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  1. song of joy

    Shipped eggs dying during lockdown?

    For shipped eggs, I usually see high mortality early and late in incubation. Early mortality (1-5 days) seems to be associated with scrambled egg contents and/or inability of the blood vessel network to develop properly as it's so fragile and the egg is damaged. Late mortality is the most...
  2. song of joy

    Broody hen keeps stealing more eggs!

    If you want her to hatch eggs, I'd recommend the following to increase the likelihood of success: Isolate the broody hen in a small area of her own, in view of the rest of the flock. This ensures other hens are not interfering with the broody hen, adding to her clutch, or breaking eggs...
  3. song of joy

    First broody chicken hatch

    Congratulations! A good broody hen is worth her weight in gold. I never truly appreciated how valuable they are until I had to use an incubator to hatch out some chicks. With a broody . . . no incubator . . . no brooder . . . no flock integration issues. It saves so much work. I keep my...
  4. song of joy

    Garden shed to coop: advice?

    ...are some recommendations that are fairly easy (even for someone like me who is not "handy") if you can use a cordless drill and a paint roller. * Paint the entire inside with white paint (it looks like the floor of your shed is concrete, so you could skip painting it). This will make...
  5. song of joy

    Question about fall and winter broody?

    Personally, I avoid hatching out chicks this late in the year. The coop is unheated and temperatures can get very cold December through February here. My preference is to make sure the "young of the year" are at a size and weight that is close to that of adults by the time the really cold...
  6. song of joy

    Eggs pipped on bottom!!!!

    The eggs should be laying on their sides for hatching. If the pip is on the small end of the egg, read up on the advice in the Hatching 101 article.
  7. song of joy

    So, my first chick hatched overnight. Dead and being eaten by other chickens before noon.....

    X2. It's best to isolate the hen from the flock during the hatch so she and the chicks are undisturbed.
  8. song of joy

    If you had it to do over again, what is the perfect brooder?

    "If you had to do it over again, what is the perfect brooder?" This is a great question. I wish I had waited for a good broody hen before investing in various incubators and brooder set-ups! A good broody hen is the perfect incubator and brooder, along with the perfect teacher and integrator...
  9. song of joy

    Shipped eggs - Detached air cells! What can I do to give them the best chance?!?

    I've been able to get about a 25% hatch rate on shipped eggs with detached air cells by letting them sit upright (pointy side down) for 24 hours before incubation, followed by incubating them upright with no turning for the first 5 to 6 days (so developing blood vessels can stabilize the egg...
  10. song of joy

    How often do you add chicks?

    Yes, that's the general approach (add and subtract) in order to keep flock numbers the same over time. So, you end up with a multi-age flock consisting of: young pullets from the current year's hatch, 1 and 2-year old hens, and 3+ year old hens. The older hens (3+ years) are culled in the...
  11. song of joy

    The mystery of the disappearing broody eggs?

    Thanks for the update. So much of chicken keeping is watching carefully and adjusting our management decisions based on observed behaviors. BTW - I also had a "homicidal hen" that was a great setter but a terrible mother who attacked newly-hatched chicks. She was exceptionally good in soup...
  12. song of joy

    How often do you add chicks?

    Hens tend to lay fairly well the first couple of years, so adding replacements every other year works well. However, this assumes you don't mind a break in production when the hens cease laying in order to molt. To maintain production, some folks make sure they have pullets coming into lay in...
  13. song of joy

    Painting inside the coop?

    I've painted the inside of my coops white, including the ceiling, walls and floor. The white makes the inside much brighter. The paint fills in tiny cracks, giving parasites like red mites fewer places to take refuge. I'm not aware of any cons, provided the coop airs out well before...
  14. song of joy

    So frustrated!

    3-years old is not too old to expect viable chicks. I've hatched eggs from three different 3- and 4-year old hens in my flock, and I'm seeing 83 to 100% fertility rates, and 67 to 100% hatch rates, depending on the hen and particular clutch. From what you're describing, it sounds like the...
  15. song of joy

    My first broody hen! Need advice.

    I'd highly recommend isolating the hen from the rest of the flock during incubation, hatching, and for the first week after hatching. This will reduce or eliminate a multitude of potential problems, such as: other hens adding to her clutch, having to remove added eggs daily, egg breakage from...
  16. song of joy

    The mystery of the disappearing broody eggs?

    That's a very long time for her to be broody, especially considering a hen will lose about 20% of her body weight during a 3-week incubation period. The prolonged broodiness and associated weight loss may be contributing to nutritional deficiencies that are prompting her to eat the eggs. I'd...
  17. song of joy

    When is it time to remove eggs that haven’t hatched from hen?

    If they have not externally pipped, it's fine to pull and candle them.
  18. song of joy

    The mystery of the disappearing broody eggs?

    It sounds like the broody hen is breaking and eating the eggs. Does she have a constant food and water supply available inside her cage? If so, perhaps she's not cut out to be a reliable broody hen. How long has she been setting so far? If it's already been close to 3 weeks, she might not...
  19. song of joy

    When is it time to remove eggs that haven’t hatched from hen?

    If they were all set at the same time, they should have hatched by now. I'd pull and candle the remaining eggs.
  20. song of joy

    When will she kick them out of the nest?

    @lazy gardener - It's nice to see that someone else is also keeping meticulous breeding & hatching records. :) Those are very good fertility and hatch rates, and you're fortunate to have such good broodies. I'm starting to breed for persistence in laying . . . adding that to the list of...
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