Thanks y'all. I still don't feel 'good' about it but I feel better knowing it was just a freak hatch accident. 😣
On the good news at least these guys have made it. My mom is in love with the little chipmunk chick. I told her, "that one's probably a boy"
I've hatched eggs a few times and I've never had this happen before. Baby developed, was fine, pipped the egg, zipped the egg... I went to lie down for a while (I have covid and being up too long makes me weak), and when I came back, zipped chick hadn't made any progress on getting out further...
My girls laid these before the winter storm. Surprisingly they laid 8 eggs today after only getting 2 yesterday. Little devils.
I wish Winter didn't hit all at once like this. It's been 60F for weeks here in Oklahoma. 😩
This is an old post but he's a handsome lad now.
He's short and kind of squat. The other male I have in the flock is tall and kind of imposing. I love his temperament though. He really got the Marans and Brahma docility from his mixed heritage.
With biscuits, you get your flour (we use self rising, but I'm assuming GF means gluten free) and add your fat. My mom uses lard in hers but some use cold butter. Anyway - when you add that solid fat, crumble your flour and that fat together so your dough makes little beads, like the size of...
They usually go where they know to roost, but if they're new birds and weren't homed properly they can sometimes wander away from the group. I've let newbies range with the flock and they follow the others well enough but some were a few crayons short of a 48 count and would wander off to roost...
I wonder if they're from the same house. Like a neighbor that let them range and they got lost in the woods or something. Hopefully they weren't dumped, but I know some people dump critters just because they can.
I've been giving them egg shell on the side. They've hardly touched it - most of my hens are on winter break right now though with their age. Calcium isn't *as* important when they're not actively making egg shells.
Usually it's a crumble feed. Depending on who makes it, between 20-24% protein.
Edit to add I saw you use Nutrena brand in earlier comments. Their meatbird is 22%.