Consolidated Kansas

[HEChicken]

I'm feeling extremely sheepish right now. I just told DH via Skype about the broody Sultan and he said "why don't you put the turkey eggs under her?" I've been racking my brain all day trying to figure out how to get her something to hatch....while I have an incubator running right next to me.

So what do y'all think? I only have 2 turkey eggs left - the rest were clear on their 15-day candling. They have just under 2 weeks to go so she wouldn't have to wear herself ragged sitting on them. My main concern is that she's such a little thing and the turkey eggs are rather larger than she lays herself. Plus, the poults will be half her size at hatch and bigger than her by the time they're 3 weeks old

I kind of hate to mess with the only 2 eggs that developed. On the other hand, I tend to think broody hens will do a better job of incubating than I can, so if she accepts them, they'll stand a better chance than with me.

What I think I might do is wait until tonight and check her nest. If she is sleeping on the nest, that will confirm for me that she's serious (I think she slept there last night but didn't check after dark). Then perhaps I can remove the eggs she has gathered and replace them with the turkey eggs. Watch her for awhile and leave the incubator running so it will retain temp in case I need to return the eggs to it.

What would everyone/anyone else do?

 

[Trish44]

All I'm going to say is the discussion about the turkeys is over. I can't discuss it any more, end of story.

 

[JosieChick]

HEchicken- I wouldn't risk it if you really want the two eggs you have going to hatch. It is risky business with broody hens especially if they are unproven broodies. I stuck some kind of expensive eggs under one of my hardcore broodies a while back and she flaked out for an entire day while I was gone and sat in the corner on nothing while the eggs sad cold in the nest!!!! I lost six chicks in that batch and was lucky enough to still have three that made it in the incubator. I also had a wyandotte that sat beautifully for 21 days and when her chicks pipped she picked every last bit of shell off of them during the day and when I got home that night they were all entombed in their white inner membrane shells. It was awful, I was devastated. She has never been allowed eggs again. I would get a few eggs that don't really matter that way she will sit and hatch them and it will be fine. If you give her your last two precious eggs she is liable to botch the job in my experience with broody hens.

 

[HEChicken]

Thanks for the feedback, Josie. I'm sure you're right. My one experience with a broody, I got local fertile eggs I wasn't "invested" in, and she accepted them immediately and hatched out a bunch of them, so I guess I was just assuming it would always work that way.

In the meantime, I found a lady who is going to get me some fertile eggs and I pick them up first thing tomorrow morning. That gives me a chance to observe my hen tonight and see if she sleeps in the nest to confirm she is sticking with it. If she isn't well....the incubator is already running

 

[HEChicken]

I also had a wyandotte that sat beautifully for 21 days and when her chicks pipped she picked every last bit of shell off of them during the day and when I got home that night they were all entombed in their white inner membrane shells. It was awful, I was devastated.

How awful - I wonder what she was thinking. In her own way it sounds like she thought she was helping them hatch but wow, she sure didn't get that right.

 

[JosieChick]

HEchicken- I have had some wonderful broodies, fabulous mothers and so much fun to watch them. But I have had some terrible experiences too. I don't know what that wyandotte was thinking, she is a hatchery bird and about as ditzy as they come so I don't know if she didn't understand that babies were trying to come out of the eggs? I have heard of broodies crushing, scalping chicks too so I don't think it is uncommon that some birds are bad mothers. I like to stick to my cochins and silkies, they are fabulous broodies and moms. (It helps if they are hens

)

 

[HEChicken]

I like to stick to my cochins and silkies, they are fabulous broodies and moms. (It helps if they are hens

)

It certainly does. I was thinking that last part even before I read that you had said it!

I can't believe I am 0/3 with the silkies and cochin I tried to get for just this purpose so will have to make do with my sultan. I will say that my BSL was about as good a broody as I could have hoped for. I was able to get her eggs about 5 days after she started to brood, and I moved her to my grow-out pen once I had the new eggs in there. She was furious, and jumped off the nest to pace the end of the pen looking for a way out and back to the main coop. I did it at night so I just went inside and didn't even check on her until morning. By then she was sitting on the nest of eggs like it was her idea all along. From that moment on, she rarely got off the nest. I decided not to disturb her so I didn't even candle the eggs the whole time. I saw her off maybe 3 times but as soon as she realized I had spotted her, she ran to get back on the nest. It was August and triple digits the whole time so I wasn't surprised they hatched early - on day 19. Once they all hatched, she got off the nest and started showing them how to get food and water. She kept them with her until they were 15 weeks old! From 6 weeks on I kept waiting for her to give them the boot, but she kept mothering them until they were almost as big as she is. Now, of course, they are just other hens in the flock to boss around and chase away from treats (she's second in command of the flock). I sometimes wonder if she even remembers they are her daughters.

 

[Hawkeye95]

Hawkeye-I love planting trees. I'm a tree nut. Digging hoes with this new knee isn't going to happen for a while yet! Paint silkies? Wow... I hadn't heard about that project.

Oh I LOVE trees!! Love planting them!! I like to get neat varieties-- but I mostly shoot for "shade" trees. I have a few ornamental, but honestly, they aren't going to offer much shade and cool this place down. I've never had an Ash tree before, so this is a first. And the globe willows I see everywhere, and those are so neat, I've always wanted one. We have maples and lots of them. That is usually what I buy, because they are fairly decent at growth rate and branch out and will provide the shade I'm hoping for. I'd like to get more tulip trees and Catalpa trees! Catalpa are my FAVORITE! I have one tiny little catalpa I planted two years ago as a seedling. It was like 5 inches tall, and now it's probably 2 ft tall. I have called all over and the nurseries here just don't have them. (or if they do, then they are a 12ft tree and they want $274 for them!!) My neighbor went to a friends house and pulled up that seedling that I have in my yard and gave it to me. Wish he'd go back and pull me up like 10 more!!

Hawkeye - congrats on the trees. Now you have to hope you get to stay in that house and enjoy the shade. We may have to do some tree planting of our own. Our new front yard has a LOT of trees, but they are all Osage Orange (Hedge Apple) and we'd rather have trees that produce something WE can eat. We're certainly not going to cut them all down as I love the shade they produce (and have my chicken area planned to include a couple so they'll have shade right away in the summer) but we'd like to replace some of them with fruit trees. Will have to research what types grow best in this area. I'll add that to the now very long to-do list.

Well, anyone who knows me knows how much I've always wanted broodies.
My next problem will be getting her some eggs to sit on since all of the above-mentioned crowers are not yet with the adult hens and doing the deed. That little Sultan girl is so tiny I'm thinking she can't possibly sit on more than about 4 eggs. So I'm wondering if any of the Wichita-area folk might be able to help a gal out with some fertile eggs?

The shade right now is minimal! LOL Maybe covering about 2 feet around each tree. I bought them at Lowes-- so that gives you an idea of their general size. Not tiny, but not big either. I think the Osage oranges are really pretty! They offer a lot of shade, too. I wouldn't be so quick to cut them down, but if you replaced a couple them, that would be neat! My apples grow really well here. My mom has cherries, peaches and pecan... all grow well. There are a lot of varieties that will do great here in KS. Brady nursery sells fruit trees that are indigenous to KS, and they have interesting fruits like Pawpaws. (my mom loves those!) She said they used to grow wild down by the river where she grew up. And yeah, I wouldn't risk your turkey eggs under your broody. That's great that you got some eggs to give her. That will be much better. You need silkies! I can't get them to stop being broody! LOL

 

[Hawkeye95]

Ivy, I finally took a picture of the little ones with the Blue. You had asked if my stair step chicks were blue, and I think it was the lighting. Here they are with the blue chick for comparison. The blue chick is adorable! Every time I pick it up, it goes limp and closes it's eyes. It's the only one, the other peep at me and try to find something on me to peck. This one just relaxes. It's probably a boy. That's what Zorro does and why I like him so much. ha!

 

[Ivywoods]

OH SO CUTE! Don't they look goofy when they first start getting their feathers?

This is the first year I haven't planted any trees since I moved here. I thought, "What sense does it make?" if I'm going to be moving. However, someone gave me a tree,a colorado blue spruce, so I have to figure out where to put it. Since I've moved here I've planted about 20 different fruit trees, cleveland select pear, red maples, scarlet oak, kimberly oak, swamp white oak, emperor cutleaf oak, 2 kinds of magnolia, yoshino flowering cherry, kwanzan cherry, river birch, heritage elm, ginko, tuliptree and there are probably others I haven't mentioned. Several of them are starting to give off some shade.

Today I worked some more on the flower bed and around my wagon wheel planter. I didn't buy enough mulch, so I can't finish it. I needed twice as much as I bought, but it's at a good stopping point. Maybe I can get a picture later. I just came in to put my leg up for a while, but I'll go back out here in a bit.