The Natural Chicken Keeping thread - OTs welcome!

[Sally8]

Chicken tunnels entertaining the neighbors:

My girls have full run of our acre of land and some of our neighbors too. Lol I've always wanted to do this for my cats, they have to be indoor only because of the the racetrack that I call our county road. Very nice.

It's crazy, because SO MANY people worry about leaving chicks in the incubator 48 hours after they hatch.. I do.. I always do.. I don't have the brooder ready until the 21st day and have had chicks hatch on the 19th... Yet some people are in such a rush to remove them.. You don't need to.. They are meant to survive without food and water for 72 hours

I'm not worried about the chicks staying in the incubator a couple days because of lack of food or water, but they seem to play bowling with the rest of the eggs. I've had some get turned upside down after they have pipped and they don't survive, so I always pull them as soon as I'm comfortable that they are dry enough. Does anyone else worry about this?

 

[lalaland]

you might sneak a candling on those eggs. if they're dudds then taking them out will get her up and moving sooner, so she'll teach those chicks to eat and drink.

I finally got up my nerve to candle last night with the last two eggs and danged if I know what I saw. haven't had time to look at youtube etc yet. But one had a pulsing movement where the air cell met the mass of dark. the other, no movement. air cell and black mass.

I'd let that momma stay there until she's satisfied. She'll leave when she's ready and I wouldn't take the chance that one would be at term and die because of her leaving.

I also wouldn't worry about food or water for those kiddos until about 3 days pass. By then, she'll get up and feed them. But if you start feeding them earlier, she'll know the babies need to KEEP eating and drinking after they've started and she'll be more likely to abandon the nest to take care of them. That's not a good thing if there are still live eggs ready to hatch.

God has created that 3 day window in there where they can survive w/out food and water for just such a time as that.... Knowing that not all the eggs would begin incubating at the same time there is a "window" of time in there to cover.

lol I wasn't planning on feeding the chicks yet, but I was tidbitting momma in the early morning, and all the chicks were under her, and she started calling them out for the food. I had to scramble to get the feed/grit/dirt bowl for her and in the afternoon when I got the little dish of clover, dandelion and snipped grass, she went nuts. it was funny to watch because she wanted the chicks to eat the greens but she really wanted them too. She would call the chicks, show them the green bit and then eat it before they could!
here's a pic:



and they learned to drink day 2

Day 20...Tina's been a champ. Little ones being hatched as I type this. One little head stuck out from underneath her breast and my wife shot a pic. Have a place sectioned off in the coop which includes her nesting box and am going to install a little sreen ramp for when they want to venture out of the box. When will that be?
I need to get some chick starter food, correct? Suggestions?
Chick grit?
Water? when will they be looking for that?

hey scott, I'm feeding chick/grower which is what I already feed the flock. no calcium. and it needs grit, but if you feed pellets it is all mush and they don't need the grit. Bowl of dirt goes over well, though. I think they get something from it - minerals? who knows.
last year I learned to put a sod plug in the brooder .....not sure I am going to do that with this set up and a broody mama because I figure she will take them out soon. Momma taught the chicks to drink yesterday, I think most were hatched thursday/friday - so day 2 or so.
love the pic too!

 

[lalaland]

Hey, I forgot to say that the smartphone makes the best and easiest candler - using the flashlight app. easier than a flashlight because you can set the phone down and only have to hold the egg on the phone instead of juggling egg and flashlight.

Still don't know what the egg that had a big air cell, solid dark mass meant. gonna let the broody decide what to do with the darned eggs.

 

[bluebirdnanny]

Hoping I have the luck you all have! Enjoying the hatching broody sharing!

 

[lalaland]

update on molly's herbal wormer and weekly tonic:

with all the fuss about the broody, I forgot to mention the wormer. Remember, I had seen a few wormy poops, and egg production had dropped from 10-14 eggs a day to 5-7 eggs a day.
I used the herbal wormer for 3 days, and then realized I misread tbs and was using tsp. So I repeated it. I mixed it in the feed daily.

About a week after the second round of "proper" dosing, egg production was up and I am back to a doz eggs or so a day. No sign of wormy poop, I've read that some people have seen live worms expelled by the wormer.

I bought the wormer kit, which has enough wormer to last me with 2 doz chickens for a couple of years at least if not longer, and has a wormer tonic which should last me several years. Wormer is to be repeated every 6-8 weeks, so I figure I will do it again in July and again in October, and then wait for the spring. Haven't started the wormer tonic, which is a weekly dose. I mean to do it, but life intervenes.

I'm a believer!

 

[aoxa]

My girls have full run of our acre of land and some of our neighbors too. Lol I've always wanted to do this for my cats, they have to be indoor only because of the the racetrack that I call our county road. Very nice.
I'm not worried about the chicks staying in the incubator a couple days because of lack of food or water, but they seem to play bowling with the rest of the eggs. I've had some get turned upside down after they have pipped and they don't survive, so I always pull them as soon as I'm comfortable that they are dry enough. Does anyone else worry about this?

I used to. I don't anymore. I very rarely have one pip that doesn't make it out.

I am pretty hands off during hatch. I used to be a lot more hands on and had worse hatch rates.

 

[Scott H]

Quote:
Got some non med starter feed yesterday for when they start showing their fuzzy lill' faces but I forgot the grit. Thanks..... I'll just put a bowl of our sandy soil out and let them pick thru it!

 

[ki4got]

Quote:
I hatch in egg flats to prevent the rolling (egg tilted slightly so the largest part of the air cell is up). had another great hatch, tho my cochins are going to drive me berserk. I collect eggs daily, but with those feathered feet I think they're holding onto eggs now and then because my cochins typically start hatching 2-3 days early (broodies are starting them before I incubate). it's interesting, I don't incubate immediately after collecting eggs, so it appears that a day of incubation by broody then setting them on the shelf must kickstart them somewhat. I've candled eggs collected from under the girls (expect 1 or 2 and find 4...) and don't see any signs of growth yet. but 2 days in the incubator and you see a heartbeat already. (after sitting on the shelf for a week).

 

[Pnoah1]

Does anyone know a good way to start getting hens to get broody and set I would like our Cochin Bantam to set soon or our Silkie hen to set soon but they are only laying eggs and abandoning them, I have tried to put fake eggs in there nest boxes to trick them into gathering eggs. Any ideas?

 

[heartsizedfarm]

Does anyone know a good way to start getting hens to get broody and set I would like our Cochin Bantam to set soon or our Silkie hen to set soon but they are only laying eggs and abandoning them, I have tried to put fake eggs in there nest boxes to trick them into gathering eggs. Any ideas?

No expert, having only had three naturally broody hens ever, but wouldn't the danger be that if you "made" a hen broody somehow she still might not stick it out the whole 21 days? And you would waste viable eggs if she bailed?