Lucy's "only child" is now 9 days old. Tiny "T" was out free-ranging at 36 hours in 68' temps. 5 days old and Lucy asked T to fly up 8' to the night roost. No way was T ready for that, so Momma bird came back down and slept one more night on the ground with baby.. At 6 days old, I found T up...
No, She used to lay Decoy eggs when she was younger, (in fact I brought up the decoy egg-ploy in an earlier thread when some one spoke of random eggs in weird places)- but ever since she had her first real nest of chicks that hatched safely- she has never reverted back to laying decoy eggs...
So, Yeah MinxFox- its so weird. I never had an egg under one of my hens not hatch either- atleast when they were fertile. I've had hens sit on nests that were all duds, and I would have to pull the eggs after 35 days or so. But if they hatched, they all hatched. But this time, only the one...
Thanks Q8- good to know- but its been so cold here- she seemed to be fading a bit, offered food and she took it. In the past, the mother had it all taken care of- so I never had to think about it.
Well, I did it. Took an egg, tapped it- and sure enough- totally undeveloped- nothing. The other eggs were the same. Really did not expect that. She's hatched 6 out of 6 eggs 2 years in a row.
Could it have been too early in the season, or too cold? One year she hatched 6 chicks and it was...
Its been 0ver 24 hours- since the first egg hatched. The Hen starts scrambling around when I try to take an egg and they get kicked all over by her. I don't think there will be the possibility of "carefully" handling the egg- by the time I wrestle her for it. I may just have to tap it open...
How careful do I need to be with them at this stage. Do I handle them, keeping the air cell up? Scared to death to handle the eggs and turn them the wrong way...will I kill the chick? This is why I let the Hen do it. Advise on how best to handle them.... please?
Help! The other 5 eggs have done nothing. Chick No.1 hatched at about 1:30 this afternoon. None of the other 5 eggs show anything. Lucy is still sitting and I'm being a terrible pest lifting her tail every few hours to check. Should I be concerned? Is No.1 going to be an only child?
Hatching NOW! Couldn't restrain myself- went back out to the coop. The one little chick we saw earlier was out from under Lucy. I think the poor little thing was cold. In this photo, you can see Lucy trying to draw the chick closer, She makes a growly sound the whole time. I think that's a...
We Are HATCHING! Right Now! Lucy has been sitting on 6 eggs, and this is day 27. Can see one chick so far, and trying to restrain myself from disturbing her any more.....well, maybe for another hour- if I can hold back. So excited!