I also do lights...i find about 14 hours works well here for chickens and quail. I have them come on a half hour before dawn then back them up a half hour every 5 to 7 days till you're where you want to be. And i have them shut off ahead of sunset so my birds know to roost naturally.
Great! Thanks! That will help me not think I'm doing something wrong when they don't start back soon. The previous owner said she was getting 4-6 eggs a day right now out of all 13 hens. I need to take another count but I keep getting 16 instead of 15 in that pen. Still need to identify the roos. Especially with the confusion on how many and where. I'd be bummed if I processed the two solo roos and there wasn't roos with the hens. I'd like to incubate this winter when the house temps are more consistent.It just depends on the bird as to how long it will take for them to start laying again. I've had some that didn't miss a beat and others that took up to 2 months. Moulting can reallt mess up egg production especially when coupled with a move. I have a set right now that stopped 3 weeks ago and still nothing. They're moulting as well so I just have to be patient. I am winding down the hatching for the winter so maybe one more hatch if I can get some eggs out of them.
When do you start your lights? We haven't used lights for the chickens because we still get enough eggs during the winter to keep us going. We do at times have a heat lamp on a timer but not until it gets colder.
I started out with the brooder inside the house but I kept getting really sick and couldn't figure out why until the neighbor pointed out during a coffee session that I seemed to only get sick when there were babies in the house. It was warm so I put them in the garage and the relief was almost immediate. It doesn't bother some people but they have a TON of dander and apparently I can't handle it. I can and have had chicken chicks in the house with no problem.
Yes I read 14-16, so I set my timer to give15 hours with good results. My small aviary has lots of windows. Think natural light is important (vitamin D and more) but strands of led Xmas lights connected to a cheap $4 timer work well to extend their day. A few hours morning and again at night. Their lower light gives them a more natural gradual change than a bright light snapping on or off. Signals them to settle down.Their egg production may vary. But the only day with no eggs was the 4th of July. Guess all the noise, extra traffic going past, barking dogs in the neighborhood was too much stress. The roos are often contributing to those bald backs. I find they get more aggressive with season changes, full moons, especially the super moon. When that coincides with molting, the girls can get a little raggy.
I'll keep that in mind. I have plans to get them outside in the barn near the adults just got to figure out a way to keep them warm and safe. Might have to make a brooder on legs like the adults cages. Right now they are very much in my way and in a closed up room so I'm sure I'm breathing it in. Thanks very much for that info.
Great! I have some low profile LED lights for in the cages now but they may be too bright. I can return them. I'll look into more natural light options like we use for our reptile. Makes perfect sense. They do get some light in the barn but not directly. Great point I hadn't thought of. The chickens when we do use lights have access to natural light so it's something I neglected to think about. Thank you for all the information.
I also feed oyster shell and mine eat it but....consumption goes down dramatically when they're moulting because they're not laying so they don't need the extra calcium. I don't think it matters what kind of supplement you feed as long as they're getting the calcium when laying.
I made a brooder box from scrap plywood and front doors of heavy plexiglass (scraps) screwed it on the wall of aviary. Think an old window would work too.
One of those plate style brooder heater fits in half.other side has food and water. Kept chicks warm enough even in north woods winter because it's a small enclosed and draft free. They get just one week in house then several weeks in that box. Can see the covey but are protected. When half size of adults they join. Small enough to not be seen as competition but big enough to hold their own. Have integrated many new birds that way without problem. Harvest a few of oldest at that time. Keep about 1 roo for 4-6 hens
Hubby insists on keeping the freshly hatched in an aquarium on my kitchen table. A week is all I can handle the poop factory there. I use paper towels there, and feed in caps from a mayo jar. If you can find the narrow lipped , "no drown" base for the waterer, they worked well. Those plate heaters are gentle heat no risk of burning or starting
Wanted to add opening front is easier to clean. Use a small metal dust pan to scrape and scoop. The top is loose, used as a shelf. It slides forward for ventilation when needed. Or prop front up.
What a great idea! I'm going to look around and see if we have something to put something similar together. Thanks!
I use paper towels in , in house aquarium ( only 1 week) then wood shavings in aviary brooder box. The aviary has heavy coated 1/2" mesh covered with sand. A sprinkling of PDZ, Chopped leaves on top. I put wood shavings on top of the wood shelters on each end of aviary. Those get kicked down and mixed with leaves. The roofs of shelters have a piece of heavy vinyl flooring on them (textured, matt finish) under the wood shavings and roofs are loose so can be folded up to clean and collect eggs. My clean up procedure is this... Brooder box they poop most by food and water. I use a small metal dust pan and scrape and scoop that side. Under the heater is much cleaner so slide those shavings over to feeding side and put new shavings on the side they bed down in. The ramps and roof tops of aviary shelters get scraped and scooped and new wood shavings on top. the aviary floor gets spot cleaned and a garden claw is used to stir up the bedding. A few times a year I dig out the compost and old bedding and put it aroundy my berry bushes. I use those large metal chicken waterer and feeders raised slightly on blocks. In winter I use a low wattage (35- 65) heater under their water. The aviary has lots of windows to let in sun. Hinged with coated mesh screening under so are opened and closed depending on weather. Vents near peak . They always need fresh air but not drafts
I can't stand stink of quail, because of whether I usually have a brooder bin inside. I use a really big Home Depot HDX bin with a hardware cloth and wood frame that sets over the top to keep them from getting out. This year I used heat plates and no heat lamps in order to reduce the risk of fire. They all did well.
All of the chicks I keep in the house (chickens and quail) learn to use a water bottle, which has gone a l-o-n-g way to keeping the litter dry, as well as keeping the water from being filled with nastiness from the chicks' scratching. I start using the bottle after the first few days/week (chicks/quail), when the chicks are big enough to peck hard enough to move the ball, and to not drown in the cup below the bottle. (I hang a little cup below the tube to catch drips, which also makes water available to the chicks who aren't quite with the program at first.) They peck at everything anyway, so a glistening drop hanging from the tube always gets their attention. Once one or two of them figure it out, they all get it quickly. I usually can pull the regular waterer out within a day or two.
