oh that was the sweetest little story!
I just loved it!! Thanks for sharing the link with me!
A day at the (funny) farm.. A 3rd Broody joins- babies start hatching
- Thread starter LilBizzy
- Start date
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- Thread starter
- #23
- Thread starter
- #24
So, quite the lot happening on the funny farm..
WHile Hardy had calmed down a bit, it really wasn't enough. The big girls were really suffering from his harsh "loving". Some had completely bald spots on the back of their heads, and all of them were losing feathers on the areas their saddles didn't cover. The big girls were unhappy.
We had a buff orp rooster that we had given away. The man who took the orp really wanted Hardy, but we wouldn't give Hardy up. It just so happens he had a dog kill the buff rooster, so we offered Hardy to him when we heard he was looking for another rooster.
So, one night , after it got dark, Hardy was lifted from the roost, and put in a very large cage. He got to ride in the back of the truck to a place not too far away. Hardy thinks he will be quite happy there. He has not just 9 girls to hang with, but 28. Yes, Hardy has the potential to be one happy boy.
Back at the funny farm, the big girls are not missing Hardy. In fact, they are happy he is gone, because now they are let out for a while in the evenings. They were not allowed out before, not because Hardy was a bad boy, but because of his size he was intimidating, and no one wanted to scare the neighbors.
Hardy was missed though; by the neighbors who loved to talk to him, and the people who liked hearing him crow. But the one who missed Hardy the most is the kitty. He felt lost without his buddy. Kitty was the only one who would voluntarily hang out with Hardy. They had their special " Guy time", and kitty missed it. He wasn't hanging out in the run much anymore. He didn't like being surrounded by only girls.
Meanwhile, Lil Bit and Smoothie were concentrating hard on setting eggs. Almost every night, the human lady got bit and pecked as she lifted Lil Bit up and took the extra eggs. There were 8 eggs that were numbered for hatch. Most nights, Lil Bit had most of them under her. They didn't all fit under her, which meant uneven temperatures. At day 7 though, 6 of the 8 eggs were developing.
One night, the human lady went in to collect the extra eggs. She hadn't collected the night before. Some nights, you just don't feel like getting your hands pecked by a little bit of a chicken with a machine-gun beak. So, She picked up Smoothie and found 8 eggs under her. Lil Bit had six. For Lil Bit, the correct number of eggs is probably 3. She had eggs poking out all sides.
This was the ritual for 3 weeks. Lift chicken, get pecked, pull eggs out, get pecked, say "ouch", get bit, lift second chicken, get bit, say "ouch", get pecked, seperate unmarked eggs, get pecked, slip 3 eggs back under each chicken, get bit, get pecked, say "Ouch", pet Smoothie, get pecked.
Some nights, there was a slight variation- candle the eggs. They were growing nicely. It did seem as if they were at different days of developenment, which made sense considering Lil Bit was trying to sit on too many eggs.
The two broodies shared duties nicely. Smoothie would go outside for a run. She ran, flapped her wings, and flew around a little. Then she would shake her little tail feathers, as if shaking out a foot that has fallen asleep. Meanwhile, inside the coop, Lil Bit was slowly tucking the unguarded eggs under her the best that she could. Sometime during the day, Smoothie would get the eggs back under her. They both had eggs under them at the end of the day though, and that was all that counts.
Stay tuned.. tomorrow there will be the hatching day story.. and it'll have a few surprises.
Ohh, what could the surprise be? Does Lil Bit give Smoothie the boot? Does Smoothie run away and take the eggs with her? Is Barney really the dad? Do lizards hatch out of the eggs?
WHile Hardy had calmed down a bit, it really wasn't enough. The big girls were really suffering from his harsh "loving". Some had completely bald spots on the back of their heads, and all of them were losing feathers on the areas their saddles didn't cover. The big girls were unhappy.
We had a buff orp rooster that we had given away. The man who took the orp really wanted Hardy, but we wouldn't give Hardy up. It just so happens he had a dog kill the buff rooster, so we offered Hardy to him when we heard he was looking for another rooster.
So, one night , after it got dark, Hardy was lifted from the roost, and put in a very large cage. He got to ride in the back of the truck to a place not too far away. Hardy thinks he will be quite happy there. He has not just 9 girls to hang with, but 28. Yes, Hardy has the potential to be one happy boy.
Back at the funny farm, the big girls are not missing Hardy. In fact, they are happy he is gone, because now they are let out for a while in the evenings. They were not allowed out before, not because Hardy was a bad boy, but because of his size he was intimidating, and no one wanted to scare the neighbors.
Hardy was missed though; by the neighbors who loved to talk to him, and the people who liked hearing him crow. But the one who missed Hardy the most is the kitty. He felt lost without his buddy. Kitty was the only one who would voluntarily hang out with Hardy. They had their special " Guy time", and kitty missed it. He wasn't hanging out in the run much anymore. He didn't like being surrounded by only girls.
Meanwhile, Lil Bit and Smoothie were concentrating hard on setting eggs. Almost every night, the human lady got bit and pecked as she lifted Lil Bit up and took the extra eggs. There were 8 eggs that were numbered for hatch. Most nights, Lil Bit had most of them under her. They didn't all fit under her, which meant uneven temperatures. At day 7 though, 6 of the 8 eggs were developing.
One night, the human lady went in to collect the extra eggs. She hadn't collected the night before. Some nights, you just don't feel like getting your hands pecked by a little bit of a chicken with a machine-gun beak. So, She picked up Smoothie and found 8 eggs under her. Lil Bit had six. For Lil Bit, the correct number of eggs is probably 3. She had eggs poking out all sides.
This was the ritual for 3 weeks. Lift chicken, get pecked, pull eggs out, get pecked, say "ouch", get bit, lift second chicken, get bit, say "ouch", get pecked, seperate unmarked eggs, get pecked, slip 3 eggs back under each chicken, get bit, get pecked, say "Ouch", pet Smoothie, get pecked.
Some nights, there was a slight variation- candle the eggs. They were growing nicely. It did seem as if they were at different days of developenment, which made sense considering Lil Bit was trying to sit on too many eggs.
The two broodies shared duties nicely. Smoothie would go outside for a run. She ran, flapped her wings, and flew around a little. Then she would shake her little tail feathers, as if shaking out a foot that has fallen asleep. Meanwhile, inside the coop, Lil Bit was slowly tucking the unguarded eggs under her the best that she could. Sometime during the day, Smoothie would get the eggs back under her. They both had eggs under them at the end of the day though, and that was all that counts.
Stay tuned.. tomorrow there will be the hatching day story.. and it'll have a few surprises.
Ohh, what could the surprise be? Does Lil Bit give Smoothie the boot? Does Smoothie run away and take the eggs with her? Is Barney really the dad? Do lizards hatch out of the eggs?
- Thread starter
- #25
It was day 20, and I came home from work to find
Yes, all of a sudden, at the last minute, Millie decided to join the BroodyFest!
The next afternoon, I heard peeping. It was pretty loud peeping, so I was unsure if someone had hatched or not. But to check, I would have to endure the wrath of "The Mommies". No, I would wait.
The next morning, I was watching from the doorway. I definately heard loud peeping, and Smoothie was wiggling like something was crawling under her. Then Lil Bit started wiggling, and Millie acted all excited.
Millie was trying to get her head under Lil Bit, who really didn't want any part of that.
One of my biggest concerns was that with 3 mommies, one or more might get jealous when the first chick hatched. It has happened in the chicken world where a mother chicken, or a fellow flockmate have killed a chick. I really didn't want the babies to have that fate.
As I was just trying to decide whether to intervene, Millie pulled her head out from under Lil Bit. She had half an empty eggshell. She ran outside and started running around the pen like a madwoman with shell in mouth. Franklin, one of the silkie triplets and Mush all decided to give chase. Barney spun around in circles trying to figure out what was going on. He was not sure if they were fighting, playing, or trying to hog a good treat.
Mille dropped the shell and squawked a few times. I will never know if she was announcing a birth " OMG Look, we have a baby!! We have a BABY!!".... or if it was her turn to take out the garbage, and she just likes to make the chores fun.
Yes, all of a sudden, at the last minute, Millie decided to join the BroodyFest!
The next afternoon, I heard peeping. It was pretty loud peeping, so I was unsure if someone had hatched or not. But to check, I would have to endure the wrath of "The Mommies". No, I would wait.
The next morning, I was watching from the doorway. I definately heard loud peeping, and Smoothie was wiggling like something was crawling under her. Then Lil Bit started wiggling, and Millie acted all excited.
Millie was trying to get her head under Lil Bit, who really didn't want any part of that.
One of my biggest concerns was that with 3 mommies, one or more might get jealous when the first chick hatched. It has happened in the chicken world where a mother chicken, or a fellow flockmate have killed a chick. I really didn't want the babies to have that fate.
As I was just trying to decide whether to intervene, Millie pulled her head out from under Lil Bit. She had half an empty eggshell. She ran outside and started running around the pen like a madwoman with shell in mouth. Franklin, one of the silkie triplets and Mush all decided to give chase. Barney spun around in circles trying to figure out what was going on. He was not sure if they were fighting, playing, or trying to hog a good treat.
Mille dropped the shell and squawked a few times. I will never know if she was announcing a birth " OMG Look, we have a baby!! We have a BABY!!".... or if it was her turn to take out the garbage, and she just likes to make the chores fun.
wait! do you have two families of broodies? cuz your FB girls are already playing with the babies. I'm so confused.
- Thread starter
- #27
- Thread starter
- #28
We knew by the half eggshell Millie was showing off to the whole world that there was at least 1 chick. I suspected there were two. Trying to get a hand near the mommies was not a very good idea. They were extremely protective. Even though their pecks didn't hurt, they did attack quite visciously- and I really didn't want t upset them. Plus, I knew there was no way I could lift 3 chickens and take pictures ( because you can't mention baby chicks on this site and not have pictures
).
So, I had to call for backup!! Luckily the bantam human was available. She came over, and had her camera phone and my camera ready.
I used a shirt to cover my hands and lifted Smoothie. Sure enough, there was a cute little chick under her. Smoothie was fussing, and the chick was peeping, and the bantam human was snapping pictures. I was just wondering where the other chick was( because I was sure there were 2), when this little dark ball of fuzz fell out from under Smoothie's wing. It was sooo TINY!!.
The first chick just wanted to be back in the warm place.
Where's My Mommy??"
" Hello? Are you my Mommy?"
"Oh, THERE'S my Mommy!!!"
"I'm going to hide under you, Mommy!!"
We picked up the little tiny one that had been tucked so tightly under Smoothies wing. Oh, it has a little Silkie Poof head!!
We lifted Mille up, and found the other 4 eggs under her. They all had pips. Lifted Lil Bit up, and came up empty handed. Poor Lil Bit- the whole egg hatching was her idea in the first place, and Smoothie had the chicks. And Millie, who had just joined the broody circle 24 hours before - she had the eggs. Somehow, it didn't seem fair to us humans. But Lil Bit was tickled pink. She scooted herself over closer to Smoothie so that she was sharing the mothering.
So, I had to call for backup!! Luckily the bantam human was available. She came over, and had her camera phone and my camera ready.
I used a shirt to cover my hands and lifted Smoothie. Sure enough, there was a cute little chick under her. Smoothie was fussing, and the chick was peeping, and the bantam human was snapping pictures. I was just wondering where the other chick was( because I was sure there were 2), when this little dark ball of fuzz fell out from under Smoothie's wing. It was sooo TINY!!.
The first chick just wanted to be back in the warm place.
Where's My Mommy??"
" Hello? Are you my Mommy?"
"Oh, THERE'S my Mommy!!!"
"I'm going to hide under you, Mommy!!"
We picked up the little tiny one that had been tucked so tightly under Smoothies wing. Oh, it has a little Silkie Poof head!!
We lifted Mille up, and found the other 4 eggs under her. They all had pips. Lifted Lil Bit up, and came up empty handed. Poor Lil Bit- the whole egg hatching was her idea in the first place, and Smoothie had the chicks. And Millie, who had just joined the broody circle 24 hours before - she had the eggs. Somehow, it didn't seem fair to us humans. But Lil Bit was tickled pink. She scooted herself over closer to Smoothie so that she was sharing the mothering.
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