August Hatch-A-Long

[jolenesdad]

Is that her peeking out of the nest box? Too cute!
By the looks of it, I think even in the lower nest box it would be too high for a day old chick to be able to get back into the box so I'm sure you'll need to move her, it's just when you decide to move her. Broody hens can be funny, but I don't see the harm in trying to move her now. Plus, she already didn't seem to mind you moving her before so you should be fine with this one! It's as simple as moving her back if she doesn't agree with your timing, lol. Once the chicks hatch, I've never had a hen get upset about being moved. Any meltdowns are always prior to the chicks hatching. Good luck!

Thanks! I’ll wait a few days so I can get the better roosts in there for nighttime, and make everything perfect for the adult ladies. I just used those broom roosts for my laying grow outs to have some enrichment in with the meat birds.

She still needs some sort of box/nest in that pen, right?

 

[CluckNDoodle]

Thanks! I’ll wait a few days so I can get the better roosts in there for nighttime, and make everything perfect for the adult ladies. I just used those broom roosts for my laying grow outs to have some enrichment in with the meat birds.

She still needs some sort of box/nest in that pen, right?

The box makes them feel safe but even a dog carrier works well if you need something temporary for her!

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Okay broody moving question.

Here she is in her coop. First of all she is up top, and second of all, I really don’t have the easiest way to separate her here and I’d like to for a few days when they hatch. Either way, wouldn’t I need to move her to the bottom?
View attachment 1877847

She is the flock boss so she stresses out when I remove everyone from the coop. I think that was part of the problem when I tried the babies I removed everyone for the night. I’ve got my larger coop cleaned out and rid of the ants. The side pen (with the lone white meat bird chilling) where I brood babies for integration is open. Should I move her to the side pen and her buddies to the big coop this week?

View attachment 1877850

I feel like she could be sitting on her nest watching everyone better here.

Thoughts?

CluckNDoodle has a lot more broody experience than I do, but I was afraid to move midstream, so I left our hen in a non-ideal cage until the chicks hatched, then moved the whole brood into a better area. Luckily, 9-Ball was super easy going and trusting with us, it would have been tougher with the other two broodies. Early in brooding, I moved them from their regular nest boxes. There I used ceramic eggs instead of the real eggs, as it took them some time to settle into their new space and I didn’t want them to chill or break eggs. I swapped in the real eggs once she’d calmed down about the move...

 

[CluckNDoodle]

CluckNDoodle has a lot more broody experience than I do, but I was afraid to move midstream, so I left our hen in a non-ideal cage until the chicks hatched, then moved the whole brood into a better area. Luckily, 9-Ball was super easy going and trusting with us, it would have been tougher with the other two broodies. Early in brooding, I moved them from their regular nest boxes. There I used ceramic eggs instead of the real eggs, as it took them some time to settle into their new space and I didn’t want them to chill or break eggs. I swapped in the real eggs once she’d calmed down about the move...

I agree those are definitely best practices! I usually leave my hens in the box of their choosing and only move them after chicks have hatched if necessary or if I were to move them beforehand I would do it with fake eggs in the beginning as well just because it's less stressful for me, lol, but even when I've had trouble hens moving them only caused them to run back to the box they wanted and it's definitely a personality thing. My hens that don't want to be moved are that way every time they're broody and the others I can shift to different boxes and even with different eggs at any point and they don't seem to care as long as they get to sit and freeload, lol.

 

[jolenesdad]

Thanks for the advice. Great point @Mixed flock enthusiast and I didn’t even think about that. At the very minimum I should fire up the incubator so it’s on standby since I’m dealing with viable eggs halfway through incubation now.

She doesn’t seem too freaky about much. She started taking an afternoon break in the heat of the day too for a few minutes and she lets me handle her and check her all out.

The best part about that area is that it’s my old horse foaling stall and there’s a camera in the roof that I can check in on, and make sure she stays sitting.

 

[john_wrightson2003]

So, I have a staggered hatch question for everyone... I have BLRW eggs in the incubator that i started on Saturday, and i have serama eggs that i started just now, and BLRW eggs comin in tmrw, and ill probably start them on friday, and that is quite the staggered hatch... and ive never done one, AND these are shipped eggs.

 

[jolenesdad]

So, I have a staggered hatch question for everyone... I have BLRW eggs in the incubator that i started on Saturday, and i have serama eggs that i started just now, and BLRW eggs comin in tmrw, and ill probably start them on friday, and that is quite the staggered hatch... and ive never done one, AND these are shipped eggs.

I know that doesn’t help. I have no experience.

I’d maybe stick the ones that come in tomorrow in right away and not turn them. Do you have that ability? I haven’t seen much difference in resting inside the incubator and out, tbh, and I’ve been playing around with it.

Anyway, if you could do that, it gets you a day closer.... and I’d be candling those Saturday eggs and pushing lockdown as long as I could, and not increasing humidity until drawdown and internal pips.

Good luck!!!

 

[Compost King]

a couple days of brooder life. Naked Necks (1/4 Red Ranger) and Seramas over there in the corner.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

View attachment 1878265
a couple days of brooder life. Naked Necks (1/4 Red Ranger) and Seramas over there in the corner.

Oh my I love the NNs!!! We had a wonderful and elegant showgirl names Marilyn, and she really made me fond of those sweet bare necks...

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

I tried to get pictures of our June hatch a long chicks today. We still have the two OEs, pullet and cockerel, nearly 8 weeks old! Cockerel has a very funny little crow going... Unfortunately, they are pretty scared of me, and I didn’t manage a pic.

I did get some of Susan and her seven week old, mail order babies (the ones we ordered when her hatch failed). The salmon Favorelles pullet standing right next to her is with her all of the time; it’s adorable how close she stays! Susan is the most patient mom; I’ve never seen her act irritated with her chicks. Both other broody moms chased their babies off once they started laying at 6 weeks, but Susan is now laying and still hanging with her chicks as patiently as before. She has stopped most guarding and cluck cluck cluck-ing with them though. We were hoping that these chicks would become her new flock friends since she lost her previous ones, so fingers crossed that she doesn’t chase them off. It looks like 3/4 salmon Favorelles are pullets, with the last a very obvious boy. I still can’t tell on the blue Ameraucanas, except that the lightest one is almost certainly a pullet...

Not from the June hatch, but did get a decent pic of Peaches N Cream, 3 month old EE roo x CCL, part of 9 Ball’s clutch. Isn’t that crest adorable! All three of our X CCL pullets have crests!!! Peaches’ comb is developing so I’m hoping that she will be an early layer of blue or green eggs!