First time Broody BO Sitting on Nest of 14 Eggs - 1 Week to go!

[GitaBooks]

They are all so cute! I'm not sure about breed, but I'm sure she will grow up beautifully.

 

[KayTee]

It's great that your husband let you get some friends for Clara, and fantastic that they all get on well together. Your flock looks great - they are lucky to have someone who cares so much about their well being!
Your husband sounds a lot like mine. He insists that the chickens are entirely my hobby, not his, but I frequently see him sneaking treats to his favourite girls.

He's also the one who decided we should build a covered dust bath, buy a summerhouse to use as a chicken coop, and get a dozen fertile eggs rather than try and break our two recent broodies!

 

[BoiseChik]

Hello, I have a question for you ladies regarding chicken health. I know this thread was about a broody with chicks, but you both seem very knowledgeable and so I'd like to ask you. My flock of older hens are just over two years old, and for the last few weeks I have seen some diarrhea, particularly with my Rhode Island red Wendy. She seems to be losing weight, I picked her up today and her breastbone was protruding, I've also noticed her comb looks paler colored than normal, and her activity level is lower. I was sold some livestock antibiotics from our local feed store, see pic. I mixed that it into their water, and threw the eggs away for a couple weeks. All the other hens seem to be normal and healthy again, but Wendy really hasn't improved. I would really appreciate any ideas or input on what I can do to keep my flock healthy, and I would like to know specifically what you do when you have a sick hen. I don't want to lose another hen!

 

[GitaBooks]

Hello, I have a question for you ladies regarding chicken health. I know this thread was about a broody with chicks, but you both seem very knowledgeable and so I'd like to ask you. My flock of older hens are just over two years old, and for the last few weeks I have seen some diarrhea, particularly with my Rhode Island red Wendy. She seems to be losing weight, I picked her up today and her breastbone was protruding, I've also noticed her comb looks paler colored than normal, and her activity level is lower. I was sold some livestock antibiotics from our local feed store, see pic. I mixed that it into their water, and threw the eggs away for a couple weeks. All the other hens seem to be normal and healthy again, but Wendy really hasn't improved. I would really appreciate any ideas or input on what I can do to keep my flock healthy, and I would like to know specifically what you do when you have a sick hen. I don't want to lose another hen!

Could she have worms?

 

[BoiseChik]

Well, how would I know? What do you do under similar circumstances? All my chickens free range a large yard together. I don't want something to spread through the flock.

 

[GitaBooks]

Well, how would I know? What do you do under similar circumstances? All my chickens free range a large yard together. I don't want something to spread through the flock.

I've never treated my own chickens for worms, but you could try treating her and see if it helps. There are some natural ways you could do it, though you can be more sure it will work with medication.

 

[BoiseChik]

I should add that I lost another hen about a month ago. My other buff orpington, became very listless and was just sitting on the ground. I thought she'd gone broody, but then she died.

 

[KayTee]

The symptoms you describe are very general, and could apply to lots of diseases, but if you have never wormed your chickens before then it would be a good thing to do. I use flubendazole to worm my birds - it kills all the most common types of worms, and doesn't require an egg withdrawal period.

The dosage for chickens is 1.43 mg flubendazole per kg body weight daily for 7 days. You can buy flubendazole in various tablet forms for animals, but when I went to my local pharmacy they wanted 8,50€ for a pack that would treat my flock for one week. I asked about the same medication for humans and they sold me a pack of flubendazole tablets that gives my flock a total of three weeks treatment for 3.50€! Admittedly the tablets are bigger, so I have to crush one and divide it into 3 doses for 3 days, but even so, it's a heck of a lot cheaper to buy the generic human treatment than a brand name animal one.

 

[BoiseChik]

I've looked on the BYC site for a definitive answer as to when chicks can start living outside full-time. Do you think my chicks that are being raised seperetly from the Mama hen/chicks can be cooped up at night outside? I'm thinking about giving them a seperate part of the coop to sleep in at night. One of them is about 2 1/2 weeks old and she's being raised with some older pullets that are about 4 or 5 weeks old, and now I've added two tiny Sebrights that are about 5 weeks old. They would be totally seperate and not drafty. It's getting down into the 60's and 70's at night here.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Hello, We are trying our hand at hatching a nest of fertilized eggs with our two year old BO. She was very clearly broody and we decided to get some fertilized eggs from a friend. We ended up with fourteen eggs, of various breeds. My friend has a flock of 20 or so hens with one Americana rooster. She said, "He likes his job." So we hoped and assumed all the eggs would be fertilized. She gathered the eggs for me for about 3 days and kept them room temp, in a carton, tilting the carton a few times a day.
Our broody had chosen a nesting box to sit in, so we were able to give her a private area of the coop with water and food within "pecking distance" and she has been faithfully sitting on the eggs for 3 days. This morning is the fourth morning. We also tented our coop with a tarp because we are having a heat wave, and that put the coop in full shade and seems to have lowered the temps in the coop.
So, here are my questions and concerns... We gave her 14 eggs with the hopes that we'd get a few more chicks, but was that too many? (Everytime I peek at her she has every egg tucked under her.)
I tried candling five of the eggs on the 3rd evening last night, and saw nothing! I basically just held the eggs up to the porch light after dark, but I'd like to try using a super bright LED flash light too. So, was that too early to try candling the eggs? Now I'm wondering if they were even fertilized. When should I start candling the eggs? Is it important to candle all of them and remove ones that aren't developing so they don't explode in the nest?
Lastly, on determining gender of the chicks...someone told me that a pointed egg is a rooster and a rounded egg is a hen, but that sounds like an old wives tale. Can you determine gender as day old chicks...comparing the pin feathers or something?
Thank you for your insight! :-]

Fifteen eggs is considered "A Setting of Eggs" So 14 eggs under a hen the size of a BO is not too many eggs. My recommendation is to stop picking her up. Believe me when i say that the hen knows what she is doing better than any human and that until the eggs start to hatch there isn't much for you to do or see anyway.