Diary & Notes ~ Air Cell Detatched SHIPPED Chicken Eggs for incubation and hatching

[cochins1088]

Oh, Coch... Hope the babies will be okay!

I refuse to let my hens go broody. I collect the eggs every day so she has none to sit on. I had a broody RIR hen, and boy, was it tough... I let her hatch 3 babies before, and the next day, they were all dead. They were trampled by momma... >.<

So I now hatch all eggs in a 'bator. Never making the mistake of letting a hen go broody.

I mainly raise cochins and they are horribly broody. I currently have 6 hens that have been broody for nearly 2 months now. Every day I take their eggs and throw them off their nests, but they simply won't give up. 2 hens managed to get the better of me by building hidden nests behind the nesting boxes.

Joey turned out to be a great mom and she is happily raising her 2 chicks, however it didn't go so well with the other hen. She still wants to sit on eggs, however she has made it clear that she does NOT want her chicks.

As much as I don't like using broody hens, I have to admit that I love watching Joey with her chicks.

 

[chicksooner]

I mainly raise cochins and they are horribly broody. I currently have 6 hens that have been broody for nearly 2 months now. Every day I take their eggs and throw them off their nests, but they simply won't give up. 2 hens managed to get the better of me by building hidden nests behind the nesting boxes.

Joey turned out to be a great mom and she is happily raising her 2 chicks, however it didn't go so well with the other hen. She still wants to sit on eggs, however she has made it clear that she does NOT want her chicks.

As much as I don't like using broody hens, I have to admit that I love watching Joey with her chicks.

Sorry you are having broody issues. Fingers crossed for your chicks.

 

[cochins1088]

Quote:

Thanks!

The chick with the injured beak isn't gasping anymore. It seems fairly healthy and active. The only question is whether or not she'll be able to eat on her own.

The other chick warmed up and slowly became more responsive. He is still gasping, but he's getter better and better by the moment. I have high hopes for these two.



For those of you with broody experience.

Do you think that Joey would accept these chicks? or is it too late? She has been raising her chicks for 2 weeks. I'd like these guys to be raised by a broody, but now I'm a bit nervous as far as which broody I choose.

 

[sumi]

Cochins, sorry to hear about your troubles. Shame, poor babies! I'm glad you found them in time to rescue them. There are quite a few threads on here about treating and dealing with broken beaks. Do a search and see what you find that can help you. I've had a chick with a broken beak once that made a complete recovery. It managed to eat and drink by itself, so we just left it. It really depends on the severity of the break, if the nerves and blood vessels got damaged it probably will not grow back, but if the damage wasn't too severe it may make a complete recovery. This thread may help with feeding etc:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-for-special-needs-chickens-and-their-keepers

It is highly unlikely that Joey will accept these chicks after raising her won for 2 weeks. You can try, if you want. You never know. I've had hens adopt and add younger chicks to their broods in the past, but most hens won't at this late stage.

Good luck with them!

 

[cochins1088]

Cochins, sorry to hear about your troubles. Shame, poor babies! I'm glad you found them in time to rescue them. There are quite a few threads on here about treating and dealing with broken beaks. Do a search and see what you find that can help you. I've had a chick with a broken beak once that made a complete recovery. It managed to eat and drink by itself, so we just left it. It really depends on the severity of the break, if the nerves and blood vessels got damaged it probably will not grow back, but if the damage wasn't too severe it may make a complete recovery. This thread may help with feeding etc:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-for-special-needs-chickens-and-their-keepers

It is highly unlikely that Joey will accept these chicks after raising her won for 2 weeks. You can try, if you want. You never know. I've had hens adopt and add younger chicks to their broods in the past, but most hens won't at this late stage.

Good luck with them!

Thanks Sumi! I've dealt with injured beaks in the past, however, I've never dealt with something like this.

Here's the best picture of a chick's beat that I could find. Ignore the "egg tooth" arrow.


See the area where the top beak meets the nostrils? That's where my chick's beak is partially broken. If it were to fully break, nearly her entire top beak would be gone. I try to be as gentle as possible when I handle her. She's been trying to eat, so that's good sign.

They are both very active this morning.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Quote: Tell me about it. My Jersey Giants were laying but now I have no eggs. Most of them are newer layers so I think egg eating is going on. I can't find any shells but from 5 eggs a day to 0. Might be a camp kenmore day comming soon.
It will not, if you seen my lower level you would understand! plus I don't want to put pups in jeopardy of cocci ! I don't need anymore chicks and I have been telling everyone that I wont hatch serama for them until spring, they want eggs I have them. I even offered to loan a coolerbator, people are scared to incubate LOL Not that I blame them, it can have a very stressful impact at first!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Sally, you're definitely not alone. My LF cochins have been molting for well over a month now. I'm lucky to get 1 egg a day from them.

My brahma rooster just started his molt last week. He lost every single one of his tail feathers over the course of a day.


Surprisingly I only have 1 bantam molting. I wonder if they'll begin soon, or if they'll keep their feathers this winter.

Coch I wish you were right next door! or even in PA! I have a blue brahma I need to loose. The two keep fighting plus I have a splash growing out fast.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Okay, so I've had so many ideas about Tweet's coop, at one point we were gonna buy one, then at another point we wanted a doghouse coop, but we've made a final decision.

Our neighbor has a cute little coop and 3 hens, 2 silkies and an EE, and she can't take care of them anymore. So she's giving us the hens, as well as the coop! We already tried, and the hens get along just fine with our girls, so we're gonna use the coop for Tweet. I'll take some pictures tomorrow.
It's just perfect. A little ramp from a... I think it's 4x4 or a 5x5 coop with nesting boxes and roosts, leading into a 3x6 run. Perfect for a few Seramas!

awesomeness!

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Quote:
awwww I am glad they are active, keep up updating and pics too!

 

[TweetyNPetey]

Hmm...
*can't find camera*
AHA!
*borrows sister's iPhone*
Off to take pics.