Getting Excited..........My First Hatching

[steve232]

Back in November of this past year I began my first chicken flock. I started with two barred rock hens. A short time later I added a cuckoo maran and a hen I believe to be a mixed breed. Anyway over the next few months I have added another 7 pullets and a rooster. During a vacation in June I built an addition to my run and made it so I could close it off in the event I had a broody and wanted to raise some babies. Well I knew I wanted to try to raise some if any of my chickens would ever go broody. After all thats why I got Monroe. (my Rhode Island Rooster) I have been waiting and doing a lot of reading to see which of my chickens was more likely to go broody. Looked like my best bet was my pullet Buffy a buff orpington but she still hasn't began to lay yet so it appeared I was going to have to wait till next year for my first chance to hatch some babies. After all from what I read barred rocks do go broody but not all that often and a cuckoo maran from what I read rarely ever goes broody. Of course my golden comets wasn't going to and not too likely my Rhode Island pullets would either. Well to my surprise Rose (my cuckoo maran) began clucking but was still laying eggs. Was she actually going to go broody ? I waited and waited. She continued to cluck but also kept laying eggs and never stayed on the nest longer than just long enough to lay an egg. Then after probably a couple of months she began to become miss wicked lol. She was puffing up at all the other chickens, when I went in when she was on the next I got squawked at loudly lol. Then suddenly she stayed on the nest for a couple of days. Really ? Was she really going broody and would she actually set on eggs for me and become my first mommy ? Ok she had been on the next now for a couple of days but kept switching nest depending on where there were some eggs laid at. I keep golf balls in the nest so she was also sitting on them. I had to try and see if she would stick with it. I closed off the run extension. Put in a dog crate and got a cheap nest at Tractor Supply, covered the crate with a tarp to keep rain off. I then put a couple of golf balls in the nest to see if she would set on them and if so I was going to replace them with eggs. Much to Monroe's dismay I got Rose off the nest and put her in the closed off run with the nest of golf balls. She would have nothing to do with the new nest and golf balls. I waited a couple of hours and she only walked around clucking and giving me her wicked puffed look. It wasn't going to work. :-( Ok I had to make one last effort to see if I could get her to set on eggs for me. I got 4 eggs that had never been washed or put in the refrigerator and placed them in the nest and took out the golf balls. Soon as I turned around Rose went straight to the nest and sat on those 4 eggs. I still was worried that being a cuckoo maran and reading they rarely go broody she may not stick with it and leave the nest. I am thrilled to report that she has stayed with her nest other than a very short time off each day for a quick bite of food and water. A couple of days she has taken time for a quick dust bath but those were on some pretty hot days and its looking like Rose is going to be my first mommy. So now this Wednesday 8/12/15 is her hatching day. I am really excited and can hardly wait to see some new babies. They will be mutts but thats ok with me. I only keep chickens for a hobby anyway and to enjoy the fresh eggs. In fact from some pictures I have saw of mutt chickens some of them can really be beautiful. After all of this I do have one question. Rose and her hopefully babies will be in an outdoor covered by wire run. I have thrown in some poultry grit for Rose. Will the babies get enough grit from the dirt in the run or do I need to add some chick grit for them ?

Sorry this intended short question turned into such a long post lol.

 

[XxMingirlxX]

Chicks don't need grit, when they are young all they need is a chick grower feed. If you give them grit/oyster shells and they aren't laying eggs it will mean they get too much calcium and they can't get rid of it. You don't need to apologise about long posts

I linked some articles in raising chicks if you need extra information :


Letting a broody hatch and raise chicks :
https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/guide-to-letting-broody-hens-hatch-and-raise-chicks
This is a good read, you can scroll down to the point where she hatches the chicks onwards and it will give you great info on the pros and cons in raising the chicks with the flock vs separately and other things.

 

[azygous]

Rose could be a very serious-minded mommy, indeed! She will be showing the babies what to eat, and if she offers them something requiring grit, they will probably find what they need in the soil in the run. If it makes you feel better, it does no harm to sow some chick grit over the ground to be certain. Grit, by the way, being mostly crushed granite, has little calcium in it, and oyster shell, while being an excellent source of calcium, doesn't count as grit.

My first broody to successfully hatch out a chick was tearing up pieces of tortilla and feeding it to the baby on the first day. They were still inside the coop and there was no grit. The chick grew up to be a huge Buff Brahma rooster, so I doubt it did him any harm not having grit, although I did remove the rest of the tortilla and gave them both some chick starter to eat.

Broody-raised chicks pretty much eliminate your responsibility for raising them. Rose should be able to handle the job with no problem.

 

[steve232]

Thanks for the replies and the link. My current plan is to keep Rose and the babies (hope I'm not counting my chickens before they hatch) in the lower run for the first week or so and then open the door between the two runs under my close supervision and allow them all to mingle. If all goes well I'll leave them that way. Does this sound like a safe plan ?

 

[song of joy]

Thanks for the replies and the link. My current plan is to keep Rose and the babies (hope I'm not counting my chickens before they hatch) in the lower run for the first week or so and then open the door between the two runs under my close supervision and allow them all to mingle. If all goes well I'll leave them that way. Does this sound like a safe plan ?

Most mother hens do a great job of protecting their chicks, so yes, this plan should work. I usually keep my broody hen isolated from the flock during incubation, hatching, and for 4 to 5 days after the hatch, then I let mom and babies in with the rest of the flock. I've had no problems doing this, as she protects them and integrates them into the flock.

Best of luck to you! Here's hoping for a successful hatch.

P.S. I like the part about the golf balls. My broody hens weren't fooled by them either! The rejected the golf balls, but readily took to the eggs.

 

[steve232]

Thanks Song Of Joy. That does sound encouraging.