Utah!

[La Casa de Pollo]

@La Casa de Pollo
, I've been thinking about getting a little heater too for the chicks..have you seen this one?  Or, are you looking at the yellow ones?

http://www.mypetchicken.com/catalog...e-p1556.aspx?gclid=CN65_s3U0scCFQ2OaQodtk8Gjw

I've been looking at one just like that, but yellow made by Brinsea. Love those! I The one I looked at is adjustable so you can widen it for a bigger hatch of chicks (of course that appeals to me haha )

ACE---Love that picture of your little girl and Sussex! Thanks for sharing, started my Monday off with a big smile .

 

[sideWing]

I tried the Brinsea, really didn't like..have had the hovabator, it's ok, but really love the Little Giant! What?

Amazing that the little giant is working great for you, that's awesome!

I wonder what brand or type Lisa uses? Perhaps she will chime in with her preference and or her thoughts regarding same. It was hot and not pleasant in the afternoon up here in Cache Valley today. Dog Days are soon coming to an end, me and my birds will be thankful to have made it another year. Anyone have bird loss or trouble due to the heat thus far this year? I am looking forward to the cooler weather in order to try and finish up some coop projects and such.

Best to all and your birds,

RJ

I did hear of one guy loosing 2 hens from the heat this summer early on. There is a thread on BYC called He said/ She said, Whose right whose wrong? No one. It's a hatching thread and they have all kinds of incubators and incubating advice. You don't have to read from the start you can just jump in and ask a question.

RJ--I have three, all came from CAL ranch. The most recent one I bought ...I hate it so bad. It is different, it is a Farm Innovators, it does not have the heating element that goes around the perimeter of the lid, it just has a small heated element in the center. I liked it at first, humidity stays awesome, but soon learned that it only stayed warm in one spot under the heat plate and the eggs toward the outside were 5 degrees cooler! I don't use that one anymore unless I need extra room at the last day of lockdown, and I can bunch some in the center.

The other two are a few years old, Cal Ranch styrobators....I have a still air, and a forced air...They both keep temps about the same, the still air has better luck at lockdown keeping the humidity on track. However, I really want to get a nice upgraded incubator, I have gotten to where I can get decent hatches in these, but never as good as I have seen Ace, Sphinx, and Ipick with their mini Brinsea, However, I need one that holds more than 7 eggs, so dilemma.....Red got that Brinsea this year that holds 20 or so, and she had a heck of a time with it...so not sure if the bigger Brinsea is that great, that is the only one I have seen someone try and give us feedback on. Lizcar on here has a coolerbator, her hubby made from an old coleman cooler, and she hatches my eggs half the time because she can get so many more chicks from my eggs than I can. I think on average I get 50-60 percent, she gets more like 80-90. I love it when she agrees to hatch eggs for me, I keep thinking we will make one like hers and have not had the time. So, my incubator, is Liz...lately anyway, haha

Good luck on what you decide, if you get one be sure to let us know what you think.

PS... I am not hatching right now and would be glad to lend you a styrobator (or both, or all three to compare!) to play with and see what you think!

I have heard a TON of good feedback on the brinsea 20 and 40. I think if I were going to spend the money on a bigger brinsea I would just get a sportsmans GQF. The 20 and 40 are pretty expensive.

Yesterday the chickens and I did a little photo shoot for the calendar contest and to get critiqued on the Speckled Sussex thread. Well, our little girl decided that she wanted in on the action. Happy Monday all!

So cute! and that is a great looking bird.

 

[newmarch2014]

she was hatched at the end of march. she looks like a hen to me but the comb does not look like a typical pea comb. and i cant tell for sure if she is laying eggs or not. i am fairly sure she is a girl tho but you know how it is. i am betting its the welsummer crowing or trying to crow anyway. my welsummer for sure is a girl tho is kinda manly with spurs and such lol.

I have a pair of light Brahmas that are just over 25 weeks (obtained on March 6th a few days old at feedstore). The female is not yet laying. I know that someone else on the site that has some Brahmas the age of yours have some that are laying. The hatchery birds are a little unpredictable since they are earlier generally than a breeder bird. They are late developing birds and 40 weeks till lay is not at all out of the question. I am adding pics of my pair so that you can see the difference over some weeks.

Boy left, girl right, this was about 12 weeks old


girl


boy


girl left boy right


boy left, girl right


This is a recent pic of my boy. If yours was a male he should have those pretty shiny tail feather and pointy saddle feathers and some irridesence to his dark neck feathers, not to mention the size difference in my male and female is VERY significant.

 

[RJSorensen]

Ace, love the photograph, Lisa, thank you for the info. Boy when this thread gets some traction, it really just moves along! Lots going on with everyone it would seem. I've got a jump on September, and did my little coop this a.m. Stripped bare and hosed down and scrubbed with soap and water with a dash of clorox to murder any unseen 'bugs'. Nice day for such, cool in the morning for the period of heavy lifting, and warm enough in the p.m. to get everything dry for evening.

Birds just look at me like, "what the heck!" where is the nest box? They get aggravated with me on clean out day… hmmm, new shavings smell by evening. I do enjoy the smell of clean pine shavings in a scrubbed down coop, we call it the State Fair smell. I might even get the big coop done this week as well. I do not want to even mention that I 'might' be doing my end of summer cleaning, cause I hate the get ready for winter and cold/snow.

I have to get out and finish up my scrubbing… the DW is gone and I don't want her to find out that I do know how to do that.

Best to all and yer birds,

RJ

 

[the-bird-man]

I have a pair of light Brahmas that are just over 25 weeks (obtained on March 6th a few days old at feedstore). The female is not yet laying. I know that someone else on the site that has some Brahmas the age of yours have some that are laying. The hatchery birds are a little unpredictable since they are earlier generally than a breeder bird. They are late developing birds and 40 weeks till lay is not at all out of the question. I am adding pics of my pair so that you can see the difference over some weeks. Boy left, girl right, this was about 12 weeks old girl boy girl left boy right boy left, girl right This is a recent pic of my boy. If yours was a male he should have those pretty shiny tail feather and pointy saddle feathers and some irridesence to his dark neck feathers, not to mention the size difference in my male and female is VERY significant.

thank you so much. you put my mind at ease. i mean she looked like a girl but with the comb looking odd and the crow attempt it did make me wonder. thanks again

 

[LadyIsadora]

I dont think Im ready to take on the task of incubating eggs. It seems like such a stressful hobby. I dont think I would sleep for a month while they grow. Is there anyone on here who might be willing to incubate eggs for me? Maybe for a small fee? Also duck eggs are bigger than chickens so will they even fit in a regular incubator? Maybe this is a project for Februaryor March.

When is the best time to hatch out eggs in this neck of the woods. I imagine winter hatching would be hard with the bizarre weather we have here.

 

[sideWing]

I dont think Im ready to take on the task of incubating eggs. It seems like such a stressful hobby. I dont think I would sleep for a month while they grow. Is there anyone on here who might be willing to incubate eggs for me? Maybe for a small fee? Also duck eggs are bigger than chickens so will they even fit in a regular incubator? Maybe this is a project for Februaryor March.

When is the best time to hatch out eggs in this neck of the woods. I imagine winter hatching would be hard with the bizarre weather we have here.

The only thing to consider is where you will brood them. Sometimes you can endup with a bunch of birds in your garage or house for 3 cold months.

 

[acemario]

I dont think Im ready to take on the task of incubating eggs. It seems like such a stressful hobby. I dont think I would sleep for a month while they grow. Is there anyone on here who might be willing to incubate eggs for me? Maybe for a small fee? Also duck eggs are bigger than chickens so will they even fit in a regular incubator? Maybe this is a project for Februaryor March.

When is the best time to hatch out eggs in this neck of the woods. I imagine winter hatching would be hard with the bizarre weather we have here.

I once did an october hatch. That may have been the worst decision of my life. The weather had been pretty warm in January, so I raised the heat lamp. Well, things got super busy at work and I couldn't check on the chickens for two days... Well, All my babies had frozen...

I am doing a hatch right now that should be done in two weeks. I have a Brinsea Mini that fits 7 eggs and I'm here in Cache Valley. If it suits you in two weeks, I could set some eggs for you.

 

[LadyIsadora]

So I went to Leland Mills this last weekend.
SUPER nice people to work with!
Their feed was a super deal- 20.00 for 100lbs for 18% layer mash. I picked up 150lbs.
This is my problem, the ducks waste most of it. If I had chickens to clean up after the ducks it would be ideal but DH is not convinced we need both chickens and ducks.
I thought the best use of it would be to mix it with water till it clumps then give it to them, like mush in the winter. if I have to......
However If someone wanted to buy 100lbs of some quality feed for their chickens .....you could get it here instead of having to drive to spanish fork ;-)
Anyone interested?

 

[rcstanley]

They just started a couple days ago which put them at.....(counting on fingers) 25 weeks old. It seemed like an eternity. They did get a bit more extreme red in the face just before (literally like a week before, up till then they were what I thought was "red" but now they are a much deeper red, like my rooster, darker than my year old single comb hens) but did not squat for me and still don't (not sure if that is because we have a rooster now) they run from me like I am the chicken killing monster really.

Glad to know I'm not the only one with flighty easter eggers. My sister's easter eggers started laying at 24 weeks. Guess I'll have to wait another month or so.

I tell my pullets "eggs by Thanksgiving, or you are Thanksgiving". My kids think it's funny, so they told that to our cat and now insist we need to eat her because she isn't laying