Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Scrambles83]

Monday Mugs

I'm sick everyone. No I haven't had a Covid test. I do feel like I might not be here all the time so please don't worry.

Here’s some Monday Mugs.
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I hope you’re feeling better now, Bob

 

[MaryJanet]

It was not a fluke, you used the best incubator on the market, a momma hen. I have yet to have a 100% hatch rate using the incubator. I have had a perfect hatch rate using a broody hen. With the incubator I hover constantly checking temps, humidity, making sure the turner is working, candling on schedule. With the hen, I leave her to it and focus on her. Making sure she comes off to eat and relieve herself and she does the rest. I'm going to be perfectly honest here and say something that I should smack myself over. I hope in the next week Chiquita goes broody. If she does I'm definitely giving her the eggs. It also solves the issues of me brooding them myself. Surely a hen that went broody 10 times last year will get with the program right?

One more question. When you keep fertile eggs waiting, do you refrigerate them or not?

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

I'm glad you favour hen hatches over incubator hatches.

Peggy and Ivy are co-parenting two fertile eggs expected to hatch Sunday-Tuesday. It's my first ever hatch and I'm a bit jumpy about it.

If I want to personally add to my flock, I much prefer to have the hen do all the work. There is so much more she can teach them about being a "chicken" then it is possible for me to do. I also do not have to worry about integrating them this way as they are already fully established flock members. When I have a momma hen and babies, I do not separate her from her flock members, my girls do their jobs protecting their chicks. I have also always had a gentle rooster around who took his job as daddy seriously. Even if I don't plan on keeping all the chicks she hatches, they do not leave until momma is done raising them.

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

One more question. When you keep fertile eggs waiting, do you refrigerate them or not?

I never refrigerate my eggs, even those I plan on eating. I store all my eggs in cartons on the counter. Those that are being saved to incubate are never washed, placed pointy end down, and rotated in the carton daily until the hen is ready to sit or I have what I want for the incubator. I only wash my eggs right before use and I'm so used to having a hen threatening to go broody that it has became habit for me to place them in the cartons properly. Between what eggs I sell/eat or give away, I've yet to have a bad egg storing them on the counter. I did end up tossing 2 eggs last week when we had the snowstorm. Even going out every 2 hours looking for eggs I missed 2 and they froze and split. I will not take a chance with a frozen egg.

 

[MaryJanet]

If I want to personally add to my flock, I much prefer to have the hen do all the work. There is so much more she can teach them about being a "chicken" then it is possible for me to do. I also do not have to worry about integrating them this way as they are already fully established flock members. When I have a momma hen and babies, I do not separate her from her flock members, my girls do their jobs protecting their chicks. I have also always had a gentle rooster around who took his job as daddy seriously. Even if I don't plan on keeping all the chicks she hatches, they do not leave until momma is done raising them.

Ah! I was going to let the mums defend the chicks and it's good to know you do that too.

I don't have a rooster but I'm sure we'll muddle along somehow.

 

[MaryJanet]

I never refrigerate my eggs, even those I plan on eating. I store all my eggs in cartons on the counter. Those that are being saved to incubate are never washed, placed pointy end down, and rotated in the carton daily until the hen is ready to sit or I have what I want for the incubator. I only wash my eggs right before use and I'm so used to having a hen threatening to go broody that it has became habit for me to place them in the cartons properly. Between what eggs I sell/eat or give away, I've yet to have a bad egg storing them on the counter. I did end up tossing 2 eggs last week when we had the snowstorm. Even going out every 2 hours looking for eggs I missed 2 and they froze and split. I will not take a chance with a frozen egg.

This is good information for future hatches.

Next time, I'll collect more eggs up in a carton like you do before giving them to the hen.

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

Ah! I was going to let the mums defend the chicks and it's good to know you do that too.

I don't have a rooster but I'm sure we'll muddle along somehow.

Hahaha, now if those were my eggs that I was incubating them for me, both chicks would end up being boys. It was near impossible to hatch out pullets last year. I had many people wanting pullets, a few have already asked in the past 2 weeks if I was incubating yet, all I could just about produce were cockerels. Truth be told, if a few of those inquiring would commit to taking the chicks at a few days old I'd fill up the incubator tomorrow.

 

[Marie2020]

My Princesses really do test my emotional fortitude.
This morning I did not see Maggie emerge on the coop cams.
You have to understand two things: (i) I live with a constant dread that Maggie will drop down dead; and (ii) the driveway between my house and the Chicken Palace (well basically all around the house) is one large ice-rink - we got enough sun to melt the surface but not enough for it to drain away or soak in - beautiful but deadly.
So, convinced that Maggie has died in the night I risk life and limb to make it out to the Chicken Palace. Just as I am traversing the scary steep icy slope who should start yelling at me? Maggie of course. She evaded all the cameras and had been out in the pasture run all along!


As I was nearly all the way to the Chicken Palace I decided to go in and sit down and let the ladies calm me down before I dared undertake the return journey.
Once inside I discover that Dotty has chosen this week - where we have had some of the coldest temperatures in 3 years - to start her molt. She looks a mess and there are Dotty fluff feathers everywhere.


In good news (I guess) Minnie laid me a perfect, and perfectly tiny, egg which I will have for my breakfast.

I really cannot tell which helped my girls or even when they started too suddenly moult or why it began...

It's almost as if (probably not) princess and flexi were in sympathy with Amber. At that time because she was really fading away, moulting dreadfully and losing weight even though she ate everything she could get her her beak into.

I upped their protein added oil too their food while feeding them as best I could. They had sardines beef liver, eggs and shredded beef plus in addition they also had fruits and vegetables. Within days even Amber stopped moulting, my princess within the first day.

I don't know if you can find any use in my experience withbthe food given because you are by far more knowledgable than I am but I'm sharing this with you anyway

Amber with flexi just a week before leaving us

 

[featherhead007]

Hahaha, now if those were my eggs that I was incubating them for me, both chicks would end up being boys. It was near impossible to hatch out pullets last year. I had many people wanting pullets, a few have already asked in the past 2 weeks if I was incubating yet, all I could just about produce were cockerels. Truth be told, if a few of those inquiring would commit to taking the chicks at a few days old I'd fill up the incubator tomorrow.

Roos need love too !

 

[RebeccaBoyd]

Roos need love too !

They do I agree, but, a person can only have so many personal roos before chaos reigns and the crowing becomes annoying. I personally love the boys crowing, but, I do not love it when they decide to not eventually shut up. The nasty weather this past week has made for some bored chickens, so the boys are crowing non stop. It warmed up the past 2 days to melt everything and allow exploring only to have the next snow system move in tonight.