Consolidated Kansas

[Trish44]

Man what is with all of these broody hens, is it broody season or what? I had to finally give up & give my Swedish Flower Hen some eggs so she would get it out of her system too. Tonight I went in to gather eggs because I hadn't gotten them earlier & there were not one hen sitting in a nest in there, but three. I told them we weren't having 3 hens taking up 3 laying nests & took two of them out. I can't believe it, I have never had so many hens going broody at one time. If those insist on it that will make 5 hens sitting. Then I went to feed everybody & my Wheaten Ameraucana hen has been sitting for awhile now but the blue Wheaten hen was sitting in there with her as well. She did get out when I brought feed in.

Danz, I'm sorry about your little turkeys, I feel your pain with that since I wasn't able to keep any of mine going this year.

HEChicken, that's cute about Ned defending his babies! I have to tell you about my one turkey hen. She likes to sit out in the yard & just sunbathe I guess & one day she was sitting out there with her eyes closed & one of our cats came up & sniffed her. I guess she was wondering why the turkey was just sitting there. Well that turkey hen was really disgusted that she was disturbed & she went after that cat even as it moved off across the yard & she pecked the cat on the head. Then she just kept following after the cat for awhile till she got tired of it & went back to her place in the yard. We just laughed at that it was so funny! I said I guess that taught that cat not to bother the turkey.

I got these two little turkey poults from HEChicken & believe it or not they're bonded to the 4 little muscovy ducklings I also got from her. They're just buddies & I had to bring the two turkey poults into the garage one night when it got down to 46 degrees out & put them in the brooder. The next morning when I took the little poults back out to the pen the little ducklings greeted them just chattering at them & started preening the turkeys. It was like oh we missed you guys & where have you been, it was the cutest thing. They all snuggle together at night. You wouldn't think ducks & turkeys would really bond like that, but these have. HEChicken, the ducklings are really starting to grow, especially the black ones.

 

[HEChicken]

Trish, it sounds like you are facing the same problem I am with broodies - I am so done with them! If it had been earlier in the season I wouldn't mind so much - I could have just given them the eggs I was hatching anyway. But right now I don't want to hatch any more and I don't want to end up with a bunch more barnyard mutts. I don't mind hatching the pure BR's but my only laying BR hen only lays one egg every other day. I also wouldn't mind hatching the NH eggs but their eggs look so much like all the other brown eggs that I never know which are theirs. Plus, one of them is now broody so I only have one of them laying too. My two little cochin/silchins that have been broody for weeks, refused to be moved (tried several times each) so I finally gave up and let them sit in the nest boxes. I marked their eggs with a sharpie and every evening, moved them long enough to retrieve the unmarked eggs. They had 2-3 eggs each and one by one the marked eggs disappeared. Don't ask me where they went - I don't have a clue. So now neither of them is sitting on "real" eggs. I gave one of them a BR egg last night but she is starting over, after weeks of sitting already - its very frustrating. If only they would let me move them, that wouldn't be a problem.

So glad for the update on the turkeys and ducklings!

 

[22qZoo]

Wow, turkeys,guineas and peafowl sound tough.
I was wondering if any one could tell me what kind of banty chick this might be? It came from Orshelins in an assorted bantam bin earlier this spring in my moment of weakness. I've been trying to match it to others I've seen on the google and have found others that look just like it but no name to go with it. Thanks .

 

[HEChicken]

22qZoo, I am bad at trying to figure out breed. I see it has feathered legs but only appears to have 4 toes on each foot? So....I dunno. Sorry, I'm not much help. One thing that might narrow it down is to ask the Orschelns where you got it what hatchery they get their chicks from. Then you can go to that hatchery's website, and see what breeds they sell. There may still be a large selection but it will narrow down your results a little, at least.

 

[ivyrash]

I was thinking I read somewhere that sometimes hens or roosters will get feathers faster as chicks but I can't remember which it is. I have 5 little frizzle bantam cochin chicks that are about 10 days old now but one of them very obviously has more wing feathers than the others. These were all from the same place and set at the same time. I know it's not a guarantee, just curious.

 

[HEChicken]

I was thinking I read somewhere that sometimes hens or roosters will get feathers faster as chicks but I can't remember which it is. I have 5 little frizzle bantam cochin chicks that are about 10 days old now but one of them very obviously has more wing feathers than the others. These were all from the same place and set at the same time. I know it's not a guarantee, just curious.

Definitely not a guarantee but.....in my experience and observation, the ones who feather out on the back between the wings, and get a tail first, are usually pullets. You would think since cockerels wind up growing a much larger, fancier tail, that the first chicks to sprout tail feathers would be the cockerels, but it doesn't seem to work out that way. I like to see those little tail feathers coming in because usually those are the pullets. That said, I have NOT noticed that the wing feathers themselves grow in faster in one gender or another. And, there are always exceptions to the rule. I've had birds that fooled me because I got complacent that they were pullets due to fast feathering, and didn't notice other signs they were cockerels until they were embarrassingly old.

 

[chicken danz]

Wow, turkeys,guineas and peafowl sound tough.
I was wondering if any one could tell me what kind of banty chick this might be? It came from Orshelins in an assorted bantam bin earlier this spring in my moment of weakness. I've been trying to match it to others I've seen on the google and have found others that look just like it but no name to go with it. Thanks .

Looks like a Columbian D'uccle to me. See the muff and the feathered feet? A very desirable bird to have.

I was thinking I read somewhere that sometimes hens or roosters will get feathers faster as chicks but I can't remember which it is. I have 5 little frizzle bantam cochin chicks that are about 10 days old now but one of them very obviously has more wing feathers than the others. These were all from the same place and set at the same time. I know it's not a guarantee, just curious.

I believe, don't quote me- that hens are supposed to feather in sooner, but I believe that is a bit of a breed thing and I don't know which breeds they are. Also have heard that hens get tail feathers faster.

All of the baby ducks got out yesterday when I was putting feed in. I had both pens open so I had ducks everywhere. I let them run all day and figured it would be a chore to get them in at night. DH was here though and it went really smooth. I had them separated by size so I got small with big and visa versa. I figure the worst that could happen is some of the smaller ones might get trampled or chilled. I put some straw in and hung a flood light for warmth in one corner. I hope I didn't loose too many. I wanted to pick a few to keep for breeders but haven't had time to do it or another place to put them. Their pens wreak but I can't move them without dismantling them so I guess they'll just have to stink for a while.
I have so many broodies right now. I get lazy and don't always get eggs picked up every day. I need to get more proactive on that because the weather is warming. I gave up and just let some of them sit. I will have mutts to deal with later I guess. If I was good at butchering I would just consider it a meat source for later. I'm hoping this gets it out of their system. I haven't collected a duck egg in weeks. The dumb things are either broody or laying their eggs some where I can't find them. I should just take all the ones I know about that are sitting but I hate to do that to them. So far none of them have hatched their own chicks this year. I had 6 ducks hatch yesterday from some I took from one of their nests earlier. That made me scramble for another place to put babies.
I hope I can get out and get some work done today. I got DH to pick up a tarp for me. He delivered some chicks to Topeka while he was on a shopping trip and picked up a tarp and a bag of chick starter for me. It isn't the right size, but it will be okay. I need to get that stupid coop done and move on to the next project.

 

[JosieChick]

Thanks everyone for the moral support! I am proud of her just the way she is! Just gets old having people make comments that are not supportive. Being a mommy is hard work and it is so nice when someone says something supportive. My mom and dad ALWAYS have something nice to say about what a good mom I am so when I am falling apart I just call them! She was so fussy one night so I called my dad because I was getting desperate and he was so encouraging and gently suggested some other things to try that might settle her down. Sometimes you just need someone that isn't caught up in the thick of it to think outside the box!

Must be something in the air!! I have four hens sitting broody in one cat carrier in one coop and 3 orps sitting in another cat carrier and two cochins and three seramas all trying to sit. Ugh!!!

Josie, it seems everyone has an opinion and sometimes you just have to smile sweetly and then continue doing things your own way. I had the opposite problem - my DD was born small and stayed that way. She was never even ON the growth charts and I had everyone telling me it was all wrong and she needed to gain weight. The nurse at the well baby clinic even gave me a list of tips for getting weight on her to get her up on the charts and pretty much everything on the list consisted of adding sugar or cream to everything she eats. I threw away the list and never went back after that. She was a super healthy baby - never even had so much as a cold until she was 2 years old. She was happy, and slept so well you could practically set your watch by her sleep/wake times at night and for naps. So I decided I was not going to contribute to her having unhealthy eating habits, just to get her on the chart that was formed using formula fed babies back in the 30's - not a breast-fed baby, in the 90's. Those of you who have met her know she is still a small girl now - it is just who she is. Who is to say what is the "perfect" weight when there are so many factors - genetics, health, diet etc? So - keep doing things your way and A will grow up just fine

Thanks for the advice on the roosters. I don't currently have a way to segregate them from the flock but I may see what I can come up with.

Well, birds are continuing to drop here in broody haven. I have confirmed my latest two hens are, in fact, broody, and not just uncharacteristically sleeping in the nest box last night. This is a really odd pair. One is my oldest hen, who has never been broody a day in her life. And the other is my youngest layer - one of the Reese NH hens I got in March. She is at best 7 months old. What is strange is they both decided on the exact same day that they are broody, so they are sitting side by side in the favorite nest box, which is a tight squeeze as they are both large hens. My Mille Fleur Silchin was already brooding in that nest box so they kicked her to the curb (well, actually the next nest box along) and she is too small to argue so she is just sitting looking grumpy in the box one over. That is 3 of the 6 boxes taken up with broody hens, and the other 3 are boxes no one ever lays in. I need to get some of these birds moved and then give them an egg or two each to hatch, without ending up with a bunch of 5-toed, crested, feathered legged, EE, BR crosses.

Glad she liked them! I can't wait to see what these babies of mine grow into. I am kinda glad I stole them from their parents because they are getting really tame already! I just love baby geese. I should sex them but I hate to make them scream. Maybe I will get brave and do it. It is much easier when they are really little still. They get so strong fast!

I pulled eggs from one of my girls that was sitting and pitched them because they were all duds or quit early and were starting to stink and she started laying again! I have a goose egg sitting on the counter.

Josie she was very impressed with the colors I got out of that boy of yours. She had thought she was going to sell him but decided she would keep him if he throws pretty colors like that. I need to sex my own goslings. They are getting huge!!! I still have that one goose sitting on the nest of eggs but it seems like it has been too long so I suspect none of the eggs are good.
I have about all the geese I can handle as it is. But of course I would love to have more!

We need pics of the chicken and duck moms co parenting!!! Dumb silchin, what a flake! Hope she is a better mom to the barred rock. Sometimes it takes them a time or two to figure it out! What do they expect to happen in 3 weeks after they have sat on the eggs!?!

I now have a chicken hen co-parenting ducklings and she also is doing a great job. She doesn't even seem to mind when they jump in the water bowl. The ducklings also have a duckie Mama, but seem to prefer the chicken hen when they want to dive under a Mama to warm up.

I did however have a Silchin who sat on 3 turkey eggs and when they hatched, rejected them like they were aliens. The first two to hatch were 10' away from her, prone and shivering, but recovered quickly when I put them in the incubator to warm up. The third was zipping so I put it in the incubator and it hatched just fine. I couldn't even tell you now which three those were so no harm done, but only because I discovered the situation quickly.

So, it doesn't always go well and is a risk. I gave that Silchin one pure BR egg to sit on and it is due to hatch this weekend so we'll see how she does with a real chick. If she treats it the same, I won't let her sit any more eggs.

Cochin pullets almost always feather faster. Give them a few more days and your boys will be sprouting combs and wattles though. That is a much deader give away.

I was thinking I read somewhere that sometimes hens or roosters will get feathers faster as chicks but I can't remember which it is. I have 5 little frizzle bantam cochin chicks that are about 10 days old now but one of them very obviously has more wing feathers than the others. These were all from the same place and set at the same time. I know it's not a guarantee, just curious.

Well I need to work on unpacking some. I wish someone would just come unpack this house for me! I hate moving. I told DH we need to get rid of a LOT more stuff. It is ridiculous. I just throw things out if I don't have a place for them or don't know what it goes to. Or it goes in the donate bins if I think it might be worth something to someone. Sigh. I am sick of boxes everywhere. DH did finish building shelves out in the summer kitchen so that will be a huge help to have some organized storage. He did manage to put a nail through his foot while he was out there though. That was not so much fun!!

 

[RoosterLew]

I know where you could keep some Ducklings Danz....LOL

 

[chicken danz]

I've got lots of them, Rooster. Come and get 'em. I'll sell cheap!!! Can you handle a couple hundred of them?
Josie have you ever thrown something away you weren't sure what was and then at some point much later realized that you threw something you needed away?
I just found one of those oops! last week. I was putting curtains up and noticed the valance piece to the faux wood blinds was off. I was going to put it back on and looked for the thing that fastens them. I found one side but not the other. DUH! I remembered picking that thing up off the floor thinking it was some kind of packing junk and throwing it away. I've done that more times than I care to admit.

I need to go take a picture of my tandem broody orps. They insist on sitting on the floor instead of in a nest box and they have pulled 50% of their feathers out to nest with. I gave up breaking them.