Am I seeing things?
I won't go into the dramatic story of these miracle chicks. My BLR Wyandotte broody had her nest plundered, after an animal attack. I found the remains (eggs strewn everywhere) which had spent many hours in 20 degree weather. The eggs were refrigerator cold when I found...
Okay, so noticed that little chick who hasn't been eating had a crop that was like a total BALLOON!. I tried to massage. Nothing. I tried to get oil in it and some baking soda solution, and THEN massage. (Do you know how hard it is to force feed a 4 day old chick????). Kept massaging, then...
I think our broodies have water on the brains!
Since I couldn't keep my incubator well regulated thanks to huge weather swings in our area, I decided to put our shipped hatching eggs under broodies instead. But this hasn't gone so well either. First casualty I found two days before hatch...
Hey there. Will this chick make it?
This 2 day old is very much the runt of a larger hatch, but has also become our favorite. It's definitely had its ups and downs so far - discarded by its mom so I brought it in the house. It smelled real badly (still does sort of) so gave it a bath. When...
Had some hatching eggs shipped in from across country. Put them under broodies rather than rely on the Lil Giant thinking I'd get better results. All due to hatch this weekend or so. Of the 3 hens, 2 did very very well. As for the 3rd broody, well last night however, we found an egg/chick...
Had a batch of eggs sent to us, mostly Langshan crosses, but with the possibility of one pure black Langshan amongst them. The chick in question is a day old now, but MAN is he tall! So tall that I had to remove it from the incubator early because his head kept bumping into the hot wire. (I'm...
Well amazingly, they all seemed to show movement, were still on for a good hatch - hopefully. In fact, I found an extra egg in the nest, meaning another hen had decided to put the nest box to good use whilst broody was off. Heaven knows how long she sat there consternating while laying an egg...
Had some eggs shipped in special. Incubated them for a while, with some losses - so put them under a broody as soon as she came around. We are 5, count em - FIVE days from hatching. I went down to the coop tonight to feed the rest of the gals and found dumb dumb sitting in the WRONG nest box on...
I poked them under a broody about 8 - 12 hours after arrival. Learned later I should have let them rest point side down for 24 hrs or so. What's the chance they'll still hatch?
Tx
I've looked elsewhere, but could find nothing noting this individual symptom.
We had an older Buff -O hen (pretty sure she'd quit laying) who had a dirty, scraggly posterior, a condition that lasted for about a year. I'd wash her off occasionally (when I could catch her) but the condition would...
I ask because I candled our muscovy hen's eggs tonight and none of them are viable. I will check again in a few days to be sure, but...I'm pretty sure.
I hate to break up her broody, and would just as soon encourage her by supplanting some babies one night, but we really don't need more ducks...
To recap, my incubator project went awry when a circuit box meltdown required us to shutdown electricity for a night my Muscovy and chicken eggs had only 3 days to go! In the aftermath, rather than scrap the project I boxed up the cold but hopeful bator and sped to my office 30 miles away...
Update: By executive decision - I pitched those eggs. No weeping, but I was dubious. No tremendous odor - but one of them had a very faint smell like old socks...and yes, it was permeating the bator. I began to recognize that dirty socks smell upon opening.
By contrast, a couple other eggs...
Delaware -
"What cha doin?"
"Can I have seconds?"
"Me first!"
Buff Orpington -
"Lovely day tis",
"My, I have gained a bit haven't I? When's dinner! "
"Well, if you really think so I'm sure it will be just ducky".
Campine
"-zip- catch me now! -Zip- over here! -Zip-you're it ya know...
Sunday, we brought home our new roo - a gold laced wyandotte, approaching one year. Fortunately, our feisty little silky was rehomed as a pet just after being de-throned.
The hens don't seem to mind the new sheriff in town, but after all we've been through (2 aggressive roos in a row), we're...
Thanks again all. Barnwife this is wonderful advice.
Here's the rest of the story - of the seven that have made it thus far, about 4 of them are there by accident. How do I explain....
I was trying to get the incubator regulated. Took over a WEEK! (Those LG's are sure fickle). To be sure...
Thanks all. The new roo is approaching 1 year old, probably from last Springs hatch. Our silky is the same age. I could separate them for a day - but wouldn't that just cause anxiety to mount?
At any rate - of the roos (or any of our chickens) they were handled only a little - petted some, and...
Thank you all. Maybe it IS down!
No, no smell - and thanks for the heads up over 'sweating' eggs. I'll be sure to look for that. Will keep you posted.
Only a few days to go now!