Ideas or tricks

[bevis]

just got a tote set up with pine shavings in it and the sweeter heater running so i can
get it settled at the right temp just in case my luck is not as good as yours.
my buff is the gentlest chicken we have be she absolutely defends her nest
while sitting on eggs. I'm afraid my experience will not be as easy as yours but
heres hoping...

 

[kuchchicks]

I will some luck your way! I just went out and checked on the check this morning, both mom and baby are doing great. It was a pretty sleepless night for me. I had other chicks hatching in my incubator and I kept thinking about my little chick outside. Unfortunately I did lose one chick while it was hatching out of that shell. I don't know why it died and I think those are always the hardest to lose. It was going strong during incubation and cracked it shall just fine but it never zipped. By the time I realize there was a problem it was too late to save it. Anyway good luck today!!!

 

[bevis]

I'm soon happy that mom accepted the chick for you.
i hope it goes that well for me but i have 4 chicks to try it with.
i will do just one first to see what happens.
im sick to my stomach already and the chicks are not even here yet.

 

[song of joy]

I will some luck your way! I just went out and checked on the check this morning, both mom and baby are doing great. It was a pretty sleepless night for me. I had other chicks hatching in my incubator and I kept thinking about my little chick outside. Unfortunately I did lose one chick while it was hatching out of that shell. I don't know why it died and I think those are always the hardest to lose. It was going strong during incubation and cracked it shall just fine but it never zipped. By the time I realize there was a problem it was too late to save it. Anyway good luck today!!!

Congratulations! I'm so happy it worked out. Although the "rule" is to give them to the hen at night, there are exceptions that sometimes work. I have a hen that I fostered 2 chicks to at night. She was a first-time broody, so I introduced one, then waited an hour before introducing the second one. By morning, it was obvious she had accepted them just fine. I still had 2 hatchery chicks sitting in a box, and I didn't really want to wait until evening, so I cupped my hand over the 2 new chicks so she couldn't see them. I put the chicks under her while distracting her with my other hand. She didn't seem to notice what I had done, and she just re-positioned herself to allow all four chicks to get comfortable.

Your hen seems pretty easy-going about you checking on her and the chick, so she may accept new chicks during the daytime if you introduced them as described above. Not saying you need to do it this way . . . just giving you options. Best of luck to you!

 

[bevis]

ok, the cream legbars came in today and i put them under the sweeter heater
for about an hour. The friend i have insisted that its not a good idea to introduce
them at night because there is no way you could intervene if something happens
in the middle of the night. So, i rubbed one of the eggs mom has been sitting on
for 26 days and put a single chick and the egg back under mom... no aggressive
reaction...not yet.. so i sit within arms reach at the house door and just watch for the next hour.
then i go get the other 3 chicks and 1 by 1 rub the egg on them and put them under mom.
things are starting to get hairy. babies are picking at moms waddles and eyes. just
watching again and prepared to intervene if need be.
another hour goes by.. so far no attacks or pecks by mom but its not going
smooth as silk. maybe its just me cause I'm nervous and scared.
here are a couple of pix. i will keep this thread updated as i go if you like.
its been 2.5 hours so far and no one is dead or injured yet. thats a good thing

OH, and THANK GOD it didn't happen before i was done.
Both of moms eggs exploded as i sit them in the box the chicks came
in right after i put the last chick under mom.......The smell ? Un-describable and all over me..

 

[FarmerMac]

That is great, good luck with your cream legbars.

 

[bevis]

i just took a small piece of bread out to mom to see if she would break it up for the babies
and she did not
she ate it herself.
thats discouraging to me.

 

[bevis]

Heres the visual status.
Im still concerned that mom ate that bread
and did not break it up for the babies.
We will see. Im not claiming victory yet.

 

[bevis]

Im conceding failure.
Mom was clamping her wings down and would not let the chicks under her.
As the chicks went from one side to the other, mom followed them with
her head and blocked them from going underneath her. The temp in that
broody house has dropped to 80 and i was afraid that she would not keep them
warm tonight and that would not turn out well. I'm very sad that she would not
accept them. She never once tried to hurt any of them, she just did not seem
to want to adopt them and take them under her wing. As you can see in the above photo,
thats about as far as mom will let them get. She won't let them underneath her.

They are under the sweeter heater and
seem to be pretty unhappy. They really liked it outside with mom

 

[kuchchicks]

Oh that's such a disappointment...I'm so sorry.

I have not tried to introduce anything like bread. There is water and feed close by. I just assumed that she would show baby to eat/drink there. I am at work right now til midnight. I think I will try to take bread out to her tomorrow.