Search results for query: *

congrats on a super hatch! :clap:love

will do!

they are Barbezieux - a new breed to me so it's all a bit of an adventure!

The littles are one week old today and growing nicely :)

thanks. I too avoid prophylactic medication; there's a big push to do so here - especially with farm animals - because of growing antibiotic resistance. As long as I get one pullet from this clutch I'll be happy, as all I really wanted was a white egg layer and to help a rare breed!

found one of the chicks on the floor of the coop when I let them out just now - no rigour mortis so not long gone :hit there were a few pieces of sawdust stuck to its butt feathers but otherwise seemed perfect. Is that indicative of anything in particular to explain its demise?

took this earlier today - looks like they learned the foraging lesson already at 2 days...

my broody got the chicks up the ramp tonight :celebrate:wee :bow it probably helped that the rest of the flock were temporarily fenced out so she and the chicks could keep trying undisturbed.

that's a surprise! good luck with the rest of the hatch :fl my broody and chicks are spending the night out, as the chicks couldn't get up the ramp. She only showed them twice before abandoning the project - perhaps she remembers last time: It took her last brood 3 days to figure out the ramp...

Cute chicks! BTW, you wrote - are you Welsh?

Eve has abandoned the 2 remaining eggs and brought the chicks out to enjoy the sunshine and the bugs :love If the different eye markings are related to gender, looks like we have at least one of each gender :ya Next challenge is getting them back up the ramp to bed tonight... it took her last...

so tempted my broody to stand up briefly this morning and discovered she has 4 chicks and 2 eggs; hopefully the latter will hatch during the day because the 4 already out are clearly quite keen to get moving, and the broody wants to stay put, at least for now... :fl

just checked on the broody and all eggs must have hatched, but I still haven't got a glimpse of the chicks - she's flattened out on the coop floor in front of the nest box swearing at me and anyone else who comes close, and just half a shell remains in the box. So hopefully we'll see 6 chicks...

broody is sitting tight and showing nothing, but I can hear cheeping so at least one has hatched :ya

that's awful... :hit This is Eve's second time, and she was a good mum first time out (terrible broody that time!). I'm just hoping Isabella is not turning into an egg eater :hmm; she is my best layer (and has never gone broody).

Yes, possibly, but I suspect one of the other hens may have taken it. I have one who regularly lays soft or thin shelled eggs, and she is followed around by another (Isabella) who pounces on them if ever one's dropped outside the nesting box, and consumes it. I found eggshell outside not far...

one of the eggs under my broody has pipped :ya, while another has vanished - there were 7 and now there are 6 eggs there. :idunno

I would leave her alone; she knows better than us what she is doing :)

they are rare heritage utility breeds; I wanted a white egg layer, and of those, the barbezieux is supposed to taste very good, so should be a winner whether they're pullets or cocks :D

thanks! it's her second time, and she's done great so far, so I'm optimistic (she was a terrible broody first time round - leaving the nest for 5+ hours through the first week, going back to the wrong nest etc :barnie)