Washingtonians

[broodytood]

Quote:
huh ?

Back a few pages, I had some pics of my new babies and there's one little guy that keeps peck at me and I'll pick him up and hold him and put back down and he does it again, now mind you these are mixed cockerels that are meant for meat, but, It just surprised me that at about 5 weeks, they display such an attitude!!

That little bantie of mine was only 2 weeks old when he started grabbing the other birds even ones twice his size and holding on like a bulldog! He was tormenting all the other babies in the brooder. A couple times holding him upside down really cooled his tood! It hasn't worked as well for a Wyandotte bantie but I've only done it to him once. So we will see.

 

[pettec63]

Quote:
Back a few pages, I had some pics of my new babies and there's one little guy that keeps peck at me and I'll pick him up and hold him and put back down and he does it again, now mind you these are mixed cockerels that are meant for meat, but, It just surprised me that at about 5 weeks, they display such an attitude!!

That little bantie of mine was only 2 weeks old when he started grabbing the other birds even ones twice his size and holding on like a bulldog! He was tormenting all the other babies in the brooder. A couple times holding him upside down really cooled his tood! It hasn't worked as well for a Wyandotte bantie but I've only done it to him once. So we will see.

These guys are hysterical!! I sit and watch them and they are jumping up already and trying to fight and I think I have acouple

EE and they just go running and FLYING through the group picking on each other, but, if I put my hand down, they don't really run and they are calm enough for me to pick up!1 Weird!!

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

Quote:
Back a few pages, I had some pics of my new babies and there's one little guy that keeps peck at me and I'll pick him up and hold him and put back down and he does it again, now mind you these are mixed cockerels that are meant for meat, but, It just surprised me that at about 5 weeks, they display such an attitude!!

That little bantie of mine was only 2 weeks old when he started grabbing the other birds even ones twice his size and holding on like a bulldog! He was tormenting all the other babies in the brooder. A couple times holding him upside down really cooled his tood! It hasn't worked as well for a Wyandotte bantie but I've only done it to him once. So we will see.

I don't pick them up, but I will hold them down on the ground (like I've seen dominant hens do to other hens that need an attitude adjustment). It worked AWESOME!! I had a d'Uccle roo that was starting to come at me, and it ONLY took once, and this was a couple of months ago. He sees me coming now, and gets out of my way!!

 

[pettec63]

Quote:
That little bantie of mine was only 2 weeks old when he started grabbing the other birds even ones twice his size and holding on like a bulldog! He was tormenting all the other babies in the brooder. A couple times holding him upside down really cooled his tood! It hasn't worked as well for a Wyandotte bantie but I've only done it to him once. So we will see.

I don't pick them up, but I will hold them down on the ground (like I've seen dominant hens do to other hens that need an attitude adjustment). It worked AWESOME!! I had a d'Uccle roo that was starting to come at me, and it ONLY took once, and this was a couple of months ago. He sees me coming now, and gets out of my way!!

I'll try that too!thanks guys!!!

 

[pettec63]

Quote:
I really wish I'd grabbed for my camera when I wanted a picture of that BO rooster; we'd all have the benefit of seeing how handsome he is, and all of us would have been spared the "left my purse at your house" nonsense.

I have a couple older photos need to get some new ones.. if it ever stops raining...
http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums/dd413/rainwolfbirds/Chickens/Buff Orpington/100_1112.jpg
http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums/dd413/rainwolfbirds/Chickens/Buff Orpington/101_0792.jpg

Have to remember he is just a year old... will fill out more as he gets older

Nice Roo! I like him!!

 

[pettec63]

Quote:
thank you! Omgosh yes! I'm a nervous wreck! between being worried about them being shipped then the temp I'll be glad when I can candle them and know if ANYTHING survived my ignorance!! LOL Thank you!

Don't worry so much.. just know a couple rules...

1) try to get temp at 99.5 (forced air) or 101 (still air) but don't sweat it... the temps can range 1-2 degrees up/down with no issues.
if temp ranges on colder side the eggs take longer to hatch, higher side = shorter incubation time.

2) Try to keep humidity at 30-40% for normal incubation and 50-60% at lockdown (chicken eggs) but again don't sweat the small changes..
just make sure that if it runs low or high and you have to choose.. pick low (just not too low!). It's easier to help a chick out of a shell if they get stuck then to help a drowning chick.

3) find the most temperature stable place in your home and put the incubator there. Run the incubator for 24hrs before placing eggs in. When you put eggs in the temp will drop for a while but give it 24hrs before adjusting (unless it gets to high). If you still have temp flux make sure that the high temp is still under 102-3. and don't worry to much about getting in the 96-98 range. I incubate in my basement where the flux is minor but I'd rather the eggs take longer to hatch (cooler the 99.5) then accidently fry due to high temps.


Tip:
the day you set eggs is day ZERO... setup a calender (computer/paper) and Keep track of when you set the eggs also mark due date. (I also write in pencil the day I set eggs on the eggs itself)
Unless you know your incubator was a bit cool for a time frame, Candle eggs 3 days after due date, also listen for peeping or tapping. If after the 3 day extension you see no movement or hear no peeping/tapping I would suggest pulling the eggs.
*If you can do this it will help you understand the process of hatching chicks a lot faster then just reading...
After you pull the eggs that did not hatch take a pencil, paper and eggs outside. (in case of a rotten stinker)
Crack each egg open and examine the embryo's.
You can figure out if they died due to the incubator pretty quickly.
You will see embryos all the same stage of development if something sudden happened (High temp spike, power outage, etc)
Find a lot of runny water in the shell of those that drowned.
etc etc
Document the # of eggs that did not hatch, what stage of development, any oddities.... (also document the ones that hatched!)
After a couple hatches you will notice right away if it was a fertility issue, temperature issue, humidity issue or other possibilities.

Tip:
Candle just before you put eggs into the incubator. This allows you to look for hairline cracks, disconnected air sacks and give you a base of what a clear egg looks like.
I mark the ones who have air sack issues and the ones I can not see through and place them in one section of the incubator. They will not be candled or moved during the incubation.
And I'd not candle more the 2-3 times total per hatch.

Go to this site and look at the photos of chicken embryos.. It will help you understand what you see when you eggtopsy your eggs.
(graphic photos please don't visit if your sensitive to this kind of thing. this is real embryo's no longer in a shell)
http://www.summagallicana.it/lessico/e/embrione di pollo.htm
I suggest google translate but its not needed... the photos are from day 2 -18... it does skip a couple days here and there..

WOW I just got a chance to go to the website !! THAT WAS SOOOO COOL!!! Reminds me of biology class! That was AWESOME !! thanks for that, yea, not really sensitive, I was a vet tech for 10 years, we won't go into some of the stuff I've seen.....or smell..... LOL

 

[cheryl98117]

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If anyone is having issues with the plungers not compressing. Before filling the syreng with meds, pull it apart, and swab a little bit of mineral oil on the rubber plunger. Just on the sides, not the tip of the plunger. Put it back together and move it up and down the tube. Sometimes those rubber plungers need a little lube, and yes they do wear out over time. But if you lightly oil them, they will last 2-3 times longer than if you dont.

 

[SadieSue]

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I did the Wazine the first time I wormed some older birds that I wasn't sure on the parasite load of, but MY birds that I know I deworm regularly, I don't bother with the Wazine first....but that's just me.

Okay, which brings me to a newbie question since I'm reading all of these posts about medications, which, when, how much, what method, etc. I've had my flock together in the coop for just a few weeks. Do I need to deworm them regularly just as a preventative measure? And what product do I want to use for that? I'll bet I could find this information in my Chickens for Dummies book, (which I love), but I'm looking for instant gratification this morning.

 

[SadieSue]

I'm having hatching egg dreams - dreams about bad things happening to my eggs in the incubator. In the first, I dreamt that I was very sleepily fixing breakfast and mistakenly cracked open one of the eggs only to have a half formed chick fall into my frying pan. I felt terrible about it and was cursing myself about cooking while I was half asleep. Then last night, I dreamed I was at a seminar and had taken my incubator full of eggs. A woman there maliciously cracked open almost all of my eggs and then pretended it was an innocent mistake.

I might be obsessing about my first hatch. I might be a little worried. This is starting to feel like when I was pregnant with DD and had peculiar dreams about her birth. I think when I candled a couple of days ago, and could actually see the shadow of little legs and feet moving that I began to get really attached to the babies. Especially since it was one of Whitey Ford's babies that DH is so proud of. I'll be so relieved when they hatch and I know they've made it that far!

Thinking hard about the "next" set of eggs. We'll see how much this one ages me.

 

[hallerlake]

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It's the old test dream applied to hatching!!!. You're afraid you're going to fail. School is out!!