4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[ChrisEllis]

Hey thought i would post my experience on hatching, its my first time and in my incubator i have 6 eggs of silkiexfrizzle. they are due to hatch in 6 days .

Anyone got any good tips on what to use in their brooder such as flooring type and drinkers and brands of food/crumb.

I'll post some pics of the little guys too

[ChrisEllis]

 

The above photo is of my eggs when they arrived in the post!

 

 

 

The above photo is of my eggs in the incubator

 

 

 

I will put som more photos on here when the eggs hatch on thursday

[bronze]

Chris you really should have worked all this out before starting on the hatching.

 

I use a couple of small rodent water bottles and a saucer for food and hemcore covered with kitchen roll on the floor. I just use whatever chickcrumb I have at that time and grind it up for the first couple of days

[ChrisEllis]

Hi

 

Thanks for the advice, I still have a few more days until they hatch, i mostly have everything and my neighburs own chickens so anything i cant get they will have, just wanted to know what people thought worked best as i was planing to use J-Cloth as i was told this was good but wanted others opinions.

 

Thanks for your advice

 

Chris

[Egluntyne]

I have used 'J' cloths and found them to be satisfactory. I have also used Aubiose and found that to be just as good. Straw may harbour parasites and may also tangle round the chicks legs, so I wouldn't use this.

[thebdj]

Ok so this looks like a good one for difference of opinion already!

 

Firstly let's establish what you mean by brooder as I think this would mean many things to many people. For me, I have a heatlamp with a dull emitter bulb hanging over a small square area which has the chicks in. I have a set up which allows me to move the girls around into bigger areas as they eventually come off heat, grow and get more hardy.

 

What I have done is line the bottom of the 'run' with 2 layers of newspaper. I did this to try and prevent any potential draft from underneath (they are in a shed) and also make things a bit easier for cleaning. I have read a lot about chicks and their legs, especially when they are young so leaving this as the only flooring was a definite no-no. I managed to get this fantasticly appropriate mix of straw and woodshavings which is sold as 'horse-bedding'. I made sure that it had the usual dust extraction and was suitable. I've put a light dusting of that over the newspaper so that the newspaper is totally covered but at the same time, there isn't so much that the chicks are bathing in it. They have taken to this beautifully.

 

What I am planning on doing is every few days take a bit of the woodshavings/sawdust out and put a bit more fresh stuff in. I am going to give it a 'rake' so that any existing stuff is turned. This would appear to be sufficient.

 

No doubt I will disgust someone with what I am doing But my chicks are so hardy I could bed them down on razor blades in a chest freezer and they'd be hard enough to take it hahahaha

 

Justin

[ChrisEllis]

Hi

 

Thanks for your advice justin

 

What i mean by a brooder in my case is literally jus a cardboard box or a plastic box that fits 6 chicks in as thats all im hatching, so do you think its worth we just stick some j cloth down onto the bottom or is this too uncomfy for them?

 

Chris

[thebdj]

Well I am extremely new to the whole experience as well and not entirely sure that my opinion would carry much weight.

 

I have heard lots of good things about the J-Cloth approach but you may be better advised by someone who has been doing this longer or is more familiar with doing this specifically.

 

Either way I hope your experience goes well and if there is one thing I have learned so far is that the little ones are more hardy than you think

 

Justin

[Egluntyne]

A j cloth will be fine for the first few days. You will need a bigger box quite soon, and some bedding such as Aubiose.

 

What sort of brooding lamp have you got?

[ChrisEllis]

Hi, Where can i get aubiose, and is J-cloth not alright for the whole time they are in the brooder? And the lamp i will be using is a infra red...can you just use any lamp but stick an infra red bulb into it?

also where can i get aubiose from?

Many Thanks

 

Chris

[Redwing]

The flooring needs to be something non slip to start with so J cloths are ideal, I have also used a tea towel and also heavily embossed kitchen roll, the kitchen roll is good as you can put about 6 layers down in preparation then take up a layer at a time as it gets dirty with minimum disruption to the chicks

 

After a few days switch to something like Aubiose (you can only get this in bagged bales from horse feed merchants or similar. Soft woodshavings (available in small quantities from somewhere like Pets at Home) would also be fine. Sawdust and straw are no-nos unless it is finely chopped straw

 

Its not a good idea to use the J cloths long term as the amount of poop quckly escalates to an epic scale and so something more absorbant is necessary as they grow, also it keeps the smell down. Chicks also like to spill their water so having a thicker layer of bedding that will absorb this is beneficial although I hasten to add you must remove any damp bedding as soon as you see it

 

Good luck with the hatch

[ChrisEllis]

Thanks, that all sounds good, i think i might go with the J cloth and heavily embossed kitchen towel, im not gonna spend on a huge bale of aubiose and if it comes to it i might by the soft wood shavings if im at pets at home anytime soon.

 

Many Thanks,

 

Look back soon for pics of the chicks

[mad house]

We were told yesterday to put down some fine sandpaper like the paper you put in a bird cage for 2 days to stop their little legs slipping. After the 2 days anything will be ok as they will have gained strength in their little legs.

Hope this helps

[ChrisEllis]

We were told yesterday to put down some fine sandpaper like the paper you put in a bird cage for 2 days to stop their little legs slipping. After the 2 days anything will be ok as they will have gained strength in their little legs.

Hope this helps

 

Sand paper as in what yu use to file down wood etc.?

[Redwing]

I guess if its fine it would work, the sheets mentioned above are sold to go in the bottom of budgies cages

[TAJ]

I use the horse bedding that is in with the big girls - JoPack or equivilent.

 

Tracy

[Lewis]

I use a non-slip cloth, the type sold in rolls used on draining boards.

Its really easy to keep clean, and because its in a roll can be cut to size so you have 2 - 1 in the brooder, the other being cleaned and drying