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

[ozexpat]

33 from 33

A first for my transpacific equatorial incubating

 

[chicksooner]

Sally, so that hen we never got to tell the breed has been laying one day yes one no, for the past month or so she was an egg a day. Today she's been sitting in her nest all day. This is great but I have all her eggies in the bator and she has nothing under her. What should I do. Don't want to risk putting the eggs under her and that she is not really broody. How do I know?

Based on my broody database take her off the nest if she goes back she might just have an egg to lay or be broody. If she roosts tonight she is not broody unless you let your birds sleep in the nest boxes. I give mine one night on the roost. I take their eggs and put them on the roost after dark. If they are back after it I let them have some eggs the next day.

wait and see if she stays put, take her off several times a day, if she is always on the nest and finally you are positive she is broody you can put the eggs from the bator under her as long as they are the same timing. or find some local eggs for her for her ROOKIE hatch

Don't take eggs from the bator. Give her some fresh eggs and I recommend starting with just a few. They have a lot of natural instincts but they still learn as they go.

I have a big brahma broody for four days now and I have to grow out some WFBS chicks for a month to basically do a quality control to make sure the feathering is coming in good. These chicks grow fairly fast and move around and cause tons of dust that I would love to have out in the shed instead of inside. trouble is its cold out there and we are again running into single digits in the eves.

The wfbs eggs in the bator on day 17 today, we are thinking that tonight we may move the big broody to her own location in our grow out shed and given all the WFBS eggs from the bator, quite a few so that she can raise them there and I dont have to do the work in the house for the first month. But what worries me about doing this tonight is this cold spell and I dont know if its smart idea, never let any go in the winter, fall yes but not winter. Will we need to add a heat lamp somehow? I havent a clue but I would think so, not thrilled with another lamp so I am not 100% sure what we will do in the end tonight. If she wasnt so big I could use the garage and dog crate but I dont think thats enough space for her and a zillion chickies

Time wise you might have a hard time with her accepting chicks. You also might want to do the hatching with the cold temps. I don't think my broody is going to hatch any of hers. I think she has had a hard time with temps. I am going to give her some chicks to raise but also give her a space that will have a heat lamp so I won't worry about the chicks not being warm enough. she has been in the garage but I am going to mover her and a cage to the big coop with a heat lamp.

 

[sumi]

Sally, I've had broody hens raise chicks outside in winter with no problems. those little fluffballs are tougher than we give them credit for, hey! I've seen mine run around happily with frost in the ground when they were less than a week old. As long as momma is there for a quick warm-up now and then and to sleep under at night they'll be fine. Just make sure they and mom have a fairly sheltered spot, dry and out of the wind and the worst cold.

Move her tonight and give her some decoy eggs or golf balls first, until you are sure she's happy with the next locations. Broodies can be full of nonsense and many dislike being moved and will want to go back to where they were sitting originally. Once you're sure she's settled and happy in the new spot slip the eggs under her.

 

[sumi]

33 from 33

A first for my transpacific equatorial incubating

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Quote:

I hear you, its this single digits that freak me out. as I now KNOW what they do, I just dont want to deal with 50 wfbs in my lower level for even a week

 

[Sally Sunshine]

Sally, I've had broody hens raise chicks outside in winter with no problems. those little fluffballs are tougher than we give them credit for, hey! I've seen mine run around happily with frost in the ground when they were less than a week old. As long as momma is there for a quick warm-up now and then and to sleep under at night they'll be fine. Just make sure they and mom have a fairly sheltered spot, dry and out of the wind and the worst cold.

Move her tonight and give her some decoy eggs or golf balls first, until you are sure she's happy with the next locations. Broodies can be full of nonsense and many dislike being moved and will want to go back to where they were sitting originally. Once you're sure she's settled and happy in the new spot slip the eggs under her.

Sumi this is the hen that I assisted hatch and her eye was stuck to shell and she ended up one eyed and Eric insisted keeping her, thats HIS hen and he also wants her to raise chicks lol.... Do you think this will effect her ability to care? She can see but one sided. I am worried about moving her as she knows the details of her coop and run.

 

[Sally Sunshine]

33 from 33

A first for my transpacific equatorial incubating

Welcome to the Plat Poultrygiest Oz

 

[katiehumes]

both are alive and chirping so i have my fingers crossed for 100%. its still 1600 hrs on day 20 so they are in the zone. 

Exciting! !

it has been such a struggle up until 5 weeks ago when we cracked the humidity problem. 

Woo-hoo! I just candled.  It's been 72 hours and I see blood rings approximately the size of a dime with little embryos with beating hearts in the center. 

I don't see anything in the black cochin bantam eggs yet... and the yolks are awfully loose... I'll leave them in for a couple more days, but I don't think they're fertile.  :/

 

[sumi]

Quote: She should be o.k. Sally. Lots of chick caring is via communication, so as long as she can talk to them, that's the most important. Can you not let her stay and raise the chicks in her current coop and run?

 

[rbaker0345]

Well, just had a perfect hatch from my last set of eggs. I had taken all forms of moisture out of the bator and hatcher after the last drowned-chick hatch and it was a week between hatches so these last eggs had a full week to dry out and it worked like a charm. I am very confident now of setting this next hatch without water. And yes, I weighed each egg separately, I am way to OCD to just weight the tray and take an average, that wouldn't work for my Excel spread sheet. Besides, I only have about two and a half dozen eggs in there.