Eek, what have I done?? What if they all hatch?

[Jilara]

I just did the unthinkable.I bid on and got a dozen hatching eggs off eBay!

Not just any hatching eggs, but showgirl/silkie/turken hatching eggs. And I'm going to use my little feathery incubator to sit on an ENORMOUS pile of eggs.

Enter Act II of Juanita, the Incredibly Broody Hen.

This is the bird who was unbreakably broody for over THREE MONTHS, earlier this year, and was only broken of it by having chicks slipped under her. She was a fantastic mother, and then got nasty with the teens, so back she went to the regular coop. Where she assimilated back in, and acted normal...for two months. Now she's back to being the broodmeister, hoarding her eggs jealously and acting pretty much how she did before.

So I've decided to go with the flow. Andrew and I wanted showgirls and/or silkies and turkens. So we've been bidding on eBay, with the intent of just giving Juanita eggs, this time. So far, I've been outbid. Until today, when I bid on a batch of twelve eggs. I haven't bid on any lots with that many eggs before. Maybe that dozen eggs is why I won the bid. That girl is going to be sitting on a huge pile of eggs.

Oh my. Between our coop and the second one at the neighbors, we've got eight chickens already. And maybe eight or ten new chicks, when these eggs hatch? Okay, the roos will be going elsewhere when they start showing their gender, since they're illegal in city limits. But wow, I'm already feeling both giddy and overwhelmed, and I haven't even gotten the eggs yet.

Wish me luck. And Juanita too!

 

[Hangin Wit My Peeps]

Good luck! I just added a bunch to my incubator too! LOL I have no clue where I will put them but I will find a place. Trying to talk hubby into giving up his shed

 

[justbugged]

Best of luck on your upcoming hatch. I can so relate to having to many chickies. I am in a sub-division housing track. It is an OK size yard, but I am thinking 35 chickens might be a little over kill on wanting a few fresh eggs. We just hatched out chicks this weekend. I have say I am OK with not having all 36 eggs hatch. I bought the eggs at auction for $2.00. i was just going to eat them or feed them to the dogs. Then my husband sort of talked me into trying to hatch them. So now having spent 45$ for a used incubator. I am the proud mom to 3 more bantie chicks.I didn't want any bantam size chicks but Oh well!

 

[LeBlackbird]

You better get the brooder ready incase she rejects those ugly things

 

[chickenzoo]

Just wait till you get an incubator that holds 300 eggs............... then you fill it in 2 days!

 

[Jilara]

The eggs have arrived! And my little brooder was very unhappy when I removed her from her nest this morning...once again. But I've been letting her set, in anticipation. And she had seven, count 'em, seven eggs under her, this morning. So I just swapped eggs, a dozen for her seven. She was back on the nest within five minutes, after a quick water break. Now she's happily brooding a large clutch of eggs. Last time, we substituted chicks for eggs. Won't she be surprised when these ones actually hatch!

I'll be counting down the days until we get silkies/turkens/showgirls. It's like waiting for Christmas! Gotta love these little presents waiting to unwrap themselves!

The other thought...how many eggs until they shut down laying? Does a pile of eggs signal maybe it's time to turn off the factory? How many can one hen brood? I have this mental picture of her on this gigantic pile of a couple dozen eggs...

 

[FrizzleFreak]

What breed is Juanita? I've seen a silkie cover 18!

And of course she hatched them all, cause she's a silkie. She had her wings stretched out so far!

In any case, 12 shouldn't be an issue, unless she's a game hen of some variety.
Also, the time before she stops depends on the bird. Mine lays like five, or sometimes she will just combine her eggs with a pile of other eggs. I have to take them away, cause it's too late to hatch eggs here. Having that many eggs under her may get her to start brooding for real. Normally, hens lay eggs for about a week, but don't really brood on them until they decide that they are done. This way the eggs hatch about the same time.

 

[Jilara]

Update on the lot of eggs, again.

Something triggered the motherhood instinct in Sophie, another of our rescue hens. (Juanita is another rescue, whom we think is mostly Ancona.)

I went out to the coop a couple days back, and Juanita was having fits. Here was Sophie, sitting on the nest. Juanita had popped out for a minute to grab some food and water, and Sophie decided these eggs needed a new mother! I sighed, went and finished my watering, figuring to remove Sophie and let Juanita get back on the nest. They were BOTH in the nest, trying to brood the eggs. So, I removed Sophie and put the portable cage over the nest box, with some food and water.

And then, just like that, Sophie went broody. Totally. She was brooding two eggs in the other nest box, yesterday, and when she came out, she was acting totally broody hen, running around crazily with her tail fanned out. Huh.

So I checked her this morning, and she was still doing the dollop of chicken routine over her eggs. Okay, since she's going to be a brooder, let's use her. I reached under Juanita and removed three of the clutch, at risk of my fingers---she was pecking something fierce! Those I transferred to Sophie, who immediately rolled them under her breastbone and started crooning to them. It was SO cute! So it looks like I have two broody hens, and the problem of enormous amounts of eggs is solved. Maybe the two of them will end up raising their chicks together!

 

[mrbstephens]

Quote:
How cute!!!