Kaz gets to be a muma!

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Dook

Dook

In the Brooder
9 Years
Nov 28, 2010
94
7
49
Wagga Wagga, AUS
(continuation of my egg question yesterday...this thread will be Kaz's first egg hatching progress! ^_^ )

So our little girl Kaz - the mixed bantom/layer hen chicken has been broody for over 5 months now! We tried breaking her a few times, but it never lasts very long.

So yesterday we decided to build her a separate mini pen with her own nesting box. She hated being in there at first, but once she found the nest..down she went! She even got a little aggressive which she hadn't been before..usually she screams at you if you try to touch her, but now she pecks..hard!

I did some researching last night for some local chicken places to acquire some different eggs from, (as I didn't want her to lay on our eggs..may be related to the rooster) Also other eggs we had were from an apparently 'broken' rooster with bad hatch rates.

So today we went and picked up 11 eggs for her to sit on as a xmas/new year present. The eggs are cute small Pekin Bantoms which the parents looks SOO ADORABLE..like chicken pom poms! I can't wait to see if she hatches them!!

Now, we've only ever incubated eggs our self, the broody chicken thing is new to us... do we just let her sit for the whole duration and she what comes of it, or should we be checking the eggs' process by candling ect?



This is Kaz when we gave her all the eggs! She didn't put them under herself until after we went away =) (I don't think she like anyone looking at her!)

Anyway, this is DAY 1! I'll keep updating her progress and be sure to get photos of the little ones up when they hatch!!
 
Congrats to Kaz on her new egg hatching project, she sure looks resolute, hope all goes well. Pekins are adorable little things, so cute. I like to candle broody eggs once or twice, mainly so I can toss any bad eggs, don't want a rotten egg breaking in the nest, and just to see if they look on track.
Not sure if you have seen them, but there are a couple of articles in the BYC Learning Center on broody hens, one which details the differences between using them and incubators. There is also a long thread on broodys in general.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/broody-hens-verus-incubators-the-pros-and-cons
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...ody-hen-hatch-a-long-and-informational-thread
 
Alright Zaz hatch them eggs show um you can do it ....
clap.gif
 
Thankyou Kelsie for the links!! Very helpful!! =)

Day 2 for Kaz and I opened her mini pen up for her to stretch her legs and such.

I left it open for about 1/2hr and went to check on her and she was out hanging by the big pen as if she wanted to go into the big pen! I opened it up to let the other chooks out and she instantly ran to her old nest. So I took her back to the new nest where she looked at it for a moment, then got back on and sat. *phew*.... for a moment there I thought she was suddenly not broody anymore! I closed her door again so she doesnt bail out again to the old nests. I don't want her to leave her eggs too long!


^ Photo of her eggs! Took this while she was up and while I had the chance! =)


^ Kaz's Pen! She sits in a thick cardboard box lined with felt and straw, the outer pen is about 3 cardboard boxes thick and lined with plastic And the extension is made from old fridge wire shelves.


^ The mini pen with door closed! The mini pen is located under the porch behind shade cloth, where it gets the least amount of sun during the day (since its summer here!) I don't want it getting too hot for her. The pavement keeps it relatively cool and there's been an awesome breeze lately! The blanket sitting on top gets wrapped around at night, as the nights have been quite cold. And during the day for privacy from other chickens, she normally has shade cloth wrapped around the pen aswell.

The snake wire on the bottom is to prevent the rats getting and stealing her food and at the same time stop any chicks sneaking out when they are little!

The cage area is going to be extended once babies have hatched to go over the lawn (about 30cm from the front of the cage that you cant see) Until they are old enough to hang with the rest of the flock =)
 
It's summer where you are?! No fair! It's all cold over here.

Way to go Kaz! I haven't had a broody yet, although the chickens just turned 20 weeks a bit ago.
 
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Good girl there Kaz, funny how they remember where the old nests are, at least she isn't fussy and will let you move her. Ya, no fair with the summer, we are dealing with the middle of winter here. If there is a rat problem, you might want to extend the rat wire to cover all, they will climb and they will eat eggs out from under a hen at night.
 
I've decided to cover all the cage now with the snake wire..just to be sure! The shade cloth covered all areas too..but if a rat wanted too...I'm sure it'll just chew right through it to get in! So snake wire it is! I also don't think our rat problem is too bad where she is (near the house) they usually keep to the back shed..but I want to make sure they can't get in if they decided they'd want to! =)

Day 3 and I took her off the nest today to make her want to go to the bathroom! (lol) She hadnt for a few days now and normally when i took her off the nest all the time before the eggs, she'd go! And she sure did this time too..dammmnnn! Once off, she ran to the dirt patch and had a dirt bath for about 10mins until i intervened =P She shook off and preened a bit before hoping back on the eggs =)

Good girl Kaz! ^____^
 
Day 7 and while Kaz was off the nest having a dust bath I quickly did a candle on the eggs! Looks like 7/11 are good! =) I wrote a Y on those that candled good and a N on the clear ones.

I'm wondering should I remove the clear ones or give them another week or so? Or even just leave them? She caught me handling them when I was on the the last 3 eggs and ran at me to attack! She sure is very protective of her eggs!

Another thing is I found 2 lice on an egg so I de-louse powdered her back side,under wings and the outer part of the nest (wasn't sure if it's safe to powder on the eggs and her belly?)


Only 2 more weeks to go! ^_^
 
I usually remove clear eggs as soon as I am sure they are clears, don't want them breaking in the nest, so how sure are you :)
With the lice, if you are using poultry dust / something like Sevin, I would powder her good all over when you take her off the nest, take the eggs out and dust the nest also, or replace the bedding if it seems infested and dust the area around it, repeat in a week or so, you might want to replace the bedding after the second dusting before the chicks hatch.
 

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