Chook Me!

chickens and ducks - hatching and care?

im gonna buy a couple chickens and ducks. im gonna buy them from eggs sooo i need to learn a lil about them first. can i make a makeshift incubator with a plastic container, paper towels, a reptile heater lamp thingie, a thermometer, and a cup of water for humidity? it worked with a duck egg i found until the lightbulb burned out and it died :( but will it work? i dont wanna buy an incubator- they're too expensive. how often do i turn them? how much do i turn them? what do i do with the hatchlings? what should i feed the hatchlings? what should i feed them wen they become adults? wen should i bring them into the pen cuz i know they have to be in a container for a while. do i have to vaccinate them cuz im gonna tame them? it gets a little cold in the basement in the winter so do i need to move them to a warm place or something? wats the best white egg laying species of chicken? wat breeds of ducks are flightless? i dont want them to fly away!! is there anything else i need to do? i ask a lot of questions.... i dont want them to be wandering around the yard because i live in the woods and theres foxes raccoons and bears that im sure would love to have a snack... its a lot of questions but i need to know!!! o and also if i get like 2 chicken eggs, how can i be sure they'll be egg laying hens? cuz u cant tell from the egg im pretty sure... help!

Public Comments

1. I see that you have no answerers..... You should check out some books about it from the library, or go to http://www.ask.com/ good luck!
2. that's actually bad dude. if they barely born then they need a lot of heat and if they don't have enough heat then they would die
3. all hens are egg layer.when chick are small they need to eat chick starter. this is available at farm stores and feed mills, as they get about 6 months old you need to start them on layer avaialable at the same place.my husband has hatched chicks and ducks with just a heat lamp turning them every day.if and when they hatch you still need to keep them under a heat lamp, we used to keep them in a tall card board box with the lamp hanging about a foot over top of the box 9 so the box dont catch fire]they will need an inside place to go at night even once they are grown because night predators like fox and cats will kill them If you get ducks get pekings they dont fly
4. you do realize that if you buy them as eggs there is no guarantee you'll get hens... good layers are Plymouth rocks, white leghorns, rhode island reds. Also, you must provide them with high quality feed...first for chicks then for layers...they will not produce eggs as well and they will get sick quick if they aren't given a proper diet...high in calcium. You can't just put them out there and hope they forage enough.
5. No, you have to buy an incubator for the eggs because incubators are the only thing that can keep the humidity and temperature constant. A heatlamp makes rhe heat on one spot and the humidity doesnt stay in one area. You can buy one that is not expensive, look on ebay or tractor supply. It can hold 50+ eggs, it holds water well with the wter rings, it has a thermometer, keeps it warm, and is super light weight. All for only 43 dollars. the temp needs to be 8-100 degrees. You need to turn the eggs 3 times at least a day. If you dont turn the eggs, the duckling or chick will eventually stick to the egg shell and die. You need to turn them until 3 das beor they hatch. It takes 21 days for a chicken to hatch and it taes 28 days for a duck to hatch. So on day 18 stop turning hte chicken eggs and on day 25 stop tuning the duck eggs. You can eather eep them or find them home by placing an aad in the paper or internet. They need to go in a brooder so they are not cold. Inside the brooder you need an heat lamp to keep them wrm, a feed/water dish filled with fresh water and non medicated starter. I prefer dumor feed at tractor supply called dumor feed. Its grat for all baby poutry. Babies need to be fed the dumor starter/grower until they are 2 -3 months old. Then mix some scratch feed in and eventually go to scratch feed. You can bring them out when they start to grow feathers. And they ne longer need heatlamp eather. The pen should be fenced in. You dont neccessarily need a coop coop. I reccoommend getting a fenced in area. Csan be a couple feet hight lke 3 feet or what not. And keep them in it durrin hthe day. Make sure that it has feed/water, a kiddypoolm and plenty of room to roam in. And befor dark put them in a XL kennel. You can even put them in a ventilaed shed or garage. Something that has bedding. I own both and I keep mine in there own garage. There is straw for bedding in the part of the garage. I fenced in an area that has all straw, feed/water in it. Ducks dont need vaccines. They arent diseased or anyhting or dont ever carry them. As long as they are in a clean envinorment and appy they will not need any shots or anything. If you have heatlamps, I recoommend getting 2 and placeing htem in 2 different places. Make sure that they have a big areea. This is in case one light dies. But you can move tem or raise the temp. I reccoommend the Barred Rock chickens. They lay great amount of eggs. Australorps lay alot of eggs a year and Rhode island reds. Pekin, khaki campbells, swedish ducks, and runner ducks are some that dont fly. You can get any breed of duck as youd like. All you do is cli there wings. Most of the time they wont try because they like you and know you. You can identify them at 1 day old. Look under the wing, yo will see rows of feathers. Males will have all long rows. Female will have long and short rows.