Hatching with 2 broodies

[coops gone crazy]

I have had several of my hens go broody lately. Currently my silkie and a 3yr old blue orpington have been sitting on the coop floor together for a few weeks. I finally decided to order them some fertile eggs and try hatching with a broody for the first time. The eggs will be here tomorrow and now I am starting to question everything! They have had a few golf balls they are sitting on. There are 11 hens (I think- 2 Polish that are about 5 months old that I am not sure on yet, no laying but hard to tell if roos or hens) total in the coop (6'x8' with a wired in run of about 8'x10'.....maybe 8'x12'). The orpington is partially blind. Got her as a chick with a mix of black/blue chicks. All of the blues started getting cataracts by 6 months of age! Ughhh.....great breeding there. She is the only one left- she, the silkie and my silver laced wyandott are the only survivors of my initial flock after a raccoon attack. She does well though and nobody messes with her. I have about 10-12 eggs coming. I do have an incubator and enjoy watching them hatch but have always wanted to see babies running with a 'mom' and also would really prefer not to have to raise them in the garage and go through the integration thing. Now I am worried about if they will successfully brood these eggs though! I know there is really no way to know and all the things that can go wrong. I do have a small coop (about 3'x3') that I could separate the 2 broodies into, then if I get chicks maybe wait until they are several days old and then integrate the hens back into the big coop. I am a little afraid to move them- don't want them to stop brooding right when my eggs arrive! I did give them a few eggs to sit on this morning hoping to encourage them. The silkie immediately started pulling some under her but one is sticking out the front. Worried she may not keep them warm enough. The orp just sat there. I stuffed them under her. Will run and check soon and see what they are doing now. The orp has consistently had 3-4 golf balls under her for the last couple weeks and they do move a bit in the corner and take the golf balls with them each time so maybe they will get it? I think she sits on the floor because it is hard for her to see well enough to get up into the nest boxes now. She is able to forage for treats and stuff even with her iffy vision (one eye is much worse then the other). So- I would be interested in hearing recommendations.....move them to the small coop today (2 nest boxes in there on floor level) with a few eggs or leave them where they 'sit'? Ordered some nice FBCM eggs and a few lavender Ameraucana eggs. Really really want some hens from this! I have 1 FBCM chick (and the 2 polish) from my last incubator hatch. It didn't go well. Unfortunately several chicks from that batch fully developed but either didn't pip or pipped externally (tiny little pip in the shell) then died. I MADE myself keep my hands out of the incubator (the first polish sprung from its shell and was active) and had to leave for a 24 hr shift. My only surviving FBCM was partially pipped when I went to work. So hard to walk away but kept telling myself- keep your hands out. Got home 24hrs later and she was still the same! Ended up picking her out of the shell and discovered the rest were dead. Wish I would of 'put my hands in the bator'. Thought I was practicing self discipline at the time. Such a bummer. Ok- advice for the new hatch attempt?

 

[LTygress]

I have another broody hen right now too.

But I want to stress why it was a good idea to raise a broody hen and her chicks with the main flock.... and the cons.

In my main pen, I have a huge mix of chickens. I have large-fowl Ameraucana, Buff Polish, Sumatra, Phoenix, and a couple of Leghorn hens. And I have bantam Cochin, Porcelain D'uccle, Columbian Wyandotte, and Silkies in there. Then pen is very large (17-foot by 20-foot) made out of an old above-ground pool wall (thin sheet metal) held up and attached to 4x4's, with a home-made gate made out of lattice and screen. We have a giant landscaping net over the top to keep the predators out, and the chickens in. Inside of it, we have an old wood-and-wire rabbit hutch (5-foot by 2 foot) and an old wooden workshop table with plywood attached to the sides and more plywood "leaned" against it to enclose most of it. It provides them two semi-enclosed spaces to nest. And in the rabbit hutch I have one nest box that is 1-foot cubed, made out of plywood. And I have two of those under the old table. So there is privacy to nest, but I can get to everything, and all of the chickens can get to everything. Nothing is too small for anyone in the flock.

The cochin hens were with the main flock prior to me getting the frizzle cochin roo. When I want to breed specific chickens together, I move them to an old dog kennel.

But prior to that, the cochin hens would go broody every time I bothered to look. The exception was actually during our dry-time this summer (late July to early September). I wasn't worried too much about the chicks when they were in the big pen - they were just "utility hens" meant to keep the bantam roosters happy and curb aggression. So when they went broody in there, I left them. And they hatched chicks.... lots of chicks. They successfully kept ALL of the other chickens from hurting the babies - including the large Ameraucana roo. It was rather funny, this tiny bantam hen puffing up at a huge roo.

But because of the broody hens, to this day, I can add chicks from the incubator and brooder set-up into the pen without them being attacked. The bigger chickens are just too familiar with babies being around, and they let them run around their feet like we expect little children to do at a playground. That is BY FAR the biggest advantage of letting a broody hen stay with the main flock. Even though the broody hens are no longer there, I'm still adding little chicks in now and then once they are ready for the normal weather, and not having any problems with it. I do have to add more than one, so they have someone to "hang out" with though. If I add just one, the chick himself will be scared of everyone, and I've found them wedged behind nest boxes and water troughs to get away from the others - with no sign of damage from being pecked. I even observed one just freaking out about these "strangers" around him, and get himself stuck in odd places. But no one bothered HIM.

Another advantage was the "community raising". Any hen that was close to being broody would help raise ALL of the babies. After a while, they all just got mixed up, and would nest under whoever they could find room under. When one hen called to them about food, they ALL came running. Every hen was everybody's momma! And every chick was everybody's baby!

But there are disadvantages. As with any broody hen, the babies she raises become hard to catch. She'll try to protect them from us as well as the rest of the flock, and the babies learn to avoid us. But separating her allows us to get into her space and learn to TRUST us with her babies, so they trust us at the same time. Another problem I ran into was in not MARKING the eggs I set under the broody. The other hens kept laying in those nest boxes, and I couldn't tell which one was freshly laid and which one I had set in there without candling them. And that meant I had to wait until night time to disturb her and the eggs for candling, or bring two eggs at a time into the house, 100 feet away, and into my closet to get a dark enough space to candle them. And with her trying to sit on 12 eggs, that was a LOT of back-and-forth to the house!

And then came the times when I had more than one broody. The hens would play musical nest boxes, and switch up a lot, taking over each other's box. One would get up and go eat, come back, and sit in the wrong box while that hen was up eating. Then the second hen came back to her box, and knowing it was her box, tried to squeeze in with the first hen. Meanwhile, the first hen's eggs were not being kept warm. This also became a bigger problem once the babies were hatched. The babies followed the hens, so leaving a nest box didn't matter as much. But two hens trying to situate themselves in a nest box with so many babies resulted in a few trampled chicks.

On top of those issues, I also realized that the hens could not have chicks that hatched more than a day or two apart. I had one hen that was a week away from her own hatch day for her eggs when the other two nests hatched. The still-sitting hen abandoned her eggs to help take care of these babies from the other two nest boxes, as though they were her own. I had to rescue those eggs and get them into the incubator for that final week.

So there is my full (and very wordy) story about why separating them is both a bad idea and a good idea. In hindsight, I'm not sure I would purposely separate them at all. I think the pros are even with the cons, and vice versa. So really, whenever my hens go broody from now on, I'll just leave them in whatever situation they are in - separate or not!

 

[Teila]

I may have solved my problem with the non-broodies breaking eggs. I put one of their non-fertile eggs in the back-up nest (cat carrier), and now they're using that instead of bothering the broodies in the main nest! I'm going to hope they keep up with that and not separate them out into separate structures entirely. 9 days left to go! Man, this is harder than just buying pullets!

Excellent news lizgarf ... minus one apprehension!
I was reading a thread earlier and the author mentioned "eggs hatched 3 days early (again)". While that would be good for apprehension-levels, still hoping that if anything happens with our batch it happens on the due date (Friday) so that I have the weekend to 'organise' if necessary. I'm thinking my very understanding boss may draw the line at me having a day off to 'play' with my girls!

 

[Teila]

That is just another 'what-if' to add to the list .. 'what if she kills her babies?' I have so many what-if''s and Should-I-have's running through my head at the moment but I am sticking with my original plan to just let nature take it's course; I am not going to interfere (except for the original giving her fertile eggs to sit on thing lol).
2 definite pips Liz and that 'thing' that happened about Day 17 which I am still not sure about. I haven't been able to look long enough to see if anything else is going on. I will definitely be watching from afar today just in case she does hop off the eggs and I get a little bit more time to study them. She had a good breakfast and drink of water on the nest this morning. Because I am home today, Dusty and Britney will be able to free range which will leave Cilla home-alone to do her thing in peace (except for that feeling she is being watched, which she will be lol)
Go Team Broody!!

 

[Teila]

Welcome to the world beautiful!! Thank you 16paws .. so very, very happy! Hopefully more to come! I can't believe how emotional I am .. it is so wonderful!

 

[Teila]

Aaaw, I am sorry to hear the bad news also :-( Come on Team Broody, we can all do this!!
I feel kinda guilty but I did want to share a picture I just took .....

 

[Teila]

Yeah Liz, what we will probably do is incorporate the new 'ranch' into the existing 'chateau' but keep it so that we can lock it down if need be. That is definitely a job for next weekend, not today; I think everyone, humans included, need some down time lol

 

[tommysgirl]

Thanks, Teila!! So nice to hear from you, as always!
I am still plenty nervous, of course, with the unhatched eggs. I think two moms for one chick might be a bit much!! Since this one came early, it could be another 3 days before the others hatch! Who knows?!
So helpful to hear about your pecking experience. It seems to be working out better now. I actually regret trying to start another thread on the topic, because there are some kind of mean chicken people out there. Someone gave me a hard time about "stealing" the mom's chick to take that picture. It's kind of a stressful time, in addition to a joyous one, and it's so nice to have this thread's support through it!
xoxo from all of us here in Team Broody Oakland!

There are snooty meanies all over the place. There are always small people who can't wait to tell other people how big their screw ups are. Sorry you are being subjected to bad behavior.

I am telling you for the nicest group...outside of this thread of course ... you can't beat the Northern California thread. I bring all my questions there and I not only get answers I get support and chitter chatter and general pleasantness. You don't have to be a Nor Cal person either so all of you guys are welcome

 

[tommysgirl]

Aaaw chickadee .. cute!
No problemo about "nothing to report" .. I will keep checking, considering it is the middle of the night there, I will check in again tomorrow before work.

Cilla & Co are going well. One of them was in the chick-start today scratching with his/her tiny little feet .. so adorable! They also rub their tiny little beaks backwards and forwards after eating, just like Mum!

Hubby got home from work and asked "So, have you been chicken stalking?" "No" I said, "Not me!" .. Hhhhm, probably should have put back the chair I had strategically positioned at the end of the 'Ranch' .. lol

I am hoping to get some advice please? I tried doing some research last evening but didn't really come up with any definite answers. Cilla is perking up nicely and appears to have settled in the 'Ranch' quite well. Considering the rush-purchase, it is actually ideal! Lots of room for everyone and very safe. I picked Cilla up today and she is so light, which I know is a side effect of not eating much for the last 3 weeks or so. She is eating the chick-start (purchased from our local produce store) and I wonder if that is enough for her?
Plan A: As a treat I tried to give her a little bit of cheese (she loves that) but she took it from me and promptly and I think deliberately, dropped it in front of the babies, one of them gobbled it up so I wasn't game to try and give her more .. I have read that the chicks should only be eating chick-start.
Plan B: Try and give her some big-bird food (lay mash) but when I held the seed in front (up high so the bubs couldn't get to it; even though they were trying lol) she flicked at it with her beak causing it to fall in with the bubs .. again, I have read that they should not be eating it.
Plan C: Put her and the seed outside of the ranch so that she could eat it but she was not having a bar of that and wanted back in with the bubs.

Ran out of Plans! lol

So:
* Is Cilla OK on just chick-start and for how long?
* Is there something I can give her that it is OK for the chicks to eat if they happen to pinch some?
* When is a good time to start the little ones on something besides chick-start and any suggestions of what is a good thing to start them on?

Thanks in advance .. Go Team Broody!!

Cilla is GREAT on chick starter. It will put the weight back on her faster than anything else because it is 20% protein. You can scramble her an egg too and give that a few times a week. When I have chicks EVERYONE gets chick starter and calcium supplements on the side. My regular feed is a 20% multi use pellet that has no added calcium but they all love the crumbles when there are babies around. The chicks can eat the 20% pellets pretty quickly I just get a bag of starter and when it runs out I switch them to the pellets. When the chicks are about 16 weeks you can switch them to a layer pellet if that is easier for you but only if you don't have roosters. Roosters and Chicks can get sick from the calcium. Since I have roosters and this will be my third crop of chicks since spring it is easier for me to just keep them all on the multi-use pellet except for when the chicks are brand new.

 

[lizgarf]

Quick report: Marans Chickie #2 is here!! Pictures to come later.
Still no signs of life from the other 2 marans eggs or the 2 EEs. We're at Day 21+ 15 hours.