The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Mumsy]

This is good advise..I have a few things to add..for shipped eggs it depends on if you have LF or silkies/bantam. The bantams ones you need to heat your incubator to 101 for the first 24 hours of incubation. Than turn it to regular heat. 100-99.5. Silkies need an extra day of higher heat in the beginning.
The biggest thing about shipped eggs is air cells and attachment. I get my incubator set up and going steady. Than unplug it..set the eggs inside (fat end up)and the next day plug in the heat. I gently check air cells in a few after day two and when they attach I turn on the turner. If it pushes it to day three I turn it on and just hope for the best. I do not handle shipped eggs like I do my own. They are more fragile and should not be handled. I check at day 18. I do not *lock down* until first pip. Air cells are more important than anything in shipped eggs. I put my humidity up or down depending on air cell development.

Humidity 30% till first pip. 55%-60% humidity after I see first pip or hear chicks.

All above is good advice. I will add what I do. With shipped eggs I take them straight out of the box with out tipping and place them upright in a carton. I examine all for damage or cracks and if they are not too cold, I put them into the incubator that is already heated and ready. I do not turn for four or five days. I hand turn every egg. I do not have an automatic turner. When I candle, I do not tip them. When ever I must handle them, I do not tip them. I candle on day seven, fourteen, and day eighteen but I am ever so careful. I had two eggs of the shipped Fogle HRIR with large saddle air cells. Both eggs hatched beautiful chicks.
I agree with del on bantam or Silkie eggs. They are the fragile of the fragile. I do candle but treat them extremely carefully. I also raise the incubator temp higher and do not raise humidity until first pip with Silkies.

 

[HollyDuckFarmer]

Ok I got my gal into the bath in the kitchen sink with some ESalts...nothing obvious at all. So I put her back with the flock, she was fine... But then today I found a huge huge nest. With my gal sitting tight this morning. So there it was. I'll have to post a pic, she had quite the nest.

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

Chelation therapy is done for the two Silkies. Hoping to get the pen done in the next week or two and get all the Silkies into it, including the chicks and get the meaties into the tractor. These 5 are eating almost as much as my 8 adult LF w/2 chicks. About 5 cups for the meaties and 6 for the LF.

 

[lalaland]

Ok I got my gal into the bath in the kitchen sink with some ESalts...nothing obvious at all. So I put her back with the flock, she was fine... But then today I found a huge huge nest. With my gal sitting tight this morning. So there it was. I'll have to post a pic, she had quite the nest.

wow, thats quite the egg! bet that nice soak in the kitchen sink with the epsom salts felt good to her and helped! let us know how she does tomorrow.

 

[Eggcessive]

Aoxa, as usual I am late to the party, but I also vote for local produce. I sell my eggs (and starting this year, vegetables) at a local year-round store that sells vegetables, fruit, frozen meats, milk, eggs, honey, and wool that farmers in a 100 mile radius produce in Huntington, West Virginia. I think most farmers are organic, but aren't certified because of the costs.

 

[Eggcessive]

Bulldogma, hope you are having a good time on vacation. Beekissed actually checked in on the FF thread last week to correct something that has been misquoted, but she said she still wasn't back on BYC. Mumsy, we love seeing your pictures and hearing about your chicks. My Ron RIR eggs have moving chicks inside 12 out of 15 when candled--I hope they hatch next week.

 

[delisha]

Quote:

Chelation therapy is done for the two Silkies. Hoping to get the pen done in the next week or two and get all the Silkies into it, including the chicks and get the meaties into the tractor. These 5 are eating almost as much as my 8 adult LF w/2 chicks. About 5 cups for the meaties and 6 for the LF.

Please let me know how every thing went and if you notice any difference.

Bulldogma, hope you are having a good time on vacation. Beekissed actually checked in on the FF thread last week to correct something that has been misquoted, but she said she still wasn't back on BYC. Mumsy, we love seeing your pictures and hearing about your chicks. My Ron RIR eggs have moving chicks inside 12 out of 15 when candled--I hope they hatch next week.

How exciting about your HRIR..it is an exciting breed!!

 

[bluebirdnanny]

Ok just going to post the link to the Album..... the newest shots are from today. They enjoyed tearing apart the strips of sod from the garden edge and hunks of what did not compost from last year which they mixed with the wood ash. They actually rolled over like they were dogs and kicking feet to side. Butted each other over and kicked it in each others faces! They had a ball! A few shots shows how they got it right down to the skin! Dirty birds!

First Chickens- First Day- Got an egg

 

[Bulldogma]

I"m back and finally caught up! Lost 3 of the youngest SFH chicks (under the black Silkie) while we were gone - apparently it got really, really cold last night and perhaps they couldn't all fit under mama. There was a heat element in the grow-out pen with them too, but it was in the 20's and the window was open all the way because I wasn't around to close it.

It's going down to freezing again tonight but I plugged in the extra heater and closed the window a bit. Mama was sitting tight on the 7 babies she had left.

I love all the chick pics, and as usual the information passed around on this thread has been fantastic! Gotta get some sleep (I have a bad cold... because no vacation would be complete without being plagued by some nasty little virus) but I'll be on tomorrow after my chores are done.

Night, folks!

 

[armorfirelady]

Ok just going to post the link to the Album..... the newest shots are from today. They enjoyed tearing apart the strips of sod from the garden edge and hunks of what did not compost from last year which they mixed with the wood ash. They actually rolled over like they were dogs and kicking feet to side. Butted each other over and kicked it in each others faces! They had a ball! A few shots shows how they got it right down to the skin! Dirty birds!

First Chickens- First Day- Got an egg

Great pictures. I love watching my guys dust bathe as well. Apparently once one finds a spot the other 3 think they need to pile on because of course the ground around that first hen is no good lol I love to sit & watch them.........try some peat moss if you have some. My gusy go NUTS over that. I mix it in with their wood ash dust box to