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  • From: EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>
  • To: Homestead List <homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Homestead] Eggs are hatching-UPDATE
  • Date: Sun, 23 Nov 2008 15:13:15 -0500

Electricity to run it and the egg turner for three weeks.
Then, electricity to run a light to warm the chicks for as long as it takes.

New chicks need 95 degrees, and you reduce the heat by 5 degrees a week until they are fully feathered and can take the cold. My birds in the chicken tractor(I'll try to get you some pics) should have 65 degree temps. They are not entirely fluffy yet, but they are almost there. The light keeps them comfortable when the temps drop at night.



bob ford wrote:
So the incubator cost you.....in rent ? ... or in electricity?

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--- On Sun, 11/23/08, EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net> wrote:

From: EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>
Subject: Re: [Homestead] Eggs are hatching-UPDATE
To: bobford79 AT yahoo.com, homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org
Date: Sunday, November 23, 2008, 12:52 PM
No, they would be killed.
I have 3 groups(technically 4)...
A) the adult birds and rooster (5 hens, 1 rooster)---they
are in the new
coop
B) the juniors, 8 free chicks that are now right at 6 weeks
old, which I
moved from the greenhouse to the chicken tractor yesterday.
We modified
the tractor, adding plastic, some hay, and a light. It was
like 25 last
night and they survived all happy and chirpy this morning.
C) the chicks, which we won't officially count before
they hatch
D) the eggs of soon to be chicks, of which there are 28. :)

Whatever chicks hatch will be kept inside the house for at
least a week,
in a box with a light and some hay. Assuming all is well,
I will move
them to the cage in the greenhouse at one week, where they
will still be
under lights for warmth. The morning that we saw 16 here,
it was 38 in
the greenhouse. It is hard to keep it above freezing if
there are
several nights in the teens, which is typical in winter.
After 4-6 weeks in the greenhouse(more time if fewer
chicks, less if
more chicks), I will play "move the chickens"
around Jan 1.
The new chicks will go to the chicken tractor(4x5), and the
juniors will
go to the old coop(10x10). In the spring, I separate
roosters and will
allow all adult birds to unify by allowing them to range in
the same
area, then coop them all together at night.

If you put birds of different sizes together, the big ones
will pick on
and kill the little ones, unless there is a mother to
protect them. If
a hen is not broody, she is unlikely to foster/protect
chicks not her
own, at least at this age in this season.

This is round 1 of chicks. I am already collecting eggs
for round 2 of
incubation, which, if I can get enough eggs, should start
next weekend.
As long as I have use of the incubator, I'm going to
hatch as many as I
can. If my girls stop laying, then I am dead in the water.
There's an
economy of scale here, it makes no sense to run the
incubator(and then
lights) for a dozen eggs...at least, that is my break
point, but I
haven't done the math on it. I should.

Bev

bob ford wrote:
So when they all hatch, do you take them to the coop
for a chicken to
watch?

-- “Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to
anger. Anger leads to
hate. Hate leads to suffering.” Yoda




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