Consolidated Kansas

[HEChicken]

.... she has been broody since yesterday....

If she only went broody yesterday, its pretty early to give her eggs to hatch. I usually wait a week or so to be sure they're serious. I've had many a hen think she wanted to be broody but after a few days she decides it really isn't for her after all. One in particular will do that several times each year but after 5 years has never sat a full 21 days. Consequently I don't take her seriously when she thinks she's broody and she's never been given eggs to hatch. If I have a hen who thinks she's broody, I wait AT LEAST a week before giving her egg to hatch.

 

[sharol]

If she only went broody yesterday, its pretty early to give her eggs to hatch. I usually wait a week or so to be sure they're serious. I've had many a hen think she wanted to be broody but after a few days she decides it really isn't for her after all. One in particular will do that several times each year but after 5 years has never sat a full 21 days. Consequently I don't take her seriously when she thinks she's broody and she's never been given eggs to hatch. If I have a hen who thinks she's broody, I wait AT LEAST a week before giving her egg to hatch.

How true. I have a little Araucana who loses interest at about day 18 regardless of when she gets eggs. She will hang around in the nest will all the broody symptoms, then set on those eggs for about 16-18 days and then abandon them. Her broodmate has hatched two groups of eggs successfully and raised a couple of her sister's chicks without complaint (after they were hatched in the incubator).

My broody pair (A BCM and a BCM/orp cross) raise chicks together and after four broods, I give them eggs as soon as the second one goes broody so that they will hatch about the same time. They are raising 9 right now. Three of them are Breda eggs that started out under the Araucana. I played egg roulette with them this time. When all was said and done, all the chicks that hatched have mamas, though, even if they started out under someone else.

 

[chicken danz]

Had an eventful morning moved my new chicks from the house out to the coop garage went back in to get a feed bag and came out to a big black rat snake hauling *** towards my chicks. Yea no nothing is eating my eggs and chickens but me.

Good to see you back Dani. I would have done the same thing. There are plenty of mice for the snakes to eat AWAY from my chicks and eggs so they don't need to be here.
I've been so busy the last week or more. I still have gobs to catch up on now that things are a little more back to normal but I feel I can finally breath again.
I had two ducks co nesting who hatched 5 ducklings, a hen who hatched 4 chicks that I never realized was sitting or where. Then yesterday another duck hatch babies. She was still sitting last night. I'll check her nest as soon as she gets up with the babies for viable eggs. I put over a dozen eggs in the incubator after the first two got off the nest that were alive and still developing. I have no idea what I'm going to do with all these ducks. Probably most of the ones the broodies have will get picked off though. They don't ever have a great success rate.
I had some girls I let sit in the building hatch some chicks as well. Funny little chicks are running in and out of pens right now at free will.
I've got lots to catch up on and some photos to get taken and phone calls to make.

 

[Dani4Hedgies]

Good to see you back Dani. I would have done the same thing. There are plenty of mice for the snakes to eat AWAY from my chicks and eggs so they don't need to be here.
I've been so busy the last week or more. I still have gobs to catch up on now that things are a little more back to normal but I feel I can finally breath again.
I had two ducks co nesting who hatched 5 ducklings, a hen who hatched 4 chicks that I never realized was sitting or where. Then yesterday another duck hatch babies. She was still sitting last night. I'll check her nest as soon as she gets up with the babies for viable eggs. I put over a dozen eggs in the incubator after the first two got off the nest that were alive and still developing. I have no idea what I'm going to do with all these ducks. Probably most of the ones the broodies have will get picked off though. They don't ever have a great success rate.
I had some girls I let sit in the building hatch some chicks as well. Funny little chicks are running in and out of pens right now at free will.
I've got lots to catch up on and some photos to get taken and phone calls to make.

Thanks Danz its good to be back things have just been real crazy with work lately am really looking at dropping my hours down to part time if things don't get better in the next couple months. Too much stress is sending my blood sugars through the roof and yea no job is worth my health. Can't wait to see pics of all you're chicks running crazy makes me think I should make a drive to Waverley

 

[Patriciaallison]

Hey all! I have had some fun! I've gotten my house clean and better organized and now I'm working outside it never fails that something gets left undone when I work outside the house is a mess when I'm inside my yard and coops are a mess. I'm hopping I can get both running smoothly once and for all!
I got five scovy chicks yesterday and one disappeared! I'm so frustrated because I think a stray took it! The same stray attacked my pigs last week. I might have to shoot this dog and the thought really upsets me. People just dump dogs out here all the time. He's not a bad dog either but I'm not putting up with a stray that eats my animals. It always possible that something els got it but I have the pen so close to the house I can't think of anything that would venture here to snag a duck. I've been wanting scovys for sometime so this loss really pisses me off!
I'm gonna add pics to see if any of you know what color these guys will end up being. The mom is white. I never did so the dad he died.
P

 

[HEChicken]

I had too exciting an evening last night. Was walking around my veggie garden, about to take the next step when I realized if I did, I'd be coming down on a snapping turtle. I have no idea where it came from as I had just walked that path about 60 seconds before and it wasn't there then. Right as I was dropping it over the fence, I heard Kilo start barking his "I found a turtle" bark. In the past when he cornered a snapper, I praised him out the wazoo. Consequently he now knows it pleases me if he lets me know about them so I ran down there. Sure enough, he had a turtle and after praising him, I picked that one up and it too got dropped over the fence. I turned around to find both Kilo and Karina investigating something about 10' away. Good lord - another snapping turtle (making 3 in 3 minutes) and this one was twice the size of the previous two and twice as nasty as well. It had a cut on its leg which may have contributed to its foul temper but I had quite a job lifting it over the fence while keeping its nasty snapping mouth away from my face.

Breathing heavily from the exertion, I walked to the chicken coop to collect eggs and after emptying the first nest box, realized there was a chick collapsed in a corner. I went to investigate and found it was no chick - it was a black rat snake coiled up in the corner. So I went to get my broom, slid it under and lifted it out. I carried it across the road to release it but all the way there it kept trying to escape and would slither off the broom handle, so I had to pick it up about a dozen times.

Whew - that was plenty of exertion removing predatory animals from harm's way for one night.

This morning I woke to a surprise of the less stressful kind. A ewe whose due date I had calculated to be today had given birth overnight - to twins!!! I never guessed she was carrying twins as she just wasn't that large. They are both ewe lambs, one is a natural bob-tail and they are surprisingly good weights considering the ewe just didn't look that big. One is 8 and the other 7 ½ pounds, making 15 ½ pounds of baby in there. I have no idea where she was storing them! I wish I'd taken a picture last night so you can see what I mean, but this is all I have:

 

[Patriciaallison]

Well I found the missing duck it's alive yeah!!!! No dog hunting for me but now all my new ducks are running loose around the barns! I'm having one hell of a day!
P

 

[sharol]

My co-broodies have 9 babies. We went to the Symphony in the Flint Hills on Saturday, and when we got home about 10:30, 5 of them weren't in the coop. The ramp is a little steep, and apparently they couldn't get in before the door closed. I searched for them and finally found them UNDER the coop. It is on skids and sits about 5" off the ground. My DH and I worked to get them to come out, and we finally got all of them back under their mothers. They are only a little over a week old, so they really needed to be IN the coop, not under it.

Then Sunday night (after blockading the area under the coop) I ended up having to chase down 4 of them after everyone else was in. Last night I only had to catch 2 of them. The rest scrambled up the ramp when they saw me coming.

I have great hopes for tonight. Once they figure out the process, they will be fine, but they are driving me nuts in the meantime.

This is the first time I've had this many chicks (9 + 2) under broodies in the main coop, and it is a blast watching everyone look out for them. My rooster is absolutely wonderful (Jubilee English Orpington Roo from eggs I got from @Chicken Danz). He protected them from the other hens until everyone got the memo about taking a "chicken run to raise a chick," and he helps the moms herd them back in the run when it is time to go in. He also is the dad of most of the chicks (3 are Breda Fowl).

Anyone need any Jubilee English Orpington chicks? Right now I have 6 that are too young to sex and 2 that are clearly a pair (@ about 6 weeks), and one that is POL at 18 weeks. I want the ones under broodies (the little babies) to stay with their moms for a couple more weeks, but they will be ready to go then. The POL pullet's best friend is her hatchmate, a blue Breda that I think is a cockerel and he would be free if someone would take them together.

I have to get serious about moving some of these guys to new home. ASAP. In the 6 week olds, there are at least 2 cockerels (orpington, Jubilee dad, they look black with some white on them). I'm thinking they will be ready to butcher late this fall after it cools off unless someone wants a great roo and doesn't care about color. (They would be free to a good home, not free to be butchered).

 

[lizzyGSR]

Well I found the missing duck it's alive yeah!!!! No dog hunting for me but now all my new ducks are running loose around the barns! I'm having one hell of a day!
P

Glad you found the duck! Sorry you're having such a rough day!

I've got a question for ya'll... I've got a dirt floor in my chicken coop. I've read that bedding makes the coop warmer. Is there any reason I shouldn't just leave the dirt floor uncovered and then just rake/shovel out the chicken poop daily?

 

[TaraBellaBirds]

Hello Everyone.
I haven't been on since Winter!
I hope everyone's summer is going well.

We've dealt with some illness here, I think it was the wet cool Spring, for this area.
Had a few losses, but not too bad considering no sickness in the 5 years I've had them.
They responded well to the antibiotics, Tylan.
We've had no symptoms for 6 weeks.

I have some 3 week olds that have been quarantined from the main flock.
How long would you guys suggest I wait before moving them to my main coop building?

It was some sort of upper respiratory bug, swollen sinuses, drainage, cough (or what passes for a chicken cough).
I have some more antibiotics, I've considered giving the young ones when I move them, as a prevention?