Wisconsin "Cheeseheads"

[glarnerchicks]

Anyone use sand in their coop?

 

[jvls1942]

Anyone use sand in their coop?

I have heard of it, I never did,,
I think it would be OK for a small coop, but in a large coop with many chickens I think cleaning the coop would be a major undertaking ..

.........jiminwisc...........

 

[glarnerchicks]

There are so many opinions! Deep litter, shavings, pellets, straw, sand....

 

[kristip]

I have sand and dirt in my run..when it gets wet...gets stinky. Hay and shavings inside the coop

 

[bigzio]

Evening All...the pork roast was lip smacking goodie...and the gravy called for thirds ...LOL.

I've always followed the instructions that came with the unit. It calls for RH between 40% and 50% during incubation ( I run 44% ), and 65% or more during hatching....they recommend checking the water level every 3 days...however Stacy has good luck with her method also.....so more than one method seems to work...the small vent in the front can be tweaked to perfect levels plus and minus depending on whether you added water or not.

Glarner, with enough bedding in the coop..the floor will stay dry....I also think sand is not necessary and never used it in the coop...I have dumped some in the one coop's pen that can become muddy in the spring...chickens with clean feet, keep the nests clean as well as the eggs.

bigz

 

[jvls1942]

There are so many opinions! Deep litter, shavings, pellets, straw, sand....

I like the deep litter method the best,, this is why,, I have two large coops,, 12 x 16 feet..
I compost whatever I take out of there,, so the more the merrier ..

I have concrete floors..
the best thing I ever did was to put 6 inches of wood chips down first,,
then I spread a couple of bales of straw on top of that,
If I put just the straw down, it mats and binds together like a mattress and makes shoveling it out very difficult..
the layer of wood chips allows the liquids to drain out of the straw and keeps it nice and dry on the surface..
Occasionally I add fresh straw to cover the chickens' "presents" and provide a clean place to walk on..

If I cannot get the wood chips, I use wood shavings ,,

I got a couple of big truck loads of wood chips from Asplundh tree trimmers.. they are always looking for a place close by to dump their chips .. FREE chips..
as a bonus, if the chips don't get used up before they rot, that makes good fill or addition to a garden for building up the soil..

grass grows on this very nicely ..

I had a drop off next to my driveway,, I filled it all in with these chips and made a nice slope of it,,
now I can mow it with the riding mower ..

 

[FrenchToast]

Ok question for all you bator geeks. My new bators Farm innovators 4250 says to incubate at 55-60% humidity and increase to 65% for hatch.
What it doesn't say is how many channels to fill. I filled the o be around the center. ( center gas a drain hole so I knew not to fill that one. 6 days to hatch and my air cells aren't huge so I now my 35-40% isn't to high.
I've read lower is better than to high. A few yrs ago I had terrible hatches with Ameraucana eggs. The we're all slimey. Got more eggs and the same thing happened. So I lean on lower humidity.
Also thus bator comes preset at 100°.
So what are your thoughts? Jimbo?
CC that was a good spot since I go to bed late I nay as well take the one closest to the fire pit were all the roadies hang. Plus Cin can plug in by me and tend the fire from a distance!
Oh and now for two more baking questions....
If you get floating air cells (shipped eggs) do you still turn your eggs or do you not turn for several days to try to get the cells to stick again? What about just weird looking cells? I got about half of my shipped eggs with weird cells. Doesn't help when they put the eggs in the box in the egg carton upside down ! And put "Hatching eggs" on the box !
My Lavender Ameracauna eggs that were 6 days old when they shipped all have bad cells
And all 15 silkie eggs have bad cells and 3 of them stood upright when put in warm water.
Which leads me to ...yes ..another question.....if your eggs arrive filthy....I see no harm in washing them especially if they had huge air cells. Boy did I get told Not to get them wet by the seller.
You know it NEVER fails.....I tell them not to put hatching eggs any place on the box. Or do not put "eggs" on the box. So what do I see when I get to the PO...........HATCHING EGGS and LIVE EMBRYOS written in huge letters on every side of the box.......Then HIGHLIGHTED IN YELLOW !
What in the h3ll is wrong with people ?????? Can't read or no common sense ?
My neighbor told me yesterday that two people she knows that work at the PO said never put fragile on the box.....what is the first thing that happens when a postal worker is having a bad day.....Hello....Fragile is calling their name.
I've suspected this all along and my theory is proving correct!
OK I'm done witching now ! Thanks for listening !
No more goose eggs today. Ave 4 so far . Shooting for 6 to set. May have to do 5.

 

[jvls1942]

Evening All...the pork roast was lip smacking goodie...and the gravy called for thirds ...LOL.

I've always followed the instructions that came with the unit. It calls for RH between 40% and 50% during incubation ( I run 44% ), and 65% or more during hatching....they recommend checking the water level every 3 days...however Stacy has good luck with her method also.....so more than one method seems to work...the small vent in the front can be tweaked to perfect levels plus and minus depending on whether you added water or not.

Glarner, with enough bedding in the coop..the floor will stay dry....I also think sand is not necessary and never used it in the coop...I have dumped some in the one coop's pen that can become muddy in the spring...chickens with clean feet, keep the nests clean as well as the eggs.

bigz

I was wrong before,, Annie was not making roasted pork chops.. She made a pork tenderloin roast.. mashed potatoes, corn from the garden, and gravy .. I did not do seconds or thirds on any of it,, but I did take plenty to start with,, still trying to shed a few pounds..
To make yourself feel good, go buy some larger clothes,, then it feels like you lost weight.

I shoot for 40% RH for incubating.. 60% and plus for hatching ..

I have both of the dial therms in the hatcher,, they are showing almost identical readings..
I recalculated them again,,

those two are going to be my nucleus .. (nucleuses nuclei ??) anyhow BOSS therms.. I will calculate the rest off of them,, I have picked out one of them to be the Boss of the Bosses.
It is the easiest one to read.. how scientific can I get ? eh ?

My probe seems to be reading low, so I will just make a note of the reading and call it 99.5F

and HOORAY !! the turner just went to the left all by itself,, life is good..

a new timer is in the $50.oo range ..

I am in the downhill period of the final temp setting on the hatcher,, 95F ..now I just have to gradually raise the temp until I hit 99.5F ..

Sandi, I would let the eggs sit quietly with the large end up for a day or two.. maybe just jostle them a little once in awhile to get the air to rise and collect into one big bubble.. then from then on, the turner will gently rock them and the air should recollect at the top. hopefully that is ..

you know I do not order shipped eggs.

.........jiminwisc..........

 

[randerson846]

Sorry for changing the subject but if anybody has any ideas on this let me know:

I was thinking about getting some duckeggs shipped, to hatch, but I'm not sure if I should, asthe hatch rate is always low? But there as I live in Northern Ireland (UK) there army any hatcheries near by, so I don't know what to do? I don't want to waste my money!

 

[WIchicky]

Thanks for the warm welcome all! Bigzio, yeah, having Neuske's so close is a bit dangerous...lots of good bacon there!
Jim, when you got the chips from Asplundh, did you just contact them direct? We had been thinking of doing the same, but specifically for our garden.