Chicken Breed Focus - Appenzeller Spitzhauben

[brrabey]

Excellent advice. I've been leaving eggs in there. The more eggs the happier she is about it. She's got about 6 in there. Maybe I'll let her keep in s few more to see if she reaches her egg load.
I'm planning on ordering the fertile eggs as soon as she commits so I'll have them all in there for the same hatch date.
Thanks!!

Some one at our zoo told me that a bird must hit her egg load in order to fully commit to going broody.  He had a silkie that needed exactly 6 eggs.  Once that was reached BOOM, she was full broody in 24 hrs.  He told me if I wanted a broody to leave a bunch of eggs in the nest & if a hen is prone to go broody, she'll see it as an invitation. I rarely "want" a broody, but if I decide to let one hatch some eggs, I always make sure she's serious before giving her real eggs.  Also, it's best to give her the fertile eggs all at once & mark them with a sharpie marker (pencil rubs off).  If you add more eggs later (or another hens adds to her clutch), you'll get a staggered hatch.  That's bad because the poor hen must decide whether to care for the hatched chicks & abandon the eggs OR sit on the unhatched eggs & let the chicks starve.

 

[Faraday40]

@brrabey
Did your Spitz commit to going broody?

 

[Faraday40]

Here are the Appenzeller Spitzhauben between 4-5 weeks old. I have no idea how to tell genders yet. Here are the 3 diff chicks. It doesn't make it easier that they all look alike.







Not sure if this means anything, but 2 have bumps between their nostrils. It's not where the comb will eventually grow but the 3rd doesn't appear to have any.

Here are the 3 diff chicks again. (Sorry but I can't be sure if they're in the same order as above. I'll try to keep them straight next time)


You can see it best in this chick's pic

 

[Alaskan]

Huh....I am clearly unobservant.

Never noticed.

 

[brrabey]

@Faraday40She sure did! She's on day 2 of only leaving the nest for 30mins twice. She's dedicated! I've got her eggs ordered and can't wait!
Here's a pic of her on her break. She's puffing up at her sisters... big like a turkey! she's not being mean but not nice either... and she's normally our easiest chicken. All of her noises are all new... even her eating noises are different. These broody hormones are something else!

@brrabey

Did your Spitz commit to going broody?

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Here are the Appenzeller Spitzhauben between 4-5 weeks old. I have no idea how to tell genders yet. Here are the 3 diff chicks. It doesn't make it easier that they all look alike.







Not sure if this means anything, but 2 have bumps between their nostrils. It's not where the comb will eventually grow but the 3rd doesn't appear to have any.

Here are the 3 diff chicks again. (Sorry but I can't be sure if they're in the same order as above. I'll try to keep them straight next time)


You can see it best in this chick's pic

I have three six-week-olds and like yours they look nearly identical. What I did notice a few days ago that one seems to have more development in the wattles, so maybe that is a clue to look for. These are my first AS though so I can't say for sure if that is a good indicator or not, though.

 

[Faraday40]

@Faraday40 She sure did! She's on day 2 of only leaving the nest for 30mins twice. She's dedicated! I've got her eggs ordered and can't wait!
Here's a pic of her on her break. She's puffing up at her sisters... big like a turkey! she's not being mean but not nice either... and she's normally our easiest chicken. All of her noises are all new... even her eating noises are different. These broody hormones are something else!

That broody Spitz pic is funny-cute! I've never seen a Spitz puffed up like that.
I hope she does a good job for you. My broodies are also all bark & no bite. They can belt out a ferocious scream, though.

 

[brrabey]

she's all tucked in tonight!
Completely all bark and no bite. She even left the nest so another girl could lay another egg in there today. Left her in for a total of 3 mins then hopped right back in and screamed her out. Almost fluffed up as big as the nest box! She walks around looking like a turkey when she's on her breaks.
She's throwing the other girls into a random egg song tizzy. There's a lot of hormones going on in my yard as of late.
Getting her fertile eggs in the mail tomorrow or Friday!

That broody Spitz pic is funny-cute!  I've never seen a Spitz puffed up like that.
I hope she does a good job for you.  My broodies are also all bark & no bite.  They can belt out a ferocious scream, though.

 

[Faraday40]

We've hatched a lot of shipped eggs. A few things that help are to unwrap the packaging & candle right away to check the air cells. They will likely be detached in places but hopefully not rolling all over or scrambled. You're also checking for small cracks or any other thing that might need fixing. (bit of candle wax mends a small crack.) Then set your eggs air cell up in a safe place for 12-24 hrs if the air cells were a little jiggly. This helps them repair & firm up. I mark the broody's hatching eggs with a Sharpie marker because the other hens will continue to lay & often those new eggs will find their way into the broody's collection. I have no idea how, but I've seen eggs laid in one box move boxes & end up under a broody hen. ???? Does the broody hen roll them or carry them? I have no idea, but I knew for sure it was the hens moving them when a golf ball changed nests.

If some of the air cells are still very jiggly, I'd put those in the incubator & skip turning them for the 1st day or two. After that, treat them like normal. Slip them under the broody with the rest of the eggs - if there's room.

 

[Faraday40]

Speaking of broody hens, we're playing mind games with ours. She went broody about a week before the hatch date. I slipped 2 eggs under her on day 18. I didn't want to risk all of them just in case it was too sort of a window. (A clumsy roo trampled one egg on day 20.) Cookie hatched the remaining egg, but WHAT AN EGG! Thankfully chickens can't count! I kept slipping more incubator chicks under her as they hatched. She must think she's Superhen by hatching 21 chicks from a single egg in less than a week!

Don't know how she does it, but Cookie has 21 LF English Orpington chicks under her in the pic below! She's only a bantam..... but what a spread!

Often I'm not seeing any chicks under the back up Mama Heating Pad. They're all squeezing under Cookie. It reminds me of the Nutcracker's Lady with the big skirt. The chicks are under, on top of, or running around her.