Broody problem

[Happy Chooks]

After all my whining, I think I have a broody BUT not the broody I wanted. My RIR is on the nest and didn't come out for treats, she puffed up at me and screeched (thought I was gonna get pecked), then she started clucking and moving the eggs back under her. So I'll see if she's still on the nest tonight. (of course she's in the favorite nesting box) She's the nicest to people, but the meanest to other chickens, so not the ideal broody candidate.

So here's my predicament. I've wormed them all as some of them were looking really thin, but were eating fine. (we have had cooler weather lately, so I thought it would be a good time) So it's day 6 of tossing the eggs. I'm assuming I can't let her hatch eggs until the 14 days are over, right? So I have to keep her in broody limbo for 8 more days?

We do have someone that wants chicks, so I'm willing to try her out and see how she does at being a momma chicken. She'll raise them until they are feathered out, then the girls will go to our friend (they can't have roosters).

Edited for clarification.

 

[CMV]

Is the wormer you used a teratogen? The only reason we discard eggs after worming is because the wormers are not cleared for human consumption. I don't believe that applies to hatching eggs as they are not going to be eaten. Unless the wormer is a known teratogen (causes birth defects) I don't see why it would be a problem to hatch out eggs after worming. The worst that happens is the eggs don't survive to hatch.

It's funny about your broody. My chronic broody is also my nastiest chicken. She's a bully and a brute, and I don't know if I would actually trust her not to eat her young as soon as they were born. With great trepidation I am going to let her try to hatch a clutch next spring. Why can't the broodies be the nice birds?

Good luck with yours.

 

[Wynette]

gosh, that's an excellent question, Kelly! I'm going to subscribe because I'm not sure, and I'd really like to hear more opinions.

If it were me, I would not try it (my motto being better safe than sorry). But, I'm quite squeamish, so if hatchlings ended up with 2 heads or something, I'd be mortified. If you do allow it, though, it would certainly be an excellent learning opportunity! I'm just completely not sure on that - sorry!

 

[Bookworm chick]

Quote:
IMO this is a good thing because she needs to protect the chicks from the other chickens, not people. My best mothers are mean to the others. I had one broody that was wimpy and she was a lousy mother. Her chick survived because he could run incredibly fast.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Well, she wasn't on the nest last night. So she's not broody, just impersonating a broody I guess.

And I wormed them with Wazine.

 

[rancher hicks]

Is there any wormer safe for human consumption?

 

[Wynette]

Quote:
I'd personally not chance it, even if it said it was...not worth the chance, IMO. But then, I'm pretty conservative on that stuff.

 

[rancher hicks]

How can one avoid throwing eggs away. None of the books meniton throwing eggs out. What do commercial egg growers do?

 

[Orchid]

Quote:
There must be, because you can deworm people.

 

[Wynette]

I pitch my eggs. I don't feed them to dogs, or back to the chooks. I use them for target practice at an old tree in the back of my field.

I don't know what commercial hatcheries do, but I would venture a guess that they don't deworm. Their stock is not free ranged, so is not exposed to worms...their feetsies never touch the earth since they are caged.