First time Broody BO Sitting on Nest of 14 Eggs - 1 Week to go!

[BoiseChik]

Oh thank you! I fully agree, learning more helps us do a better job in our animal husbandry. My undergrad degree is in Animal Science, with the intent to go to Vet school which didn't end up happening, but I found all the animal husbandry stuff fascinating. My favorite class was reproductive physiology, it was truly amazing how it all works. We currently live in a neighborhood, but would like to move to acreage soon. I would love to breed a flock of chickens someday. :-] I'm sure I will check out the dud eggs. That's exactly the kinds of thing that I would find fascinating.
We are going to pick up three more day old chicks this morning, two leghorns and a pure black little Plymouth cross of some kind. I had another question, as far as the chicks health... Is there anything that I need to do for them in this early stage of life, like immunizations, or something? I'd like to give them the best chance I can.

 

[GitaBooks]

If you have a closed flock (you don't introduce anything besides hatching eggs and day-olds that haven't had contact with adults) than they are unlikely to need vaccinations.

 

[KayTee]

I agree with Gitabooks. I have bought all types of birds - point of lay pullets (probably vaccinated, but no guarantees), vaccinated chicks, and hatching eggs (and the chicks that I hatch have not had any vaccinations at all). My healthiest birds are the hatched chicks which were brought up free-ranging from day 1 by a broody hen!

It seems to me that the two main problems chickens face are coccidiosis and Marek's disease:

Coccidiosis is present in every soil, and when chicks are raised by a broody hen they are gradually exposed to it and build up a resistance. You only get problems if you add birds from another environment that could carry a different strain (day old chicks shouldn't pose a problem as they won't have been exposed to soil where they were hatched). I have never seen cocci in my day old or hatched chicks, only in the older birds that I have bought in from elsewhere. Cocci medicated feed is banned in France, so I simply keep an eye on the poop, especially around the 5 week stage which is when they are most susceptible, and medicate if necessary.

Marek's disease is also present in the environment - carried by wild birds. There are several threads about it here on BYC, the most informative is Nambroth's article https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/the-great-big-giant-mareks-disease-faq
Again, Marek's is pretty much unavoidable - it either exists in your area or it doesn't, and vaccines need to be administered in the first 24 hours of life and generally have to be bought in doses of 100+, making it neither practical or affordable for your chicks.

Just do what you always do - keep an eye on your girls, watch out for any changes in behaviour or poop, and react as soon as you feel that something is not right. The lesson I learnt the hard way is not to 'wait and see' - I lost one of my favourite girls to cocci by not reacting quickly enough.

 

[BoiseChik]

Well, I'm afraid I just learned the same lesson. One of our Orpington chicks died after having a goopy looking bum. I thought I should wash it off and make sure it didn't get clogged, but didn't do it soon enough I guess. Poor little thing, but I know death is part of this whole process. We also got three more day olds, two that are probably leghorns and a tiny black mystery chick. Once again, the hen readily accepted them. Here's some more pics.

 

[KayTee]

Oh Boisechik I'm sorry about your little Orpington. It's always a shame to lose a bird, no matter how young. I have only ever had one chick with pasty butt - she hated being cleaned, and it seemed to take me forever to do it, but it needed to be done.

I am so glad that your hen is accepting the new chicks so readily - she looks really happy to be a chicken mommy! I am sure she will raise you some wonderful chicks.

(I wonder what your 'mystery' chick is - it will be fun trying to identify it as it gets older ).

Did you ever do any 'eggtopsies' - if so, what did you find? Were any of the duds fertile or not?

All the best for you and your new flock

 

[BoiseChik]

Thank you.

it's been such a neat experience with the broody. I can't wait to do it again. I'm out of town and haven't gotten to open the eggs yet but I plan to do it Sunday or Monday and I will report back.
I'm just curious... In your last post you mentioned reacting when you see a hen with diarrhea or a change in behavior. What do you do about it?

 

[KayTee]

If it's a one-off or short-lived incident I panic very briefly then berate myself for being such a worrier!
However if it continues for more than a day or two then I look very closely at the hen in question, the rest of the flock, and the coop, just in case something is awry. The problem with chickens is that they instinctively hide any weakness or illness from the rest of the flock. Add to that the fact that fluffy feathers can make a very skinny bird appear fatter than it really is, and you can easily miss the first symptoms of a problem.
I am not suggesting that you rush out and buy tons of medication or visit the vet at the first sniffle or dodgy looking poop, just that by being aware of what is 'normal' for your birds you can more easily spot when something is off, search online for possible causes and solutions, and be prepared to react more rapidly if need be.

 

[BoiseChik]

Eggtopsy: I did the autopsy and opened all 12 dud eggs. All 12 except for one had a very developed little chick inside. Very sad, they were developed enough to have beaks and feet and feathers with all their individual colors, but were pretty tiny. I can't imagine what would've caused 11 partially developed eggs to die, leaving two to hatch.
We did go through a big heat wave with temps up to 110°. As it was starting, I tented the coop to put it in full shade and the mother hen always seemed to be faithfully sitting on the nest. I took her off the nest for only a brief potty break of no more than half an hour every day. Here's some pics.

 

[BoiseChik]

 

[GitaBooks]

Poor things.

Loosing chicks that almost made it to hatching is always sad. I would guess the heat-wave would be a good reason. You did everything you could, and I'm glad you got a couple adorable chicks out of it!