Washingtonians Come Together! Washington Peeps

[Bee and me]

Jasmine is doing great.
I think she was being picked on cuz she small. I put lots of things in thier box to distract the others. It worked!

 

[Duck Drover]

Ok, I get it. What a creative use of a household item.
I never would have thought.
Thanks again,
B

I am always using things in ways they were not intended to be used, lol. Babies with mamas can stand cold temperatures by warming up as needed so that is what inspired me. Keeping chicks too hot is more fatal than keeping them too cool and ducklings go off heat much quicker than chicks so I wanted something that would allow them to warm up as needed without getting too warm. By two weeks the ducklings move away from the low heat and chicks move away by 4 weeks so that is when I take the warmers out. I also use white bulbs when possible so they are not as bright. The lightbulb holder comes out of the plastic base for cleaning so they are easy to keep clean when I clean the plastic tubs. The flea traps are $15 but then replacement bulbs are 3 to 4 for $1 at the Dollar Tree or Dollar Store so the cost is very reasonable.

 

[Duck Drover]

Glad she's doing better. It's much more common for chicks to die from overheating than chilling. If they get a bit too cool, they can always snuggle with each other, but there is nothing they can do to cool off if the brooder is too warm.

Exactly! Ducklings sleep in piles and chicks will too so they have an easier time warming up if they get too cold but they don't have ways to cool down as effectively. I have had heat stroke twice in my life so I know how dangerous it is.

 

[Duck Drover]

I got the incubators cleaned up and ready for hatching. I have taken a long break due to my injury and surgery so I will need to calibrate them all to make sure the settings have not changed. I have quail due on the 1st that I am hatching for Puget Sound WildCare so hopefully that incubator is at the proper temperature. Once I get my Little Giant incubators going I don't touch the settings or check temps unless the house gets too hot during a heat wave and then I have to open them to cool them down.

We built a cabinet incubator that I have not even tested yet so I need to get it operational once I have some expendable eggs to hatch or my Little Giant incubators fill up. I might try a large batch of quail since I can give them to WildCare but I am new to hatching quail so I want to run this test hatch first to make sure I am successful before I get carried away. For those who hatch quail, is it the same as hatching chicks? I just put the eggs in the incubator and I have not even candled yet. I should do that tonight to see how they look.

 

[Leigti]

I am thinking about giving away a couple of my older chickens and getting a couple babies. I thought about getting some chickens that lay different colored eggs. The local store has Marans and some wellsumers. I've been told that chickens that lay the darker eggs don't leave very well. Any experience with these two breeds? I also thought about getting a brown leghorn to get some white eggs. and

 

[mixedbreeds]

I am thinking about giving away a couple of my older chickens and getting a couple babies. I thought about getting some chickens that lay different colored eggs. The local store has Marans and some wellsumers. I've been told that chickens that lay the darker eggs don't leave very well. Any experience with these two breeds? I also thought about getting a brown leghorn to get some white eggs. and

Did you mean lay very well? I have wellsumers they lay great and are very nice birds except the roosters I have and have had are very protective to the point of being mean but not the hens. I have 3 young black copper Marans only about 3 months so far they are not that friendly

 

[Leigti]

Did you mean lay very well? I have wellsumers they lay great and are very nice birds except the roosters I have and have had are very protective to the point of being mean but not the hens. I have 3 young black copper Marans only about 3 months so far they are not that friendly

Yes, I meant Lay very well. Sometimes Siri doesn't understand what I say it's good to know that they are not bad layers. I don't expect leg horn numbers but a few eggs a week would be nice. I haven't totally decided if I'm going to do this yet but it was just an idea I had. I wish I had more land and room for more chickens, that would solve a few problems

 

[mixedbreeds]

Yes, I meant Lay very well. Sometimes Siri doesn't understand what I say it's good to know that they are not bad layers. I don't expect leg horn numbers but a few eggs a week would be nice. I haven't totally decided if I'm going to do this yet but it was just an idea I had. I wish I had more land and room for more chickens, that would solve a few problems

I don't know if I'm just lucky or not as these are the first wellsumers I have had they are a year old, started laying early last July and other than a day here or there they have layed an egg every day

 

[pennyJo1960]

It is tough to find people to take older birds if they lay eggs

 

[ForrestGump]

My older Marans lay about every other day. The pullets lay 4 - 5 eggs per week. The eggs are gorgeous, but the extra color on the eggs takes longer to "make" so they don't lay as often as a leghorn would.

Just a word of caution, most of the hatchery Marans that are sold by stores do not lay dark eggs. If you want a rich chocolate color you might want to look at a local breeder. There are lots of chick available on the West side, but I'm not sure about your area.