Arizona Chickens

[tsuninight]

maybe they are just having some sort of sit off contest in the one egg laying corner of the coop.... with those two I wouldn't put it past them. It's just weird not seeing my two most zoomy chickens not roving the yard.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

maybe they are just having some sort of sit off contest in the one egg laying corner of the coop.... with those two I wouldn't put it past them. It's just weird not seeing my two most zoomy chickens not roving the yard.

As you noted, they just started this behavior so maybe you'll see more dedication in the coming days. But hey, as long as they're laying it's all good, right?

 

[pipemum]

So I have a broody question. My Silke, Fireys, started going broody this weekend. It took me a couple days to figure it out since I figured she was just taking her time laying her daily egg. That isn't, however, the case. she's in there until we throw her out at which point she gets a drink, eats something and goes right back in. Now my Barred Rock, Peep, has joined her. Funy enough they don't care when we move them to take the eggs, or anything like that, but I'd rather not have to throw them out of the coop to get them to leave. I've heard of many ppl giving fertile eggs to their broodies, but is it the best way to getting them to resume their yard roaming ways, or do they just get over it on their own? We locked them out of the coop for a few hours yesterday and Peep was fine. She just solved the problem by hanging out on top of the coop and fluffing her feathers out to max velocity ... chickens are HUGE when they fluff up lol. Fireys spent 3 hours running laps around the coop until we opened it back up near sunset.

Any suggestions on how to break the broody, or is the beset way to deal with broody behavior to find a couple of fertile eggs for them to sit on/hatch? Well or ignore them, and is ignoring their behavior okay too?

I haven't had chickens very long so I'm by no means an expert of broody birds. Recently, my polish/silkie went broody about 2 weeks after she started to lay--I tried removing her from the box everyday, but that didn't help...and that was the extent of me trying to break her. After 3 weeks, I ended up buying her chicks to raise. Her sister went broody last week, and I thought about giving her fertile eggs, but can't get them until next week...by then it'll be 3 weeks and I think I'll just stick a couple of chicks under her. Honestly, it seems easier to give a broody eggs/chicks than it does to break her. If I have to separate her and give her separate food and water...I might as well have some baby chicks as a reward.

 

[pipemum]

Is it weird to call chickens hatched from the same batch of eggs with the same parents...sister/brother? I dunno. Seems strange to me, but my polish/silkies are sisters, not just chicks raised together. I'm going to keep calling them sisters, even though something seems really strange about that.

 

[pipemum]

I've had hens of various ranks (top to bottom) and I haven't really seen any problems with them re-integrating to the flock after raising chicks. You'll generally see them spending more time away from the chicks and then suddenly they'll start roosting with their old flock mates.

Okay, good. What are general ages of the chicks by the time the hen is ready to leave them?

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

Quote: It was variable, but generally 5-7 weeks.

 

[MagicChicken]

Is it weird to call chickens hatched from the same batch of eggs with the same parents...sister/brother? I dunno. Seems strange to me, but my polish/silkies are sisters, not just chicks raised together. I'm going to keep calling them sisters, even though something seems really strange about that.

You can always go all technical and call them siblings. Sisters works for me.

 

[Mama Hen Chris]

What are "scrub" cardinals? Tohwees?

I didn't know what kind of bird it was. Thanks for letting me know. Looked like a female cardinal to me.

 

[Mama Hen Chris]

Wow...those love birds are beautiful!

Were those someones pets that got loose, or are they naturally here in AZ?

http://www.birdchannel.com/bird-magazines/bird-talk/2009-february/peach-faced-lovebirds.aspx

 

[MagicChicken]

After two disastrous non-hatches due to humidity issues in the incubator, I have 13 eggs due to hatch tomorrow and 5 are already pipping. Go, chicks! You can do it!