Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[judge]

Quote: Judge,
This is a pip


The pip is the tiny hole they will peck in the egg. That will be happening next. You might see tiny little pieces of shell, and that is OK. They are expanding lungs and taking in outside air. Adjusting the lungs, absorbing the yolk. That can take days until they are ready. You chicks will hatch on the right day I think.
My eggs outside are getting ready too. I can hear peeping.

Do you have a way to heat the cardboard box?
A heat lamp...

 

[JustJohn]

Ok- this is my plan. When they hatch I will leave them in the incubator for a day or two, and then move them to a cardboard box. Right now they are in my formal dining room, so I would like to move them out of there ASAP. I figure after a week or two I an move them out. My dad built me a brooder box, so I want to put them in there on my porch. My porch is enclosed but not heated, so hopefully a heat lamp will be ok...

which does not account for how you plan to feed and water them.

I like marbles in a chick waterer to keep them from drowning as they will fall asleep anywhere including while drinking.

You may want to line your bater(after they all hatch) and box with something that gives them traction to hold down on what is called splay foot.

Everyone please agree or disagree at will

lastly- Formal dining room?, did you make them little suit coats and ties in order for them to be in there?

 

[judge]

Quote: When we bought day old chicks in spring we had a small plastic feeder and just used a jar waterer. And yes, actually, they will have ball gowns to put on after they hatch....

 

[JustJohn]

When we bought day old chicks in spring we had a small plastic feeder and just used a jar waterer. And yes, actually, they will have ball gowns to put on after they hatch....

oh right! I'm sorry. I am the only one that hatches all boys. I always suspected hmmmm.

 

[Hens and Roos]

which does not account for how you plan to feed and water them.

I like marbles in a chick waterer to keep them from drowning as they will fall asleep anywhere including while drinking.

You may want to line your bater(after they all hatch) and box with something that gives them traction to hold down on what is called splay foot.

Everyone please agree or disagree at will

lastly- Formal dining room?, did you make them little suit coats and ties in order to be in there?

we use paper towel on the bottom of our brooder for the 1st week or so, changing it out every couple of days. This way the chicks learn what/where their food is and don't try to eat the shavings instead.

marbles work great to keep them from drowning, also we give just water to start with(dip their beaks in it as you put them into the brooder) and than add food an hour or so later- this helps keep pasty butt down to a minium.

we move them from the incubator after all the eggs are done hatching and everyone is dried off and fluffy- they are still aborbing the yolk for the 1st few days after hatching- this last hatch we moved them out after about 48 hours- that was because we had naughty chicks that were climbing accross the tray dividers and mingleing with their neighbors!

you will want to have your heat lamp warm enough to provide between 95* and 100* of warmth- the chicks will huddle if to cold and spread out away from under the light if to warm. If you have a theremometer lay it under the heat lamp and watch the temp. We take the thermomter out once we put the chicks in, that way chicks weren't getting hurt by climbing on it.

we use a small wire dog crate with cardboard sides to help keep heat and chicks in, this also gives us a place to hang the heat lamp and lower or raise as needed. DH also covered most of the crate with a small tarp to help hold the heat in- he was concerned that opening the garage door on our heated garage to bring equipment in and out was causing a draft on them.

looks like we are around 5" of white stuff as of now, kids had school today but it is an early release day so they will be getting out at 1:20 pm- hopefully the roads won't be to bad for coming home. DH will be heading out to do snow removal once it is closer to being all done.

 

[Celtic Chick]

I think that might be a wolf Jim...I dont think a coyote could take a sheep...maybe a lamb...

Sure wish I was a bit closer to those lavenders...wait! Dh is in LaCrosse...wheels are turning. LOL!
"Ah Honey, think you could pick up these chicks on the way home?...."
TerriOprocrastinatorextraordinaire

Ah, Terri (and anyone else). If you want to buy some lavender chicks, I can hatch you out some. I'm not nearly as far away as Hudson.

 

[jvls1942]

Here I am with my 2 cents worth,,

If it were me,, I would set up the brooder box today.. make sure that IT is going to work.. I would skip using the card board box.. very dangerous situation with a heat lamp.. burning down your house is not worth a couple of chicks..

the brooder on the porch should work OK.. I once did 80 chicks under a brooder in my outside lean to during minus -20F temps. something I would not recommend or probably not do again..
all of the chicks survived btw.. but it was a lot of work on my part..

we use a quart/pint jar waterer,, we fill the trough as full of small stones as we can.. there is plenty of room between the stones for the chicks to drink.. do not put the water tightly into a corner.. some chicks do not have the smarts to back up and could lay down in the wet and die from exposure..

use cloth, or tightly packed straw for bedding.. that should give them good traction and prevent splayed legs..... slippery footing will cause hip problems.. ie: splayed leg..

In our chick tv we use bed liners turned fuzzy side up..

believe me,, before two weeks is up, you will not want those stinky chicks in the dining room..
formal dresses or not...

be cautious about using fine wood shavings for the first few days until the chicks learn that their feed is in the feeder.. they could ingest a lot of shavings and starve to death.. they do not know what is food and what is not.. a hen would teach them such things..

it would not hurt to sprinkle a tablespoon of cracked corn directly onto their floor.. they will always be attracted to the yellow and thus avoiding the white shavings.. and it is fun to watch them scratch for it..

 

[JustJohn]

Ah, Terri (and anyone else). If you want to buy some lavender chicks, I can hatch you out some. I'm not nearly as far away as Hudson.

as an (anyone else) I might want to take you up on that. I have made a friend that wants to have chickens that lives near Whitewater. She wants to hatch eggs with her son(5) and raise them.

Maybe I could get some eggs from you or some chicks when the boy starts having accidents playing with eggs or both. I am pushing orpingtons because of the friendly/ producer combo.

and I would keep the extras (what a great way to justify new kind of birds to the wife)

justjohnenablingotherstoenableme

 

[Celtic Chick]

as an (anyone else) I might want to take you up on that. I have made a friend that wants to have chickens that lives near Whitewater. She wants to hatch eggs with her son(5) and raise them.

Maybe I could get some eggs from you or some chicks when the boy starts having accidents playing with eggs or both. I am pushing orpingtons because of the friendly/ producer combo.

and I would keep the extras (what a great way to justify new kind of birds to the wife)

justjohnenablingotherstoenableme

Not a problem. Just let me know which you prefer and when. I also can have black/lav orp splits with an English gene that are huge fluffy. They are all docile & friendly, but I think the blacks are even more so.

As for the chick waterer, I found that using a quail waterer base with a pint or quart jar works great. No marbles required, which I think is a major PITA with how often it needs to be changed. I use the fuzzier (Viva?) paper towels on top of the wood chips in the brooder for the first week. And I use a large rabbit cage for a brooder when they are in the house. The wire on the top of it prevents the heat bulb from falling in or getting too close to the chicks. Inside the house, you don't usually have to worry about drafts, so having wire walls isn't an issue. IMHO.

 

[JustJohn]

I brood in a 18x36 inch glass reptile tank I found on the curb with a free sign attached and an ecoglow heater from brinsea, and the chicks love it like being under a hen, not to mention 28 watts instead of 250w on the heat lamp. Did I mention that I'm cheep?