping laying hens, only during summer months. That makes me happy. I love coming in to see what's up in hatch a longs.

Using Rent a coop? Or a similar rental?

 

[Cynthia12]

Me? Heavens no. My hubby built me a coop years ago that isn't/can't go anywhere. lol.. will take a lot to remove it someday. It's quite sturdy. My few hens will love the room they have in there.

 

[mlm Mike]

Hi Happy! . Long time no see. Wish I could hatch, just can't anymore. Life happens. Going to start keeping laying hens, only during summer months. That makes me happy. I love coming in to see what's up in hatch a longs.

Hi Cynthia12!

 

[CuriousQueen]

Suzanne said she was going to start shipping eggs soon if anyone is interested Barred Holland’s. She runs the Barred Holland group on FB.

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

Plus not all of them hatch.

This is a very, very good point! I probably should have thought of that considering the track record the postal service has so far with hatching eggs shipped to my area. I'd probably only be able to get like 2 of the 30 to hatch.

 

[CuriousQueen]

Suzanne said she was going to start shipping eggs soon if anyone is interested Barred Holland’s. She runs the Barred Holland group on FB.

I apologize if that isn’t allowed. Someone asked about the ones I’m hatching this year, and posted in case someone is interested.