first time hatcher, need some advice!

[BDutch]

I hope @aart , @Ridgerunner , @rosemarythyme or someone else can tell you more about broodies that seem to eat little and make green . its not that she has been eating lots of grass or spinach?

Edited misspellings

 

[aart]

wow, @aart , thank you so much for your report (and thanks @Ridgerunner for bringing it to my attention), it was amazing to read the whole story

I just reread the whole thread. What a trip!
I got a lot of help, encouragement, and affirmation from several well seasoned chickeneers thru that whole adventure.

another reason why I loved reading that old thread was seeing aart asking questions!

I have always been a question asker(sometimes annoyingly ad nauseam),
whether trying to learn and while trying to help.

with these premises should I consider keep pingu and her chiks separate (maybe in the run) for longer or would this make things even worst?

Is the place she is setting in view of the flock?
I think that helps a lot.
Tho have had a lower ranking broody have more trouble reintegrating.

 

[maceleneo]

its not yhat she has been eating lots of grass or spinach?

in the last days she hasn't eaten grass anymore, she hardly eats a thing, she just drinks, poops and come back to the nest. I guess she doesn't feel comfortable outside with other hens, from now on I'll let her out only when others are not around.
I did some research about green poop in old threads and this is probably caused by her not eating enough, but I'm not sure if with broody hens this is ok because they don't eat much or if I should do something.
here's her tiny emerald, it was not even a inch!

Is the place she is setting in view of the flock?
I think that helps a lot.

not really, her sisters are always watching inside, but the nest is in the corner and they can't really see each other.

maybe when eggs hatch I could move her and the chicks in the run for a while, they would totally be able to see each other this way. the run isn't really predator safe, but I can work on it.

 

[aart]

maybe when eggs hatch I could move her and the chicks in the run for a while, they would totally be able to see each other this way. the run isn't really predator safe, but I can work on it.

Sounds good.

here's her tiny emerald, it was not even a inch!

I'd not worry about it.
Maybe she's pooping more often so they are smaller.
Not sure about the green color.
Hadn't you said you were feeding her some extra protein?
(I may be thinking of someone else an too lazy to scroll back thru.)

 

[maceleneo]

she's pooping only once a day, but this morning I let her out alone and she ate more (she doesn't seem to eat anything when she is closed in her box, I don't know why!) and spent more time outside the nest. I guess she didn't feel safe with the flock around in the last days. that's sad, but I guess I'll think about how to reintegrate her later, for the moment I'll keep her isolated and I hope she'll be fine!
she's beautiful, by the way

 

[BDutch]

I think its wise you separated her for the time being. Stress can be an issue with chickens.

My 2 broodies Black and Pearl , got quit fussy over the fake eggs. Therefore I tried to separate them by giving them each a couple of eggs in two nest boxes next to each other. First time was a no go. Second time Pearl accepted it was better to stay separate with her own eggs and I gave them the real ones now. Each 5. Black and Pearl are still connected with the flock.

FYI: I updated about my 2 broodies and the eggs in the thread peeps in Europe:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/peeps-in-europe.1288348/page-214

ps: Sometimes it works great to have 2 broodies on one nest. Did that twice with 2 Dutch. But these 2 sisters ... too much love, hate and jealousy?.

 

[maceleneo]

good news and horrible news: today (day 24) I spotted a pretty little head in the nest.

I didn't want to bother pingu and I tried to let her alone doing her job, I just opened her little door from time to time to watch her in absolute awe. I couldn't see anything, but I could hear the chirping... and I guess I wasn't the only one, because when I closed the coop in the evening I found another marans sitting in a nest (I took all the eggs away and moved her on the roost, in the next days I'll figure out what I'm going to do with her). I checked pingu and I noticed a little bug walking on her face. I pointed the light on her and that's when I realized she is completely infested by red mites! I gently lifted her wings and I saw that they were also on the chicks (there were 2 chicks)!
I've never had any infestation before: the coop interior is entirely painted with lime whitewash and every six months I repaint it to keep it clean... but I haven't painted the "broody nursery" in a while. I checked the rest of the flock inside the coop and they are all clean.
I put some clean hay in my bathtube and I moved pingu, the eggs and the chicks there (they couldn't stay in the nursery: the walls were crawling with these critters). I sprayed a natural oil based on geranium (allegedly against parasites) on pingu's skin and dozens of mites came out of her plumage... with my finger I put a drop of oil under the chicks wings too.
I can't really understand how I didn't notice all these bugs before! I haven't touched pingu much since she went broody, but I never seen her itching or rubbing. I feel so dumb now, I wonder if I blew it!
in spite of all this mess, pingu is still sitting on her eggs and on her chicks (the cutest chicks I have ever seen, by the way). tomorrow I'm going to repaint and sanitize the entire coop. I really hope that things will be fine, please give me some advice on how to handle this!

 

[BDutch]

Good thing you took Pingu and her chicks to a new spot without red mite. Don’t be harsh on yourself not seeing this sooner. Things like that happen to all of us from time to time.

And congrats with 2 chicks!

I only dont know if a bathtub is a good place to keep her much longer. If Pingu comes of the nest with her chicks she needs some space to walk around. The bathtub wil be to slippery and I would prefer a little more natural setup outside.

Did you put a safe water supply and chick food in the tub too?

I use diatomaceous earth to prevent
red mite infestation. It helps to eliminate the new mites coming out of the eggs. Put a little under the shavings and hay in the nest boxes and made a ‘paint’ for the walls and roosts. Make sure it comes in all the cracks. It works better than the white lime.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I sprayed a natural oil based on geranium (allegedly against parasites) on pingu's skin and dozens of mites came out of her plumage... with my finger I put a drop of oil under the chicks wings too.

That active ingredient should be pyrethrum. That's a natural organic pesticide made from geraniums. It's pretty strong and will kill a lot of insects, good or bad. It should work well for those mites. As bad as that infestation is I think that is a good choice. You want something that will work well and will work now.

I can't really understand how I didn't notice all these bugs before!

Don't beat yourself up too much, that kind of stuff happens to all of us. Red mites are also called roost mites. They hide by day and come out at night. Unless you deal with your chickens when it is dark you generally don't know they are there.

When you clean and sterilize that area do it again in about 7 to 10 days. And treat the chickens again. The life cycle of that bug is that more will hatch out so you need to catch the next generation before they can lay eggs to eliminate them. The hen especially could easily have eggs on her, usually near the vent.

Check that hen after dark using a small flashlight. They typically prefer her vent area because of the moisture. They will run from the light so be fairly quick.

A word of caution. Baby chicks often like to climb under Mama's wings. I killed a chick once by picking up a broody hen, it was under her wing and I crushed it. As I said, stuff happens to all of us. You can still pick a hen up, just be careful not to crush a chick.

Plenty of people brood chicks in their spare bathroom, including in the tub. Make sure the drain is closed and clean it out really well before you open the drain. You can spread some bedding inside to give them good traction.

 

[maceleneo]

it's been a busy day: I sanitized and repainted the whole coop (nursery included) with lime and I bought a spray online that should kill mites eggs (it should arrive in the next days) and I also bought diatomaceous earth... on the forum there seem to be different opinions about it but I haven't had the time to read much.

I put a little steel coop in the run with clean hay, starter feed and water, and I moved pingu, the eggs and the chicks in it. I know that's a lot of movement for a broodie hen, but this way she will be able to take her chicks outside when the time comes.
she stayed on the eggs the whole morning, but in the afternoon took the chicks to the waterer and never returned to the eggs. she even make them eat... isn't this too soon?
and I have some more questions: could pingu be bald on the face because of mites? her sisters have some sort of hair there, you can't see their skin.
her comb and wattles are very pale now. should I give her something to help her recovering?
anyway, it's night again here, I checked everyone and I couldn't see any mite. I'm going to regularly check to see if they come back, especially in seven/ten days, to see if there's a new generation around... and I'll do another huge cleaning/sanification then. there's no wood where is pingu now, so for the moment we should be safe (right?).

I'm happy with these two chicks, they are beautiful. should I check something to see if they are healthy? I always read about checking for pasty butt, there's something more I should watch for?

thank you for all your help!