Consolidated Kansas

[HEChicken]

I'm pretty lucky that I have the setup I do. Huge coop and if need be I can move broodies to our brooding room that is attached to the the coop, but so far have not had to. I had one chick get lost once (got on the other side of a buffer wall we built inside the coop) but it found Mama pretty quick.

My broodies rarely peck at me either. I give them a little pat on the head and move my hand under their head and under them and they just grumble a bit! I learned my lesson about letting others gather eggs from under the broodies when my 6 and 8 year old gathered ALL of the eggs (under the DH supervision of course

) I didn't catch the mistake until well into the next day and we had to dispose of the entire basket, since we didn't know which eggs were broody eggs and which weren't!

I'm not sure its really size that is the issue because my coop is a decent size as well. Its more that the chicks don't initially recognize their mother's unique voice so they will wander away and wind up in a corner, scared and lonely (and cold depending on time of year). After the first chicks hatch, the mother is still sitting tight on the next waiting for any other eggs to hatch so she won't get off to go and rescue the chick. If it is at night, the chick will often find another bird who is willing to let it get under so it stays warm until morning, but then that hen, not being broody, will leave in the morning and the chick still hasn't figured out how to find its mom. So for me the simplest solution is to move them to a small pen where the only warm body option is the mother. The chicks may still wander away but will gravitate back towards the correct warm body, and without numerous other voices, the chicks quickly learn the sound of their mother, so that when they are released back into the general population, they can pick her out of the dozens and follow her around successfully. I call it "bonding time". Once bonded, the family will stay together until the chicks are ready to be independent.

I need to replenish my laying flock for sure.

If you want any fertile eggs, just let me know. I can save some BR and NH eggs for you - they will either be pure, first generation delawares or black sexlinks, depending on which of the two breeds of rooster fertilized the hen last. And of course if you don't mind mixed breed birds, I can get you any number of those eggs any time you like.

 

[Ralph Moyer]

Danz, that is her 4th hatch this year. I let her hatch out her own eggs in early March, and after selling her chicks, I removed her eggs and replaced them with what I wanted hatched. She has about a 80% average on hatching. This pair is over 4 years old.

 

[dwink2]

HE Chicken I sent you a pm.

 

[HEChicken]

HE Chicken I sent you a pm.

Sorry about that - I don't know how I missed it this morning and then I was gone for a few hours, but the system notified me when I logged in just now and I just replied.

 

[zigzag45]

Well, the broody girl has decided to sit on her new nest. I'm sure for some of you hearing about this is like watching paint dry, not real fun. But, remember I'm a total newbie, I can now pretty frequently tell a chicken's head from it's feet. Having my first hen go broody is quite the experience.

She's got four potentially fertile eggs under her. I'm told they are from the white leghorn pen with a silver laced wyandotte roo. Should make for an interesting mutt. Makes me wonder if the roo's will have any meat on them as the leghorns are so small bodied. I guess we'll see.

Does the broody girl need access to the outdoors? She's in my shed, in a darkened pen and seems pretty content. Do I need to leave the shed door open for her or just check on her once/twice a day and leave her be?

 

[sharol]

Well, the broody girl has decided to sit on her new nest. I'm sure for some of you hearing about this is like watching paint dry, not real fun. But, remember I'm a total newbie, I can now pretty frequently tell a chicken's head from it's feet. Having my first hen go broody is quite the experience.

She's got four potentially fertile eggs under her. I'm told they are from the white leghorn pen with a silver laced wyandotte roo. Should make for an interesting mutt. Makes me wonder if the roo's will have any meat on them as the leghorns are so small bodied. I guess we'll see.

Does the broody girl need access to the outdoors? She's in my shed, in a darkened pen and seems pretty content. Do I need to leave the shed door open for her or just check on her once/twice a day and leave her be?

If she won't be in danger, I'd give her access to the outside. My hens like the company of others at times when they are broody.

 

[chicken danz]

Lots of posts today. I've been gone all day and trying to catch up.
I've had tons of broodies hatch chicks, but those silkies I had didn't ever hatch their own eggs or eggs I gave them. I have read several times about hens that sit too tight so I know it's not a unique experience. I've also read that having eggs turned is important for the first 10-12 days of being incubated but not after that point. This came from the University of Arkansas studies. You can tell if a chicken sits too tight if she doesn't hatch chicks and you check the eggs. All the development will be on one side of the egg and the chick dies early on.
I like to watch a broody Mama and her chicks but if it is an expensive breed and I need babies for income I prefer to hatch them myself. I can control conditions a lot better and then I don't worry about chicks getting lost or something killing them.
When I had a mixed flock and all the hens free ranged I'd let them hatch hundreds every year and sell them as barnyard layers and for meat. It was a lot easier back then but I really appreciate being able to raise top notch birds now.
My building is on hold for a while. The building company is supposed to deliver the material next Wednesday then they will start on my building. My friends who are also getting a building at the same time are still waiting for their concrete pour so it has slowed things down getting the buildings in. I figure it is letting the concrete cure that much better in between times. My DH rented a trencher again for the weekend so hopefully we'll be ready to run electric to the building when it is built and reconnect to the barn. We've been without electricity to the barn and the East half of the property since we had a major storm back in late spring. We can also finish the last of the water line and get it ready to go.
I'm very impatient cause I know winter is coming and it's going to be tons of work even after the building is there. I wish I could go ahead and build pens and walls ahead of time but there is no way.
I spent some time with my granddaughter today. She's at that really silly age.

 

[Trish44]

I got the sheep out into the field reluctantly this morning, I had to lure them out with food. They are very food oriented so that helps. I finally kept showing them the can of food & they followed me out there where I let them have the food for going in. The goats went in without food, but it took a bit longer as they were suspicious of my motives for wanting them out there. Penny usually will go where I am so I kept calling her & she finally got curious & came out to see what I was doing & Patches followed.

My hatch for the BCM chicks is still ongoing, I had 5 earlybirds hatch today & another one is zipping out now. They're not really due till tomorrow so it kind of looks like most of the rest will wait. There is one more egg starting to pip so maybe that one will hatch tonight some time. I had to hurry & clean out the empty brooder as I wasn't expecting chicks today & I moved the 4 older chicks over to that one so they wouldn't get rowdy & stomp on the babies. There are 5 little week old Mottled Orps in with the new babies & I peeked in on them & they are helping keep the new ones warm, it's so sweet to see something like that.

 

[HEChicken]

Well, the broody girl has decided to sit on her new nest. I'm sure for some of you hearing about this is like watching paint dry, not real fun. But, remember I'm a total newbie, I can now pretty frequently tell a chicken's head from it's feet. Having my first hen go broody is quite the experience.

She's got four potentially fertile eggs under her. I'm told they are from the white leghorn pen with a silver laced wyandotte roo. Should make for an interesting mutt. Makes me wonder if the roo's will have any meat on them as the leghorns are so small bodied. I guess we'll see.

Does the broody girl need access to the outdoors? She's in my shed, in a darkened pen and seems pretty content. Do I need to leave the shed door open for her or just check on her once/twice a day and leave her be?

Wow, I'm so glad to hear that. Envious, but happy for you. Mine never seem to accept the nest I make for them. I guess I'm just not that good at nest-building

If its possible to give her access to outdoors, I definitely would. I've found my broody hens love to run around and get grass and other greenery - they seem to really need it - and then if they have time they like to take a quick dust bath before heading back to the nest as well.

I got the sheep out into the field reluctantly this morning, I had to lure them out with food. They are very food oriented so that helps. I finally kept showing them the can of food & they followed me out there where I let them have the food for going in. The goats went in without food, but it took a bit longer as they were suspicious of my motives for wanting them out there. Penny usually will go where I am so I kept calling her & she finally got curious & came out to see what I was doing & Patches followed.

I'm sure they will get used to it in a few days of maintaining the same routine. It seems like sheep in particular are creatures of habit. I've been letting mine out in the evenings for weeks now, to graze the front 3 acres. They have got to the point they will stand at the gate and bellow to be let out at 6pm. Tonight I was at the coop cleaning out the feed room and I knew when it was 6pm because suddenly the sheep needed out desperately. I left them out while I went in to cook dinner and by the time DH and I ate, it was completely dark. I went out to find them grazing fairly close to their gate and all I had to do was call out "Ok sheeps (yeah I know its bad grammar but its what I call them), time to go in", and they all immediately walked to their gate and back in. They just know the routine and don't mind sticking to it.

I am so beat tonight. I've spent a good portion of the week cleaning and rearranging and organizing. Tonight it was my feed room when I looked around and realized I had it set up all wrong. So I hauled everything out, swept it thoroughly, swept all the cobwebs with feathers sticking to them out from the rafters and beams, and then put everything back. It is totally rearranged and makes much better use of the space now so I'm really happy I did it. It also gave me a chance to get rid of a few things that had made their way to the backs of shelves and been forgotten.

 

[sharol]

Wow, I'm so glad to hear that. Envious, but happy for you. Mine never seem to accept the nest I make for them. I guess I'm just not that good at nest-building

If its possible to give her access to outdoors, I definitely would. I've found my broody hens love to run around and get grass and other greenery - they seem to really need it - and then if they have time they like to take a quick dust bath before heading back to the nest as well.

One of my summer broodies would come flying out of the coop squawking and screaming and head for the dusting spot. If anyone was using it, they vacated for her. It was like she was on a mission to finish all her chores in a limited time. I always knew when she was out of the coop because she announced it so loudly. It made it easy to candle the eggs because I knew she was off the nest.