A century of Turkey talk 2000-2100.

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I have a question for you guys who have broody hen experience. Muffin usually lays her eggs in random places around the yard, often right underneath the coop in the shade. I just pick them up and save them for the incubator.

Then every few weeks I stop getting eggs, and eventually I find a hidden nest somewhere outside the fence. This last time I almost couldn't find them, she had them way out in the field in coyote territory, smack in the middle of some poison ivy. Fortunately so far, every time I've found these nests and robbed them, she goes back to laying in the yard and under the coop. But if she ever takes it into her head to sit on them before I can stop her, I will have a problem wrestling her in the dark in the poison ivy. (Assuming I even knew where to find her.)

I don't have a good spot to pen her up, but I got the idea that maybe if she likes laying them under the coop, instead of taking each egg for the incubator, I should let her pile them up and keep them. Do you think that would encourage her to go broody right there under the coop? She would be safe there, and I don't think the chickens would mess with her.

So when I got this idea, I took the five I already had collected and added them to the one under the coop yesterday. Do you think a sudden pile of eggs was a bad idea, or should I have just put one or two there? Today she laid her egg slightly away from the pile of six eggs, and I moved that one in with the six. Will she think that's some other bird's nest, or will she adopt it as her own? Maybe I should take all the eggs away and let her start over. I feel like I might have messed things up by putting all the saved eggs down at once.
 
memphis said:
My SS are too rotund to get more than a couple feet off the ground. And they chatter, but it's just chicken talk. My Barnvelders scream at the top of their lungs before & after laying eggs. And my Australorps have a weird way of whining, loudly.

Dang it's hot down here. Daisy got in the baby pool. Guess there is only about 2-3 inches of water in it. After standing there for a few moments, she spread her wings out & gracefully laid down. Effectively blocking access to the pool for any other fowl.
roll.png
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I guess I just think mine are noisy because I don't have any other breed to compare them to. But now that some of the flock is at my friend's house, I notice mine are constantly muttering about stuff. Her Lavender Orps burst your ear drums whenever anyone lays an egg, but they don't constantly discuss everything in between.

So do you all with SS get a lot of blond chicks? Have you noticed if the blond chicks are mostly (or all) one sex? All of my blond chicks have been males. I know that's not true for everyone. But it's interesting.

It's hot here too and I can't get to the coop with the bee swarm in the way. I did go down after dark last night to water everyone. I sure hope they can get the bees today. There were some electricians here today and they found 2 water moccs and a copperhead under the cement slabs by the landlord's house. Snakes are really bad this year and I'm not too fond of walking around the coop after dark. It's right by the lake and I killed 3 water moccs last year.
 
Finnie said:
I have a question for you guys who have broody hen experience. Muffin usually lays her eggs in random places around the yard, often right underneath the coop in the shade. I just pick them up and save them for the incubator.

Then every few weeks I stop getting eggs, and eventually I find a hidden nest somewhere outside the fence. This last time I almost couldn't find them, she had them way out in the field in coyote territory, smack in the middle of some poison ivy. Fortunately so far, every time I've found these nests and robbed them, she goes back to laying in the yard and under the coop. But if she ever takes it into her head to sit on them before I can stop her, I will have a problem wrestling her in the dark in the poison ivy. (Assuming I even knew where to find her.)

I don't have a good spot to pen her up, but I got the idea that maybe if she likes laying them under the coop, instead of taking each egg for the incubator, I should let her pile them up and keep them. Do you think that would encourage her to go broody right there under the coop? She would be safe there, and I don't think the chickens would mess with her.

So when I got this idea, I took the five I already had collected and added them to the one under the coop yesterday. Do you think a sudden pile of eggs was a bad idea, or should I have just put one or two there? Today she laid her egg slightly away from the pile of six eggs, and I moved that one in with the six. Will she think that's some other bird's nest, or will she adopt it as her own? Maybe I should take all the eggs away and let her start over. I feel like I might have messed things up by putting all the saved eggs down at once.
Click to expand...


I doubt she will be able to tell the difference. If you leave one egg they keep laying in a place, you take them all the stop. I think basic arithmetic is not a talent of theirs.
 
duluthralphie said:
My SS roo was a belly button. Now he is the perfect roo. I just had to show him I was superior to him. A couple holding,petting, belly rubbing, comb washing, walks around the farm and he is not a problem anymore.


He did try to jump his door the other night, but that got him the same loving treatment...
Click to expand...

That would mean catching him...
hmm.png
 

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