The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[aoxa]

Wow! 100 Silkie chicks hatched out of your cabinet incubator? I'm thinking your great hatch rates has something to do with your Silkie flock on FF and with your great flock master skills. I'm so much looking forward to hatching Silkie eggs from my own birds again!

No no, this year. Not last hatch. 100% on my last hatch..

I only started out with a trio this year. I had added a fourth hen in July and she gave me 20 this fall. Next year I expect more. My initial flock was not even of good quality. I think I got lucky. You should see the two silkie chicks I had just taken back from a friend who can't complete his coop and needed me to hold them until late spring (with $20 for food) They are so cute. And so clean. Both were girls.

Once I get my breeding pens built, everyone is getting a nice bath. That's 30 silkies in need of a bath. Because they stand out in poor weather and mud.. They need it terribly. I'm going to build them a covered run with supervised free ranging on nice days. They just get in to too much and the standard roosters have a love for the silkie girls.

 

[Leahs Mom]

I'm using a Genesis 1588.....temp. is 99.5 and I've been keeping my humidity right around 50%. I was going to try the dry hatch method, but with the furnace running up here in the winter best I could do even with a RelativeAirHumidity of 56% was 16% in the bator. So I've been adding a little water and checking both temp. And humidity with a independent temp and hydormeter(sp?) Daily and only adding water when it starts to drop below 20 % again. Last season I had some terrible hatches so I've been researching to see what went wrong. All signs pointed to high humidity for the first eighteen days. which makes sense. I was filling the tray as full as I could get it not realizing that it overflowed and filled the whole underside with water took. The result was humidity between 60- 70 % and chicks dying before they hatched

How long have you used that 1588? I've read some good reviews on that. I don't own an incubator yet but may get one some day! From what I've heard listening to folks give reviews on their incubators, the 1588 is likely what I'd get.... So... I'd like to hear another person's experience..would you buy that one again? Why/Why not.

 

[Leahs Mom]

Del - Any more news on the broody's hatch?

 

[jendodd79]

Reasons are many for using vetwrap with horses. A huge one is for something we refer to on the track as "rundowns", or competition bandages. Generally also only during racing, or high workout days. The faster a horse goes,or more intense the job asked of a horse, the occurrence of injury or hitting himself with his own hooves becomes great. Another very common occurance with high speed excersice in the horse is called "running down". It occurs more often with hind fetlocks, the horse actually rubs the hair off of the back of his joint, and then a mild or serious burn of the skin can occur against the racetrack surface. Hence the name of the bandages on track being called rundowns. The burn can be serious or severe. Some horses are prone to running down, or hitting themselves due to conformational build, or if a horse that has never run down in the past does run down, it's a sign of emerging soundness issues. Just because a horse wears these, it does not mean it is running with problems, lots of trainers use them as precautionary measure. Here is a picture of the great racemare Zenyatta with a pair of rundown bandages behind. She has tall rundowns on ...

and this horse is wearing short rundowns on his hind fetlocks. If you look closely, you can see the grass rub mark where the horse rubbed his ankle during his race. Most likely the grass was deep and soft as this picture is from England where it rains a lot, and soft turf conditions are commonplace. If this horse wasn't wearing rundowns, he may have burned his skin where that grass stain is on his rundown bandage.



Other uses for vetwrap are to hold bandages in place, and medications on wounds as in this photo of a horse with a foot needing bandaging. Clever addition of duct tape as well..

Since vetwrap is pricey, it tends to be used as only for race day, or when needed medically. For morning exercise works, there are several different material bandages that are used that can be washed and used again, where obviously vetwrap tends to only be used once.

And there is your racehorse/vetwrap lesson for the day...
Sorry Stoney...
MB

We used to vet wrap the tails up to keep them growing long and pretty for shows. Lol!

 

[jendodd79]

OK..someone asked for deep litter pictures..The coop has frozen poop, and normally I would stir it in, however it is frozen solid on surfaces and you now get to see a dirty coop.

I forked down to the floor here so you can see how it looks at the bottom. It is a bit darker and it is broken down. It is so cold out that when I forked it over it steamed.
..


The deep litter is uneven in the duck pen so i can keep that poop door open. I do close it at night sometimes if we get a southern wind.



The broody box on the upper right hand corner is about 6 inches off the floor, with the deep littler it looks even with the floor.

Thank you!!

 

[aoxa]

How long have you used that 1588? I've read some good reviews on that. I don't own an incubator yet but may get one some day! From what I've heard listening to folks give reviews on their incubators, the 1588 is likely what I'd get.... So... I'd like to hear another person's experience..would you buy that one again? Why/Why not.

PeepsCA and I both said we have the 1588 and gave reviews. I really like it Keeps humidity well for me. Hatches really well. It has the really cool viewing window for hatch. Overall I think it's a great incubator. I'll continue to use it for hatching.

 

[Elliemae 77]

Oh yes, I love my 1588. I'd definitely buy it again. It holds the temp. very well. The thermostat comes preset from the factory and is very easy to use. I would recommend using a independent thermometer/hydrometer. It also comes with a liner so its easy to clean up after a hatch. Mine has a large viewing window which is nice for watching chicks on hatch day. But its been so bitter cold here -5 at night and the temp. in my house dropped to 57 degrees in the basement where I keep the bator. I have a toddler so keeping it upstairs where its warmer is not an option this season. I was a little concerned about losing heat through the viewing window( temp. dropped one degree) so I laid a couple pieces of fleece I had left over from making a blanket over the top, making sure not to cover up the vent holes for proper ventilation. Now even on the bitter cold days the incubator temp. is holding steady.

 

[Elliemae 77]

Oh yes, I love my 1588. I'd definitely buy it again. It holds the temp. very well. The thermostat comes preset from the factory and is very easy to use. I would recommend using a independent thermometer/hydrometer. It also comes with a liner so its easy to clean up after a hatch. Mine has a large viewing window which is nice for watching chicks on hatch day. But its been so bitter cold here -5 at night and the temp. in my house dropped to 57 degrees in the basement where I keep the bator. I have a toddler so keeping it upstairs where its warmer is not an option this season. I was a little concerned about losing heat through the viewing window( temp. dropped one degree) so I laid a couple pieces of fleece I had left over from making a blanket over the top, making sure not to cover up the vent holes for proper ventilation. Now even on the bitter cold days the incubator temp. is holding steady. Oops. Double post ....sorry

 

[rambunctious]

Goodness...this seems silly. But I find myself addicted to this thread.

I've got a vital pack coming with my chicks from Meyer..in the water can I have vital pack and UnACV without one affecting another? And is it just a teaspoon of UnACV added to the water?

 

[Bulldogma]

Playing with a new website - gotta love Weebly! Feel free to look around and let me know what you think. It's still a work in progress...

http://southernvapoultry.weebly.com/index.html

Oh - and Welcome to the thread, Elliemae 77!