My daughter left yesterday for her international choir tour to the Baltic States (4 countries in 2 weeks) so I told her to be sure none of the Silkie hens were hiding a nest anywhere. I can not even get inside their yard while off my feet waiting for surgery so I did not want any chicks hatching in the coop while she is gone.
I need to work on getting the yard set up for baby chicks since the coop is raised with steps for the hens rather than a ramp for chicks. Until it is modified to let the hens raise the hatchling chicks we need to collect the chicks (preferably while they are still eggs, lol) and brood them indoors.
So today my husband goes in the Silkie yard to feed and he hears chicks peeping, 4 still in the nest and 3 outside with the hen and no way to get back to the nest. He brought them in so they are in the hatching incubator now to make sure they did not get chilled with our overcast weather.
I have Easter Egger chicks (hatchery Ameraucana x Quechua) in the stage 1 brooder that will need to move to stage 2 in order to make room for these tiny chicks. I often keep Silkies in the hatcher longer than the larger hard feathered chicks so I can grind up the chick starter with a coffee grinder as they start eating to give them smaller bites the first week or two. I had 2 hatchling ducklings under 24 hours old to move out to make room for them.
We are supposed to be taking a break from incubator hatching while my daughter is on her trip so hopefully we don't have any chicks hatching the next two weeks. I did not even check toes to see if there are any pet quality ones that will need to go but I will do that after they are settled and off to a good start since I don't sell anything less than 3 days old.
I love raising baby chicks but with her gone while I am off my feet, I was not wanting new arrivals until she gets back. I may just end up selling them all but I prefer to let them go in groups of 4 or more so I either need to sell all 7 together or sell 4 and keep 3. Once I am on my feet again, I really need to get the Silkie coop set up for hatchlings. Right now we put our started chicks out there (hard feathers only so they can get up the steps) to grow out with the Silkie mamas to snuggle up to at night but I want to use the hens to brood hatchlings in the future since that is what Silkies do best.
I need to work on getting the yard set up for baby chicks since the coop is raised with steps for the hens rather than a ramp for chicks. Until it is modified to let the hens raise the hatchling chicks we need to collect the chicks (preferably while they are still eggs, lol) and brood them indoors.
So today my husband goes in the Silkie yard to feed and he hears chicks peeping, 4 still in the nest and 3 outside with the hen and no way to get back to the nest. He brought them in so they are in the hatching incubator now to make sure they did not get chilled with our overcast weather.
I have Easter Egger chicks (hatchery Ameraucana x Quechua) in the stage 1 brooder that will need to move to stage 2 in order to make room for these tiny chicks. I often keep Silkies in the hatcher longer than the larger hard feathered chicks so I can grind up the chick starter with a coffee grinder as they start eating to give them smaller bites the first week or two. I had 2 hatchling ducklings under 24 hours old to move out to make room for them.
We are supposed to be taking a break from incubator hatching while my daughter is on her trip so hopefully we don't have any chicks hatching the next two weeks. I did not even check toes to see if there are any pet quality ones that will need to go but I will do that after they are settled and off to a good start since I don't sell anything less than 3 days old.
I love raising baby chicks but with her gone while I am off my feet, I was not wanting new arrivals until she gets back. I may just end up selling them all but I prefer to let them go in groups of 4 or more so I either need to sell all 7 together or sell 4 and keep 3. Once I am on my feet again, I really need to get the Silkie coop set up for hatchlings. Right now we put our started chicks out there (hard feathers only so they can get up the steps) to grow out with the Silkie mamas to snuggle up to at night but I want to use the hens to brood hatchlings in the future since that is what Silkies do best.
