egg hatching

[steveandval]

This was my post from last night, still devasted this morning

to replenish, if we were to get fertilized eggs and put them under the hens ( ours have not started laying yet either) would they know what to do with them? or would we have to wait until they start laying to try and get them to brood fertilized eggs? we do have one rooster, but would like to replenish some of our loss, we have kinda decided against buying 3month old hens from somewhere else, (never know what your getting etc) and also if they hatch them will they just naturally take care of them? we wouldn't need to take the chicks out correct? from what I have read mother nature pretty much takes over in a case like this? I still can't believe how attached we have gotten to chickens

but they really do have their own personalities. Also will they remember what happened to the ones who died? just not sure how much they know.
Ok sorry I am rambling, I have been searching the site for answers to these questions but haven't had a ton of luck, but have learned other things. thanks so much for your time and advice! oh and we have (1) of each breed we had bought left, strange how God took care of that. We have (1) buff (1) americana (1) idabrown and the rooster is a buff.



The coop door was left open on our coop, the chickens (we had 16) 13 hens / 3 roosters got out and our dog killed 10 of them.. I AM SICK there is 1 rooster left he is limping / but there is one hen that I am pretty sure will not be alive tomorrow morning the other 3 are in the coop. they were just 3 months old, all very very healthy I can't even explain how I feel we had just doubled their outside pen to double the size, things were going so good what would you guys suggest as far as replacing the ones we lost, I hate the thought of starting over from 1 day old chicks, can we get 3 month old hens? and if so how would we go about putting them in the coop with the others. I never realized how close I had become to all the ladies until tonight, I feel so awful, it makes me sick, and it isn't our dogs fault to him it was just a game. Any suggestions

 

[gritsar]

I'm sorry for your loss.

Replenishing the flock is not as easy as just putting eggs under a hen. You have to wait until a hen goes broody and some never do.

That said, watching a broody hen raise chicks (yes, she knows what to do!) is an awe-inspring sight.

The survivors will remember the attack and be fearful for awhile, but if you offer them extra TLC and work quietly around them, they'll get over it in time.

 

[steveandval]

Oh TLC will be given in great supply!! They got it before but trust me the survivors of this will be getting even more of it. I feel soooo bad for what they must have gone through. I went in this morning and they were very very calm and gentle even more so than before, I just sooo miss all of them though

so just wait and see if one of them goes broody? I am praying that they will I would love to have baby chicks and the experience of that would be awesome! We weren't supposed to have any roosters either and ended up with (3) but only one survived but I truly believe that also happened for a reason.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Yes, it's kinda like not counting your chicks before they hatch. Wait on a broody hen and then supply her with fertile eggs or (as I have done twice now, to bring in new blood) slip her some newly hatched store bought chicks.

Good luck.

 

[steveandval]

So if I were to buy older hens and I do have the room do I have to fence them off from the birds that I still have and probly need to build a second coop for nite time with roosts inside and etc...

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
You would need to quarantine any new birds (except for maybe chicks coming straight from a reputable hatchery) for at least 30 days, as far away from your current flock as possible.

After quarantine, integrating would involve arranging their quarters/coop in such a way that the two sets of birds could see each other, but not co-mingle and then supervised mixing until everyone settles in. Integration is a hassle IMO, which is why I have seperate coops and my younger birds got to meet my older birds while free ranging. They mix some, but everyone goes back to the coop they were raised in at night.