Not to change the subject, but Congrats, 3D, on getting Hope healed! It might have been your rooster, getting ahold of her to mate, and since she WAS the dominant hen over him, it may have taken some effort for him to show her who really was boss. Chickens are downright mean, at times. I watched my 6-week old White Jersey Giant cockerel get dominant over my 7-week old turkey poult this morning, and had to break it up, because some damage would have been inflicted on the turkey, at the rate they were going. The cockerel had ahold of the poult's neck (in the exact same place as Hope's injury), and wasn't letting go until I knocked him off of the poult. The poult normally stays in a pen with my meat chickens who are the same age as the cockerel, but because of size of them and the poult, I put them together, so they get along. I had opened up the pen to change water, etc., this morning, and the poult had flown out, which I let him wander about the chicken house while I'm working in the pen. I heard this squawking, turn around, and that's what I saw...
Now, speaking of turkeys... I have 2 new poults that hatched this morning! YAY! Two developed, out of 18 eggs (the rest were clears and bacteria-ladens) and went into lockdown Saturday night (end of Day 24, since I set them in the afternoon of Day 0). Yesterday afternoon, I checked on them, and they had both externally pipped, on Day 26! Today is Day 27, and they're both out, unassisted. Now I have 11 FBCMs in there with them, that are due to hatch on Thursday (2 of them are questionable as to whether or not they will hatch).
I also have 2 Cochins that will be going into lockdown by the weekend, as well as 3 Lavender Orps a day later. AND! Today is Day 7 on two of my own pullet eggs! I pulled a couple of my RIR hens' eggs, knowing that my RIR roo had mated with them, just to see what would happen if I incubated them, and to check fertility. Sure enough! They BOTH have veining and obvious embryos forming. I'm gonna be a chicken grandma!
