Coffee's ready...

[karl E lutz]

Good morning chicken wranglers
Cold here again today.Oesdog I hope the anxiety and stress are relieved soon. It will be nice to hear your opines on a more regular basis.Chicks it looks like you got a handle on your future brooder.Baby nice to meet you,Gargoyle you avitar lights up the morning very well.Math ace you left off the double tooth picks on your adjective.
Ya'll hve a great day God Bless!

 

[chics in the sun]

Oesdog - I meant to say in that last post that it is good to hear from you!

I don't have a handle on my broodies at all, Karl! What do I do with them? Let them sit on the eggs together in the same box? Separate them and risk one leaving the nest I put her in to go back with her sister? Will they peck eachother's babies if I let them set together, or will they be like a little Mormon family and just raise all the babies together?

 

[karl E lutz]

Good question usually there is only one broody that sits on everyones eggs ,"in a particular nest box anyway.

 

[oesdog]

Quote:
If it helps - I had two broody hens at the same time. Gerty and Bertha. I did seperate them in the end because Gerty would end up turfing eggs she felt were not hers! When I tried to let Gerty sit some dummy eggs ( Unfertalised ) She would sit only for about 2 hrs then get bored and walk off for a few hours until they were well cold so she lost interest pretty quickly once she didn;t have BErtha to compete with.
- Bertha was the "real" momma.
I took her and the nest and put her into a confined area. Where she was unable to do anything but sit the eggs. I did let her out to do what chickens do though( However she refused even to leave the nest to do this eventually so I think she was afrad Gerty would take the nest. She got over the move in a very short time and went on to brood 4 chicks. Gerty was incredibly jealouse all the time - but she didn;t have the patience to see it through. In the end I caught her brooding mice on more than one occation!!!!! You may have a "real" momma and maybe one like Gerty? If you let her stay she will distroy the eggs in the end.
Maybe you could part them and give them some eggs each???????? That way you may get some hatching. Otherwise you run the risk of one bird killing the others chicks.
They don;t usually share in a "loving Mormon relationship" !!!!!

Oesdog - Bertha turned out to be a fantastic Momma once Gerty was "removed".

 

[chics in the sun]

Thank you so much, Oesdog! The way my coop is set up, I can put one in a seperate brooder cage, and then block off just the nest box they are in now and leave one in there. That will only leave one nest box for the other 7 girls, but hopefully they will manage. Or maybe I will block off a different area and put a cardbord box or something else for her to use as a nest box. If one gives up, do you think one broody can handle 14 eggs? Maybe by the time one gives up I could candle and see which ones are developing.

I am thinking of removing the babies very early on, like at 1 or 2 weeks. The three chickens that were raised by my first broody are so unfriendly - they want nothing to do with us. That or I will just take most of them to raise in a brooder and let them keep a few. I just don't want any more chickens that go into hysterics the way those three do everytime we get near them.

 

[oesdog]

Quote:
What a shame - We did a great deal of handling. I was able to lift Bertha up and wash her off when an egg exploded under her. She was very upset about everything. I took all her eggs out of the nest box and changed the box for a clean one then litterally hosed her bum!!!! She was ok because I let her watch us move the eggs and she just stood and squalked a bit until I let her get back on them. She was an incredible Mom. She brooded her chicks until 18 weeks. - she was still siting with them in the yard a few days before the chicks laid there first eggs or crowed. We lifted the chicks everyday - when the roo boys started to fight I upended them - grab firmly by the tail and upend until they flap and squalk then put them into the run on their own. They soon figured who was boss! Make sure you grab a good handful of tail as you dont want todrop them just scare them into submission!!! lol -it worked and we had great docile roos . 2 now live in a kiddy petting zoo! The hens all crouch for me and I lift them regularly. Your broody needs to trust you !!!!!!

oesdog - good luck!

 

[chics in the sun]

I was just outside taking care of everyone, and I opened the nest box to give the broody sisters a few grapes. Only Ginger, the original broody, was in there. I looked around for Sky, and she was in the corner of the coop - EATING AN EGG! One of her own eggs, in fact!

What shoudl I do? Will she eat the fertilized ones I have coming in the mail? I'm panicking! I hadn't been paying much attention to my egg count lately, as between the broodies sitting on some, the Wazine treatment, and what appears to be fowl pox, I expected the production to be low. Now I'm wondering if they have all turned into egg eaters!! Sam just laid an egg in the other nest box, and I am going to leave it there and see if it is still there tomorrow.

 

[Gargoyle]

Quote:
That is not too unusual. Don't panic unless you catch her having bacon and coffee with her eggs.

 

[chics in the sun]

I will keep a close eye on her and make sure she does't eat the fertilized ones. $50 is a bit much to loose to her egg eating habit!

 

[crazygoatlady915]

Crap. The weather here in Teton Valley is total crap!!!