Should I buy eggs or wait it out?

[Wishing4Wings]

Quote:
No, we were lucky, it was on a fault line to the east of us, but the house sure did shake! The town of Napa was hit pretty hard, including a lot of the wineries which had losses from bottles breaking. Wine down the drain! Haven't had a good shaker in a long time, so this was a good wake up call to check on preparations and supplies. We have several bookcases that have never been secured to the wall.

OK, so sorry to hear about Big Broody. I know you were fond of her, and now your sexlink program is set back. We had our first death as well. My gold sexlink, Freckle, died this week. She was a sweet girl, but never particularly healthy, and was the one who laid soft eggs all the time. The hatcheries sure don't breed for longevity, and it's not uncommon for hens to die at 2 years from tumors and fatty liver disease, so I'm hoping the rest of my girls will beat the odds and make it a few more years.

 

[BullChick]

Good night, Cheeka. And W4W if you come back to this thread.

 

[cheeka]

W4W, so sorry to hear about Freckle ~ I've been watching my hatchery girls who are 2.5 soon and they look pretty good, the Fosters tho'... the 1 NHR I kept has what looks like a tumor growing under one of her eyes. it looks like a nevi... but who knows? and Fannie is just so huge, she has to be straining to carry all that bulk. she has enormously sturdy legs tho'. the one I lost from what seemed to be heat was white, not heavily feathered and from a private breeder. beats me.

I'm crazy to be up so late. I have a long day tomorrow and Sweetie wants me to go to an evening baseball game about an hour and 15 minutes away... I won't get home til 1 in the morning.

Gossamer had all brand new crest feathers unfurling and Peach plucked them all out. the chicks probably didn't help either, but it was mostly Peach. at least she can see.

I read a really good short story, many many many years ago

about an elderly lady who "Had a Green Thumb. she could grow anything. then one day, she left a piece of cut wood on the ground and it grew overnight into a small tree, so she planted all kinds of stuff to see what would happen. after many successful (and some very bizarre) experiments, she planted the clippings of her fingernails.

they grew. into another "her". and the other "her" hacked her up into bits with an axe. so I took the picture, and removed the feather from the earth. I have said "I have a feathered thumb" too many times to take chances. you may think I'm kidding... when I was a very little girl, I had a recurring nightmare turned hallucination (meaning I could not wake up even if my parents tried) about a HUGE Rooster - as big as our house! and he was after me! when he would chase me into a barn, I would get trapped behind a HUGE hen who was laying her egg. and I would get pinned in this dream. frankly, I was terrified of chickens for my whole childhood. My Great Aunt brought me a gift one year. a very much larger than life (like 2 king size pillows) rag rooster. I wouldn't come downstairs while that thing was in the house. Obviously, I have overcome that fear, but I don't want no freakish nightmares coming upon me because I'm stressed out

... ahh, good to get that off my chest!

and here's Baby Boy #5. bummer, but I'll have meat

this was Sunday, Dad Duty... he and a couple of the Fosters kept them safe from the rest of the flock and they all ranged together for hours.

Cressa, the bantam

Lilac the LF

melon Pie with sardines cooked rice, broccoli and carrot. slabs served all over and all gone in 90 seconds!
sweet dreams everyone!

 

[okallthis4eggs]

She was fine Friday morning. I tend to them every morning before work and give them fresh water ect. I can't help but wonder if it was heat related. There has not been a day since she got on that nest that has not been 90 plus degrees. And in Kentucky you have humidity to go with it. W4W that is true she was a hatchery bird and both of my BO hens have had problems with their legs. They are past that two year mark too. I do feel some guilt for not picking up on the fact that something might be wrong with her but I always just leave the broody hens alone. That seems like the way they like it. Cheeka I did not try to hatch the eggs myself in the incubator but I did think about it.

 

[lindz8504]

Good morning

 

[Phionex Man]

hey! I think one of my girls laid last night or VERY early this morning! YAY.

 

[jtn42248]

I have a Columbian Wyandotte that went broody about a month ago. No eggs to sit, just broody. Prior to that she was laying large brown eggs on a daily basis. I decided to let her run out the broody thing and made sure she got off the nest a couple of times a day to eat, free range and drink water. Last week she finished being broody and went back to normal but did not start laying right away. This morning she finally laid her first egg and it looks like she is going to just start over with a little egg working up to the large ones again. Here is the egg she laid today...

 

[Hershy]

So, we finally had enough to cook up, they sure were yummy!

 

[Wishing4Wings]

She was fine Friday morning. I tend to them every morning before work and give them fresh water ect. I can't help but wonder if it was heat related. There has not been a day since she got on that nest that has not been 90 plus degrees. And in Kentucky you have humidity to go with it. W4W that is true she was a hatchery bird and both of my BO hens have had problems with their legs. They are past that two year mark too. I do feel some guilt for not picking up on the fact that something might be wrong with her but I always just leave the broody hens alone. That seems like the way they like it. Cheeka I did not try to hatch the eggs myself in the incubator but I did think about it.

I feel a little guilty about Freckle too. She had been feeling poorly, and I tried a few things to help her, but did not take intensive measures. I guess it was in the back of my mind that she was older and there was probably nothing to be done anyway.

Backyard flock keepers in California can get free necropsies (just pay shipping) but I didn't send her in. I've read so many results from people on my local thread that showed abdominal tumors, internal laying, and fatty liver disease (blamed on poor genetics and too much corn

), and there's nothing you can do for any of these things, so I was a bit fatalistic in letting her go. Her last night she spent in the big nest with the 2 broody Ameraucana sisters, so at least she was warm and not alone.

Just a note on my local thread (California- Northern), there are tons of posters on it that have tons of experience - exponential tonnage you might say, so I learn about things like fatty liver disease from them. They get all the credit for most of the info I have. It's one of the few threads, besides this one, that I make a point of reading regularly.

 

[Hershy]

I feel a little guilty about Freckle too.  She had been feeling poorly, and I tried a few things to help her, but did not take intensive measures.  I guess it was in the back of my mind that she was older and there was probably nothing to be done anyway. :/   Backyard flock keepers in California can get free necropsies (just pay shipping) but I didn't send her in.  I've read so many results from people on my local thread that showed abdominal tumors, internal laying, and fatty liver disease (blamed on poor genetics and too much corn ), and there's nothing you can do for any of these things, so I was a bit fatalistic in letting her go.  Her last night she spent in the big nest with the 2 broody Ameraucana sisters, so at least she was warm and not alone.

Just a note on my local thread (California- Northern), there are tons of posters on it that have tons of experience - exponential tonnage you might say, so I learn about things like fatty liver disease from them.  They get all the credit for most of the info I have.  It's one of the few threads, besides this one, that I make a point of reading regularly. 

I think free necropsy is a good thing to offer, it could be so helpful in identifying contagious illness in backyard flocks. Not to say one should immediately go there for one isolated death. It's hard to know just the right answers, I would have done what you did in this instance, but it's hard to lose any animal you are fond of. And it's hard not to be fond of these silly birds