Supplies for Baby Chicks

What do you need to be sure you're ready for them when they get home? This list will take you through all the supplies you'll need for your new baby chicks.

Brooder Guard or Area
A brooder area is, simply put, a draft-free place where you will keep your chicks. Feed and farm supply stores sell large, oval galvanized tubs for this purpose, and you can buy specialized brooders complete with heat, but a brooder can also be made of cardboard, a plastic tub, a kiddie pool, or anything else you can dream up.

One caution: chicks have a habit of finding any little crevice or opening in the brooder and getting out. You'd think they could find their way back in, but when they're very young, they can't. You'll hear the loud cheeps of a lost chick anytime one gets out, but if they can't get back in, they can eventually die of stress, starvation, or thirst.
Brooder size: 2 square feet of space per chick.

Brooder Heat Lamp
Unless you have a complete brooder, ou'll need a 250-watt heat lamp to keep the chicks warm. The area under the lamps should be 95 degrees F the first week, decreasing by 5 degrees per week until the chicks are fully feathered out (about 6 weeks of age) and/or you've reached the ambient temperature outdoors at night.

Have a backup, too. Chicks will die if they get too cold, so a spare light bulb will help ensure they never freeze to death. The light bulb needs to be housed in a proper lamp housing with a metal guard to prevent it from catching the bedding on fire if it should fall. Making sure it's height-adjustable is helpful, too.

One 250-watt heat lamp will warm 75 chicks at 50 degrees F ambient temperature.

Chick Waterer
I like to use these Mason jar bases for chicks for the first week or two. You'll find as they grow, you'll refill it more and more often. I use two half-gallon Mason jars with bases per 25 chicks and refill every 2 or 3 days. You need something that has a very small trough for them to drink out of, or else they'll get right in it, get wet, chilled and possibly die.

Once they're a bit bigger, they can handle a gallon waterer or more. After about two weeks, I just move to a 5-gallon metal waterer like I use for my grown layers.

Set the waterers up out of the shavings on a piece of wood or other makeshift stand, or you'll be picking shavings out of the water several times a day.

Chick Feeders
It's worth investing in special chick-sized feeders. I like the feeders with holes that they peck through for the first week or two, like the ones shown in the photo. You'll save enough money in wasted feed with the chick feeders that it will pay for their cost. They're designed so that the chicks can't get into and poop in the feed or tip it over. Allow free access to feed at all times.

The very first day, I spread some feed on a piece of cardboard and tap it. They immediately find the feed and the sound of beaks tapping on cardboard leads other chicks to the sound.

After about a week or two, I move to a tube-style feeder. Leave the chick feeders and new feeder out together for a day or so, to make sure they find the new food.

Bedding
Baby chicks need bedding just like older hens. Pine shavings are best as straw or hay are the wrong scale for them. They will get lost! Others start chicks on newspaper covered with hardware cloth. Never start chicks on newspaper alone, because it's too slippery. They can develop a condition called spraddle legs from being started on newspaper.

Feed
Use a high-quality feed, usually called "chick starter." Different brands of feed will have you transition to grower at different ages - some at 6 weeks of age and some as late as 6 months of age. Follow the recommendations of your feed manufacturer.

Medicated or not? It's up to you. If you have your chicks vaccinated for coccidiosis at the hatchery, do not feed medicated feed. If they're unvaccinated, you might want to provide them with medicated feed for extra protection.

Supplements
Here are some of the "extras" I've had success with:

Gro Gel Plus: a gel that you feed to new hatchlings. Helps them find the feed and gets them off to a good start. Not necessary, but nice.
Quik Chik (or another brand): a vitamin and electrolyte powder you use in their water.
Diatomaceous earth: use food-grade only. Can be sprinkled in their feed to deter diseases, and when they're older you can sprinkle it in the coop (wear a respirator!) to kill mites.
Grit: after the first week, if the birds have any access to bugs or worms, make sure they also have a source of grit, which helps them digest "real" food. Just some sand or dirt is fine, or you can buy grit at a feed or farm store.

Happy New Year

Merry Christmas !

WHAT HAPPENS TO RABBITS IN THE WINTER?

Winter's cooler temperatures and lack of vegetation forces wild rabbits to spend more time in search of food. They often seek shelter in underground dens they have lined with grass, straw and twigs as insulators. Domesticated rabbits living in outdoor hutches rely on sensitive human companions that remember to provide additional protection from wind, rain and snow. During extreme cold temperatures -- below zero -- it's best to move domesticated rabbits inside.

Diet Changes In Winter
As noted by Fish and Game Magazine, the once abundant food supply wild rabbits enjoy is decimated by the onset and continuation of winter. Lush vegetation is withered away. Most of the clover, tender young plants, berries and vegetables are gone or difficult to find because they've already been consumed. Wild rabbits resort to eating woody plant parts including the twigs, bark and buds of trees and bushes. Penn State University explains the rabbit's year-round habit of eating their own pelleted feces becomes even more important in the winter months. Rabbits do so to extract additional nutrients because their digestive systems aren't particularly efficient.

Weary from Being Hunted
The winter months aren't tough on wild rabbits solely due to the lack of food. This is the time when humans and other animal predators target them as prey. Game and Fish Magazine states that wild rabbits are hunted in the winter months by house cats and bobcats on the ground and by hawks, owls and other feathered predators from the sky. Add people with shotguns, and wild rabbits face a variety of threats to their chances of surviving until the onset of spring.

Creative Hiding
The thickets and bushes rabbits hide amongst are reduced to bramble with no vegetative covering during winter. It's tough to hide just among stems and twigs. Brush piles and hollowed-out stumps and logs become effective refuge. Some rabbits change color to blend in with the predominantly white and gray landscape. Rabbits also stay put in cold weather to conserve energy. Game and Fish Magazine discusses how hunters walking too quickly in colder temperatures often don't spot rabbits that are in a holding pattern.

Domesticated Rabbits Need Hutch Protection
The Verlannahill Rabbitry states that rabbits can withstand cold much better than excessive heat. That's good news for keepers of domesticated rabbits in outdoor hutches. Rabbits can easily tolerate temperatures hovering at the freezing mark -- 32 degrees Fahrenheit -- or below provided they are sheltered from wind and wet. Use extra straw or other bedding to completely insulate one section of the hutch where your rabbits are protected. Do not enclose the entire hutch as rabbits do require fresh air.

Pumpkin Seeds - Buying, Selection and Saving

Seed Selection:
Experienced growers will tell you, that good seed is an important to a successful crop.
What this means is:
The seed is viable and a good germination rate(percentage of seeds sprouting) is likely to occur.
Genetics, genetics, genetics. If you want a large pumpkin, obtain seeds from a large fruited parent. However, not all large pumpkins are "pretty". You may have to sacrifice a little size for a rounder, oranger strain. Plant viruses can be stored in the seed, and carry into the next year's crop. Look for seed from an experienced grower, who rotates his crops, and knows to remove any diseased vegetation from his garden.
The seeds will produce the type of fruit you want. Cross-pollination is common among the Cucurbita Family. Any experienced home gardener has experienced a cross between a pumpkin and a zucchini at least once. The problem is that when cross-pollination occurs, the genetics are contained in the seed of the crossed fruit, and will not show up until next year. Experienced growers know how to minimize this risk.
Keep the above thoughts in mind, when you acquire seeds. But, do not let it deter you from either saving your own, or getting seed from another grower.

Saving Seeds:
Here are the simple steps for saving seed for next year:

1. Select large, healthy pumpkins from healthy plants. Remember, large begets large, and round begets round.

2. If one plant appears more disease resistant than others, use a pumpkin from this vine.

3. Select two or three (or more) pumpkins, if possible. Using several fruit increases the likelihood of good germination.

4. Extract the seeds from the pumpkins.

5. Wash and rinse seeds thoroughly, using soapy, lukewarm water. Do not use hot water, and do not soak them in water.

6. Drain seeds in a strainer.

7. Spread seed out on a screen.

8. Stir the seeds often the first two days. Turn them over as you stir.

9. Allow the seeds to air dry in a cool, dry area for three weeks. Longer is recommended. Do not cut the time short, even if the seeds appear "dry".

10. Store seeds in a bag, envelope or jar in a cool dry place. Use of an air tight jar is not recommended, because if the seeds have not thoroughly dried, they will mold and rot.

11. Mark the seeds with date and type of pumpkin.

12. Some people place the seed in a freezer for a couple of weeks before sowing them, to replicate nature's winter cycle. This is optional and I have seen no difference.

Growing Peppers

Choose a site with full sun for your pepper plot. Don't plant peppers where tomatoes or eggplants grew previously, because all three are members of the nightshade family and are subject to similar diseases. Make sure the soil drains well; standing water encourages root rot.

Garden centers offer a good variety of transplants, but the choices are greater when you grow peppers from seed. Pepper roots don't like to be disturbed, so plant them indoors in peat pots two months before the last frost date, sowing three seeds to a pot. Maintain the soil temperature at 75°F, and keep the seedlings moist, but not wet. Provide at least 5 hours of strong sunlight a day, or ideally, keep the plants under lights for 12 or more hours daily. Once the seedlings are 2 to 3 inches tall, thin them by leaving the strongest plant in each pot and cutting the others off at soil level.

Seedlings are ready for the garden when they are 4 to 6 inches tall. Before moving the young plants to the garden, harden them off for about a week. Peppers are very susceptible to transplant "shock," which can interrupt growth for weeks. To avoid shocking the plants, make sure the soil temperature is at least 60°F before transplanting; this usually occurs 2 to 3 weeks after the last frost. Transplant on a cloudy day or in the evening to reduce the danger of sun scorch; if this is not possible, provide temporary shade for the transplanted seedlings.

When buying transplants, look for ones with strong stems and dark green leaves. Pass up those that already have tiny fruits on them, because such plants won't produce well. Peppers take at least 2 months from the time the plants are set out to the time they produce fruit, so short-season growers should select early-maturing cultivars.

Space transplants about 1½ feet apart in rows at least 2 feet apart, keeping in mind that most hot-pepper cultivars need less room than sweet ones. If the plot is exposed to winds, stake the plants, but put these supports in place before transplanting the seedlings to keep from damaging roots. To deter cutworms, place a cardboard collar around each stem, pushing it at least an inch into the ground. If the weather turns chilly and rainy, protect young plants with hotcaps.

A first in Europe: Birth of four foals from genotyped, cryopreserved embryos !

Four foals were successfully born as the result of the transfer of genotyped and cryopreserved embryos. Researchers report that this is a first in Europe. The goal of this work is to better understand embryonic development, control livestock reproduction, and maintain breed genetic diversity. Furthermore, it is advantageous for the horse industry to be able to determine the traits of a future foal.

Genotyping allows scientists to choose the embryos they want to use based on different criteria: sex, like in this experiment, the absence of known genetic disorders, or, perhaps in the future, other traits that are tied to behavior, such as emotivity or sociability.