2009 is The Year of the Broodies....and ANOTHER One...(PICS)

[speckledhen]

Well, Saturday, we'll probably have babies hatching under Glenda. Most of my broodies have the babies hatch on Day 20; in fact, rarely do they go to 21 days. I'll have to think of names for birds that go with Independence Day! Well, actually, I'm probably not keeping them anyway, but I want Glenda to have a real mothering experience, so I'll keep these with mama for a few weeks. Now, what will eggless Tux do on Day 21? I hope she snaps out of it.

 

[shelleyd2008]

Ugh! Just lost another one.... Well, at least they aren't laying eggs when they are setting or have chicks. That's one less thing I need to worry about, what to do with all the eggs!

 

[Year of the Rooster]

Can we call this the Baby Boom of the chicken world?

 

[speckledhen]

Yup, sounds like a baby boom to me! Tux still will not be detered. What on earth with she do when Day 21 comes and goes? She and Glenda, having gone broody the same day, are both on Day 19 as of tonight. I wish I had another place to keep Tux with a little one, but both broody pens, the 'hospital' (dog kennel on top of Zane's cage) and the little Firetower coop are full. No vacancies!

 

[EweSheep]

Now thats the end result!

 

[stuckinthecity]

Cute pics of mamas and babies!
Anyway, I can't get enough broodies!!! I absolutley love all the hens that brood, I used to tend to sell some of the flock and just keep my broody hens and their babies... I miss my silkie cross

RIP toppy

Good luck with your broodies!!!

 

[shelleyd2008]

speckledhen~~Do you really need to have them seperated? I know that hens 'should' be, but could you put that one in with another?

I have a couple of 'groups' that have 2 mamas for however many babies. Of course, these mamas brooded and hatched together, but they are also raising the chicks together. I know this is not how things are supposed to be done, but with as many girls as I have (see above post

) and most all of my birds being bantams (bantam=super broodies

), I didn't have much of a choice! I have a group of silkie mamas with 5 or 6 babies between the two that they both mother, then I have 2 cochin bantams that have 2 babies that they both mother. Then I have a crazy group, one silkie and 2 silkie mixes. One of the silkie mixes decided to be a chick-hogger, and stole the 9 or 10 babies that were hatched over 2-3 weeks, then the other silkie mix is mothering their (now 4) new babies. But she is still setting on eggs, very odd birds! The silkie has not given up, I think she is more interested in setting eggs than mothering chicks, she just keeps letting the other girls take all the babies. I think it's time to give her her own darned eggs and lock her up, she has been broody forever!

Just a thought

 

[speckledhen]

Shelley, I would probably try to put them in the same pen with babies if I had one large enough. I've had broodies try to hurt babies that weren't theirs so I hate to risk that, even if I had a place that was large enough. I did think of putting Tux and Glenda in the little Firetower coop together with Glenda's babies, but I'm not sure if they would fight with each other, if Tux would try to hurt the babies since they didn't hatch under her, etc. Mine are not Silkies or Cochins (though Tux's dad was a Cochin/Silkie cross) and I think those breeds do better with chicks not their own, generally.

 

[Chickenaddict]

Well my brown/red petunia went broody the other day so that makes 8 so far this year for me. 2 more hens are acting like they could go broody at any time

. I have 3 hens raising chicks and am fresh out of room for another broody so I guess I'll slip her a few serama eggs and let her have a whirl. This hen is vicious when broody, she bites HARD. Oh what a joy its gonna be to candle the eggs in a few weeks. I outta get frequent buyer miles or something for all the chick starter I have had to buy this year.

 

[speckledhen]

Glenda had a casualty. She acted like she wanted to get out of the cage and so I opened the door and she got off the nest. Under her was one of the Barred EE eggs, crushed with the dead baby inside. I'm not sure if it pipped early and she didn't realize it or if she just stepped on it and crushed it. She always steps right ON the eggs when she gets back in the nest, but it made it this far intact, so I dont know. So, she has four barred EEs and the one BBS Orp egg left and tonight, Day 20 begins.