The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[aoxa]

I don't think you can skip the digital model, unless you can confirm with a seller that you are in fact buying an older 1588... it's my understanding that GQF has upgraded the 1588s and no longer makes them without the digital control. (Not positive on that tho.). Maybe there are plenty of older 1588s still left on shelves all across the globe so everyone still has a choice between the 2 different 1588s, I don't know.

I always use a digital Hygrometer/Thermometer (or 2, lol) in my incubators/hatchers, I was just advising not to count on the new 1588's LCD as being fail-proof since I have no personal experience it.

As for cleaning the 1588s... the styrofoam absorbs all the hatching goo/bacteria and gets stained deep down from the first poops while the keets/chicks are left in the incubator drying/fluffing, (especially with larger hatches they get it everywhere, even with rubberized shelf liner down), which is the main reason I do not hatch in mine. I wouldn't know how cleaning a cabinet style incubator compares, I'm not letting myself order one because I would not be able to control my hatching addiction, lol. Still seriously considering one, but currently practicing self control (go me). Just curious, did you order yours with automatic humidity control setup and the digital LCD etc? I'd be tempted to go full tilt with all the available options and egg racks etc if I ordered one, and really bite the bullet hard... lol.

Hmm... I just calculated my total from Incubator Ware House, $210.95 for the Hovabator 1588 and 1610 automatic turner... and it's only $200.95 from Stromberg's

I've only ordered a set of quail egg racks from Stromberg's in the past, but the shipping was free and Stromberg's sent them by Express Mail... I had them in 2 days. There were no issues with my order so I have no clue if Stromberg's has great customer service, or not. I based my recommendation on my personal experience only. I have heard plenty of good things about Stromberg's over the years tho...

I didn't realize stromberg shipped free. They definitely don't to Canada!!

I haven't had any staining on my styrofoam, but on the metal cover over the tray there is staining. I've hatched maybe 150 - 200 birds in it this year. But after a while I can see it staining. Especially seeing other people's pictures of them. Mine is still really clean looking.

I have gone full out with the cabinet incubator. I did forget to purchase the humidity pump. Did not realize I needed it.. I will have to be getting one of those if I plan to hatch in it. My test run only lasted 24 hours with water to the top of the humidity tray. Chicks all hatched after I quickly moved them to the genesis. I like watching them hatch, and you just can't with a cabinet incubator. I can't reach all the way to the back of the machine with my arm, so I am assuming it would be a pain in the neck to clean. I'd rather not! I oxine my incubator after hatches. Stuff cleans very well.

So go with what Peeps said. Buy from Stromberg's as they have free shipping. The base price is cheaper from incubator warehouse.

 

[aoxa]

If you "Quote" this post, and add your name and pick to it,,we can keep track of the voting. This is of course, if you want to weigh in on such an important,, earth shattering vote!

So far we have

Bulldogma- Welcome Wagon
Melabella- Welcome Wagon
Mumsy-Welcome Wagon
Jockeyeba-Welcome Wagon

sorry if I missed anyone...

Well since everyone is going for the welcome wagon.. I'll go for the Welcome to the Group.

I like to be different.

 

[delisha]

Going back a few (?) pages to the layer feed concerns. What do you feed to your chicks that are broody raised and in with the general population? I feed everyone, in the general population, layer pellets no matter age and haven't had any problems. The chicks that are hatched in the incubator get chick starter ff until they move out to the coop with the general population at about 12 weeks of age. The youngsters are put in large dog kennels for one week and then allowed out into the general population...this causes fewer pecking order issues.

Incubators - I have the Genesis 1588 w/fan and turner. I also follow the dry hatch guidelines. My best hatch was last year's Easter Hatch!

Roosters - I have more than one in the general population...actually too many and need to butcher a few more! There are always skirmishes, but no major battles.

This is another reason why I do not feed layer. Chicks

 

[LeslieDJoyce]

Hi Leslie!

May I ask what breeds you have... while I was reading your post, I was imagining and laughing about the lil bantams... It would be nice to have an image with the story...lol.. What breeds do you want to integrate? I am looking to perhaps gettiing a second small flock if I can manage to find an affordable coop for them. I have room for it. Now that I got my feet wet with utilitarian breeds, I thought it might be nice to try some fantasy breeds of mine.

Welcome to the thread!

MB

Hey! Thanks for asking! We converted some old metal greenhouse frames we had on the farm into our coop. They were an expensive (yikes! edited to read INEXPENSIVE) conversion and offer lots of space (have to manage the ventilation when it is humid, but I accounted pretty well for that -- and this likely wouldn't work in a hotter climate due to the heat gain in summers). I like being creative! I hope you can find something like that for your second flock. What are your fantasy breeds? I just can't decide what are my favorites.

For me ... my whole dream was a pretty basket of eggs. Dad, who owns the farm where I live, said I could get "six" chickens. So I started the hunt for my six chicks with Easter Eggers and Marans in mind. They couldn't promise me any, so had to console myself by ordering six EACH of: White leghorns, brown Leghorns (one of these is our top cock -- he was a very pretty bird just before he started to molt), Gold Sexlinks, Black Australorps (one of these is a rooster, so handsome and gentlemanly), Buff Orpingtons (one of these is a lovely rooster, too), Silver Laced Wyandottes, Barred Plymouth Rock, and Rhode Island Reds. But because I had to wait for those, I took home the only two chicks they had in the store: two straight run assorted bantams. I think that's everything from the first batch. Forgive my spelling ... not feeling like double checking anything right now.

I just pretend Dad meant "Six Each."

Then the feed store had one extra but sickly looking Cuckoo Marans that I had to take (she remains very special and sometimes lays the most "special" eggs I've ever seen -- my boyfriend says she has some kind of genetic condition where her feathers are mangy looking -- she is at the very bottom of the pecking order, the sweetiepie). And I stalked the Easter Egger crates at the feed store on Friday evenings scooping up all of those that hadn't been picked up by the people who ordered them. I scored a fair number of EEs, yay! Though the one that did lay more blue eggs is the one bird from our flock who randomly died last fall. The others lay pretty green eggs.

We ended up getting rid of the White Leghorns because they were super mean. Weird birds! I was really looking forward to having them give me crazy quantities of big white eggs. Oh well!

One of the two little bantams turned out to be a completely comic Buff Cochin we call Ruffles (we're pretty predictable in our naming scheme). You should see Ruffles chasing the ladies with his pantaloons looking like they're falling down. Totally melts your heart. If he actually catches one, he mates with her shoulder blades, which is totally adorable but useless. And the other bantam ... we thought was a female and called her "Mrs. Ruffles" until "she" started to crow, now he is "Big Red." He is also feather-footed, but taller, red, less fluffy, smaller comb, and more upright than the little Buff Cochin, so I'm not sure what he is. He is a lot faster than Ruffles, so he does catch hens quite often. He really has to grab their heads (their regular roos don't have to grab anything!), and while they're stunned but annoyed, he scrambles backwards to get into position, and this seems to tear at their saddle area more than necessary ... and then of course the regular roo has to have a turn to balance things out. As much as I admire his cunning, I think it would be easier on the hens without Big Red being such a bandit.

The September birds are: Speckled Sussex (LOVE these birds!), Gold Laced Wyandottes, Black Jersey Giants, California Whites (already laying!), Black Sexlinks, and a few singles of some of the breeds we already have. I also got 6 "sexed" Cuckoo Marans, and out of those all but one is a rooster and one of the roosters is a Barred Rock -- how's that for luck? I'll have to try again for those dark brown eggs!

My boyfriend thought he'd breed so bought some roosters and the two that look okay to me are an Easter Egger (which I gather isn't great breeding stock) and a Silver Laced Wyandotte. There are several roosters in the September flock. Then, six of the birds in with the September flock are birds we hatched here (mutts) ... I think only one of those is a female -- she appears to be a Buff Orpington rooster over a Silver Laced Wyandotte hen which is a really cool looking combination!

Not only are we starting with "hatchery" birds, so not the Standard of Perfection in any direction, I'm just *not* feeling up to the challenges of setting up decent habitats for breeding trios, etc., so have made an executive decision to postpone that project until I feel I have more of a grip on everything else. My primary concern is to have a stable and healthy flock that is happily productive and peaceful.


I can tell I'm going to have to do a lot of rooster culling.

So ... my egg basket ... it has white and green eggs, lots of lighter shades of brown, buff, and some eggs I'd say are light pink, as well as the occasional darker rose colored egg that almost looks purple. Not too bad!

I drool over the blue, olive and chocolate eggs I see in people's avatars!

Someday!

 

[Mumsy]

Going back a few (?) pages to the layer feed concerns. What do you feed to your chicks that are broody raised and in with the general population? I feed everyone, in the general population, layer pellets no matter age and haven't had any problems. The chicks that are hatched in the incubator get chick starter ff until they move out to the coop with the general population at about 12 weeks of age. The youngsters are put in large dog kennels for one week and then allowed out into the general population...this causes fewer pecking order issues.

Incubators - I have the Genesis 1588 w/fan and turner. I also follow the dry hatch guidelines. My best hatch was last year's Easter Hatch!

Roosters - I have more than one in the general population...actually too many and need to butcher a few more! There are always skirmishes, but no major battles.

I can feed my chicks separate from the broody hen quite easily by putting their dish behind a barrier that is just high and wide enough for the chicks to get through to their dish and not the hen or any other larger bird.

I never feed layer. Never have.

I feed FF to everybody. FF chick starter for any bird under eight weeks. All purpose fermented with a host of other whole grains and vegetives for everybody else.

I brood in my house under light and heat for two weeks and then everybody goes in the brooder/chick house until five to six weeks with supplemental heat while taking the weather into account.

Breeding pairs and trios are housed in separate pens and runs from the main laying flock.

I have two cheapo styrofoam LG incubators. I have hatched hundreds of chicks out of them over the years.

My property is small. 1/2 acre and mostly in garden and orchard. One rooster runs with one harem in separate areas free ranging my property at any one time. I used to run them all together and it was always bedlam and chaos. Blood and trauma. At my age all I want these days is peace please.

 

[stonykill]

This is another reason why I do not feed layer. Chicks

when broody season is in full swing here from March to some time in September normally I feed Game bird crumbles to everyone. Non Medicated of course.

 

[delisha]

I like this one because it's a group welcome

x2

 

[delisha]

Quote:

 

[Leahs Mom]

I tried searching the thread a bit for something that I think someone posted about oregano - but can't find it.

This is not oregano for chickens, but for people. Did someone post how to use oregano oil for sore throat/ear infection type ailment? I'm wanting to try it for me but can't find the instructions.

 

[delisha]

I tried searching the thread a bit for something that I think someone posted about oregano - but can't find it.

This is not oregano for chickens, but for people. Did someone post how to use oregano oil for sore throat/ear infection type ailment? I'm wanting to try it for me but can't find the instructions.

http://www.healthy-oil-planet.com/oil-of-oregano-dosage.html