Maugwa
Songster
I had all but given up to get any of my girls to go broody. Out of 4 Barred Rock, 5 Golden Comets, 4 Buff Orpingtons, a Rhode Island Red hen, with the angriest RIR rooster I've ever met, not one broody all Spring or this far into the Summer. I kept that grumpy rooster longer than I wanted. He was rough on the ladies and abusive to my Coon Hound (who could have whipped him in a heartbeat, but knew he wasn't supposed to). I was just keeping him until I could get a hen to set, but gave up in early July and put that rooster in the freezer.
I decided to just order some chicks instead and raise them in a brooder. I wanted to try some different breeds anyway. I only wanted about six more hens and a replacement rooster, but I found that most hatcheries don't do small orders. I happened to see that Meyers would sell as few as three in the warm months, if you added a $20 heat pack. Then on further looking, I see they are having a sale for several weeks - there is free shipping if you get 15 chicks, but any less is $35 shipping - that's a pretty good sale IMHO. However, all in all, 15 chicks are far cheaper than 7 lol. So I decided to go with a straight run on everything to reduce the odds that I end up building a bigger coop. That ought to get me six or eight hens and a choice rooster, and I figure I can give away or make chicken noodles out of all the extra roosters.
Well I sent in that order, they couldn't ship my selection the first week, I had to wait two weeks for that combination to all hatch together, which was fine for me. But of all the coincidences, the very next day after I place my order, I have one of my Golden Comets go broody. Some may have still been fertile, the rooster had only been in the freezer a week, but I already have too many chicks in the mail coming. So I went out after dark one night, with straw in a dishpan, and moved her eggs and her into it. I draped a towel over her and moved her and her new nest to her own small coop and run. The next night she was still of a mind to hatch those eggs, so I swapped them with eight golf balls. She has been guarding those golf balls intently for two weeks.
But yesterday early in the morning, I got a call from the PO and my chicks arrived. I had a tote and a small 40w light (it's in the 90s here anyway) and a chick waterer with probiotics electrolytes, and Bragg's vinagar ready, and some chick feed. I got their beaks all dipped, showed them food, and went to town, home, and back to town (7 miles) and still made it to work on time at 7:00 am. 15 of 15, 100% were alive, healthy and looked great. When I got home about 5:00 pm, they had ate all their food, more than I thought they would, and drank a lot of their spiked punch. I had a little more time this time, so I inspected all their bums - no problems, and I fed them a little more chick starter, with a dab of cottage cheese, a boiled egg yolk, a bit of minced tomato and cucumbers. What a rambunctious rowdy little pigs! Every last one of them was super energetic, maybe just happy to get out of the little box they just spent 2 days in.
An hour or so after dark, I took one out to mama and slipped out one golf ball and in one chick. She didn't seem to mind, so I left her with it for another hour. I went back and checked around Midnight, and she was more defensive of her nest than I'd seen her yet. She always growled and puffed up but this time she shreeked, growled, and bit me for the first time ever. I lifted her and peeked, and saw a healthy happy chick, so I went and got the rest and swapped all the golf balls for all the chicks. 15 babies is a lot of babies, I know, but that was Meyer's idea more than mine. And it's been so warm anyway, they'll be fine I think. I peeked again at the crack of dawn, and they were all under her sleeping, looking good. I looked again before I left just before 7:00 she was still in her nest but she had chicks under her, chicks on her back, chicks pulling on her ears and wattles, and she had become vicious - not at all to the chicks, just to me. I checked them again after 5:00 pm when I got home and she has moved out of the nest into the coop. They devoured their whole tray of feed most of their chick juice, and are running around like crazy, until they fall over for a nap.
This little coop is 4' x 4' plus two 1' x 2' nest boxes. It also has a 6' x 12' run, and a 4' x 5' three sided chicken cave under the coop. I don't really use it as a coop any more, I just saved it for a nursery, or jail, or hospital. I haven't opened the pop door for her and the babies yet, (Well it was open for her for those two weeks, but not for her with babies yet) and probably won't for a week or two. It's 32" above the ground, and I don't want any chicks falling off the high end of the ramp, at least until they are a little bigger, get some feathers, and learn how to flap their wings some. When they are big enough to use their run, the rest of the flock can walk circles around the outside of the run looking, but can't touch. They know there are chicks in there already though, I see them listening and peeking in the window.
Miss Golden Comet is back in her nest tonight with her new family all doing fine, sleeping under her again. She is the proud and happy mother of 3 Buff Orpingtons, 3 Welsummers, 3 Speckled Sussex, 2 Partridge Cochin, 1 Blue Cochin, 1 Gold Laced Wyandotte, 1 Partridge Rock, and 1 Rhode Island Red Meyer's chicks - who btw, I found to be excellent to do business with.
Hmmm, having trouble uploading an image, I'll figure it out and add a follow up.
I decided to just order some chicks instead and raise them in a brooder. I wanted to try some different breeds anyway. I only wanted about six more hens and a replacement rooster, but I found that most hatcheries don't do small orders. I happened to see that Meyers would sell as few as three in the warm months, if you added a $20 heat pack. Then on further looking, I see they are having a sale for several weeks - there is free shipping if you get 15 chicks, but any less is $35 shipping - that's a pretty good sale IMHO. However, all in all, 15 chicks are far cheaper than 7 lol. So I decided to go with a straight run on everything to reduce the odds that I end up building a bigger coop. That ought to get me six or eight hens and a choice rooster, and I figure I can give away or make chicken noodles out of all the extra roosters.
Well I sent in that order, they couldn't ship my selection the first week, I had to wait two weeks for that combination to all hatch together, which was fine for me. But of all the coincidences, the very next day after I place my order, I have one of my Golden Comets go broody. Some may have still been fertile, the rooster had only been in the freezer a week, but I already have too many chicks in the mail coming. So I went out after dark one night, with straw in a dishpan, and moved her eggs and her into it. I draped a towel over her and moved her and her new nest to her own small coop and run. The next night she was still of a mind to hatch those eggs, so I swapped them with eight golf balls. She has been guarding those golf balls intently for two weeks.
But yesterday early in the morning, I got a call from the PO and my chicks arrived. I had a tote and a small 40w light (it's in the 90s here anyway) and a chick waterer with probiotics electrolytes, and Bragg's vinagar ready, and some chick feed. I got their beaks all dipped, showed them food, and went to town, home, and back to town (7 miles) and still made it to work on time at 7:00 am. 15 of 15, 100% were alive, healthy and looked great. When I got home about 5:00 pm, they had ate all their food, more than I thought they would, and drank a lot of their spiked punch. I had a little more time this time, so I inspected all their bums - no problems, and I fed them a little more chick starter, with a dab of cottage cheese, a boiled egg yolk, a bit of minced tomato and cucumbers. What a rambunctious rowdy little pigs! Every last one of them was super energetic, maybe just happy to get out of the little box they just spent 2 days in.
An hour or so after dark, I took one out to mama and slipped out one golf ball and in one chick. She didn't seem to mind, so I left her with it for another hour. I went back and checked around Midnight, and she was more defensive of her nest than I'd seen her yet. She always growled and puffed up but this time she shreeked, growled, and bit me for the first time ever. I lifted her and peeked, and saw a healthy happy chick, so I went and got the rest and swapped all the golf balls for all the chicks. 15 babies is a lot of babies, I know, but that was Meyer's idea more than mine. And it's been so warm anyway, they'll be fine I think. I peeked again at the crack of dawn, and they were all under her sleeping, looking good. I looked again before I left just before 7:00 she was still in her nest but she had chicks under her, chicks on her back, chicks pulling on her ears and wattles, and she had become vicious - not at all to the chicks, just to me. I checked them again after 5:00 pm when I got home and she has moved out of the nest into the coop. They devoured their whole tray of feed most of their chick juice, and are running around like crazy, until they fall over for a nap.
This little coop is 4' x 4' plus two 1' x 2' nest boxes. It also has a 6' x 12' run, and a 4' x 5' three sided chicken cave under the coop. I don't really use it as a coop any more, I just saved it for a nursery, or jail, or hospital. I haven't opened the pop door for her and the babies yet, (Well it was open for her for those two weeks, but not for her with babies yet) and probably won't for a week or two. It's 32" above the ground, and I don't want any chicks falling off the high end of the ramp, at least until they are a little bigger, get some feathers, and learn how to flap their wings some. When they are big enough to use their run, the rest of the flock can walk circles around the outside of the run looking, but can't touch. They know there are chicks in there already though, I see them listening and peeking in the window.
Miss Golden Comet is back in her nest tonight with her new family all doing fine, sleeping under her again. She is the proud and happy mother of 3 Buff Orpingtons, 3 Welsummers, 3 Speckled Sussex, 2 Partridge Cochin, 1 Blue Cochin, 1 Gold Laced Wyandotte, 1 Partridge Rock, and 1 Rhode Island Red Meyer's chicks - who btw, I found to be excellent to do business with.
Hmmm, having trouble uploading an image, I'll figure it out and add a follow up.
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