The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

First question-I have a Silkie egg with an external pip at the wrong end.  Can it hatch?

My incubator is running at 99.4 to 99.7.  Out of curiosity, I used a meat thermometer to check it yesterday and it read 101.3.  I set the eggs on 3/18, so if I don't count the first day, they'd be due to hatch on the 8th, right?  Last batch hatched exactly 21 days from the day I set them, so if that happens this time, it would be the 7th.  I have 2 Silkies pipped this morning.  I did have 2 or 3 days this past week that were very hot and humid and the temp and humidity went up in the incubator.  I had to run my ceiling fan to get the temp down.  I can't tell you what the humidity is because it has an acceptable range for incubating and for hatching.  It doesn't give percentage.  Should I turn the heat down for the next hatch?   

First thing I would do is calibrate. .. compare several thermometers to verify accuracy. Having temps temporarily do a little low won't do as much harm as too high. But if you are getting pips and not hatches I would worry about humidity. I keep my humidity at 40% for the first 18 days and 64% for hatch. I am personal to anal to not know my exact humidity all the time so I would get something to monitor that... especially if you suspect it is not high enough during lockdown.
As far as number of days. .. so many factors affect this. The temperature the eggs were stored at, how often they were turned during storage, how many days old they were prior to setting, and how long a hen say on them before they were collected. I have had entire hatches go 20 days, then 2 hatches later I get one that goes 22 days. I track this carefully because I hatch every 5 days, so delayed hatches can really present a problem in the tiny incubator I use for lockdown since I am putting new eggs in it every 5 days.
As a side note... Some folks have a lot of success using the same humidity the entire time. .. averaging 52-55% for the duration. That has never worked well for me so I use Styrofoam still airs for setting but lockdown is in a small bator that holds humidity better. The environment where the bator is can effect this so much too, so once you find the right combination it should be easily repeatable... But sometimes it takes a little trial and error.
Oh. .. And. .. a pip at the wrong end? I'd probably help it. I rarely help but in that case it will be hard for that chick if you don't. But. .. If it's the first to pip i'd wait because you don't want to open your bator when the others are so close to hatch and have a drastic drop in humidity
 
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["What? Another post about plastic", they think as they wonder when this lady will ever get off this "horse".]
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Just thought I'd quote this article that came out yesterday as a reminder on plastics. It this is an issue for a large body (people) think of how much more of an issue it is for a tiny chicken body. And it's not just BPA. There are other phenols in plastics that create the same issue.

So...just wanted to keep y'all "natural" chicken keepers thinking about ways to reduce plastic use around your bird's feed and water if possible.

Partial Quote: http://www.motherearthnews.com/natu... eNews&utm_campaign=04.07.14 HE#axzz2yCgTrMJ7 You can read the rest at the link above.
 
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I am cheap I feed mine out of recycled pie plates, and dollar store metal brownie pans.. i do have one bucket feeder we made..until we can figure out the wood one they step on
 
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I am cheap I feed mine out of recycled pie plates, and dollar store metal brownie pans.. i do have one bucket feeder we made..until we can figure out the wood one they step on
I was joking about wooden feeders but after thinking about it for a while, It might be worth while to have a few of them made up. We don't plan any timber harvest anytime soon but it wouldn't be too hard to get a white oak log from a large lumber mill, located about 35 miles from here. Could have them de-bark it and be there when they are running white oak so we can chose one from the skid line.

Pap and dad put together a pretty good shop. Most of the equipment was 'old' in the 70s but they made things to last in that era and pretty easy to fix. Great project for Jason and one of his buddies. I'll request a few of these for my on-rushing 65th birth day.

I took a minute to make the request and got the 'Thumbs' up.....I think that was his thumb!
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The collars can be fixed not to slide. All collars have rings.

Of course all collars have rings. But only choke collars have rings that can tighten a noose around the dog's neck when pulled.

I'm relieved to hear that you've fixed the collars so there's no chance of them sliding (never heard of that being done - how did you do that?). My thought about that, though, is that then you essentially have a regular collar, only without a clasp and big enough to slip over the dog's head.

I really hope you don't take what I say personally, because I'm not meaning it that way. And I'm not telling you that you should change the way you do things with your dogs. They're your dogs and so it's up to you to decide what's best for them, and I can see that you do understand the risks. I just don't want people to look at the picture of your handsome dog and think that leaving a choke chain collar on their dog all the time is a good idea. It's not.
 
I am cheap I feed mine out of recycled pie plates, and dollar store metal brownie pans.. i do have one bucket feeder we made..until we can figure out the wood one they step on


Same here, I also use clay pot bottoms, a very special friend from BYC gave me a large galvanized feeder and I too am a collector of glass pie plates. I must have over 50 of them. I can't pass a garage sale without looking for one. Too bad I didn't bake with them. I do use plastic for my heated waterers in the winter but so far only the Bunny's small waterer still freezes.

Very off topic but I'll try to work it in. My grandchildren love The Gator Boys on tv and yesterday they came to Elmira and we went. I came home with that same sick feeling that I get after going to the zoo. So, after finding my dead Sizzle my first thought was I'll bet that gator would have loved her. lol. DH told me I was sick.
 
Of course all collars have rings. But only choke collars have rings that can tighten a noose around the dog's neck when pulled.

I'm relieved to hear that you've fixed the collars so there's no chance of them sliding (never heard of that being done - how did you do that?). My thought about that, though, is that then you essentially have a regular collar, only without a clasp and big enough to slip over the dog's head.

I really hope you don't take what I say personally, because I'm not meaning it that way. And I'm not telling you that you should change the way you do things with your dogs. They're your dogs and so it's up to you to decide what's best for them, and I can see that you do understand the risks. I just don't want people to look at the picture of your handsome dog and think that leaving a choke chain collar on their dog all the time is a good idea. It's not.
I agree that having a dog to wear a 'choke' collar at all times is very dangerous. I keep the collars on my dogs fixed in place with a small black steel device that I honestly can't name. I'll find a pic and post it. They are put on with a hammer.

I use these collars because they will last a life time (perhaps 20 dog life times) without causing any sort of coat damage. They simply do not cut any length of coat and I have had no problems in using them for more that 45 years.

Don't worry about my feelings...
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