Growing my little flock

[DonyaQuick]

My broody's eggs failed, so I bought her some chicks.
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And...
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Noooooo you said the B-word! LOL One of my cochins must have looked over my sholder and and found your post to be inspirational since I now have another nest box troll screaming at me when I go to collect eggs. It would actually be rather well lined up with my mail order chicks...but the whole indoor broody thing really didn't go well for a different cochin earlier in the year...but the current broody one has been great around my older chicks (not mama-mode but has let them sit under her on cooler nights). Can't make my mind up what to do with her now.

 

[DonyaQuick]

So I think I do indeed have 5 duds in the incubator. That is the outcome I was expecting, but still a bummer. Hopefully a peeping box in 2 more weeks will make it into less of a bummer.

Meanwhile I have no way to easily un-broody the maniac below between the way the weather has been and the way she bombasically freaks out in the house. Miss Sasquatch here is so desperate to incubate things that she will brood anything from wadded up shavings to one of the 12-week-old pullets she's in with, so I guess I just have to hope that a peeping box in a couple weeks will help with that situation.

 

[DonyaQuick]

That awkward moment when you go to make sure the broody didn't steal any eggs and have to extract a 2lb pullet instead (note the gray mottled feathers poking out under her chest...)

 

[DonyaQuick]

Two more recruits for the frat house! Mr 4lbs-at-12-weeks Kang on the left clearly remembers Speedy and Smoke from their overlapping time in the house in different brooder setups, since I let them visit each others' rooms sometimes.

 

[DonyaQuick]

So I've been upping my coops' hot weather game lately. Added fans since some shade trees that used to be there got removed late last year. Two barn fans in the big shed coop and some smaller fans elsewhere. Also been doing wading tubs. Didn't think anyone would use them but I put them out there every summer just in case. The pullets in with the beans surprised me though.

First up, we begin with a Foob in the food. Just, you know hanging out in there. Fooby foot food is the best food says Boots.

Then why not Foob feet in the water? Fooby foot water is the best water says Boots.

Oh what's that, pullets are in the water? No no no, that water now belongs to once-again-broody Coco.

 

[DonyaQuick]

Butter Beeaaaaaaan! And sweet little Gozer. These two over in main flock have become very snuggly in the mornings now that their attention hog brothers are elsewhere. Butter Bean's color is interesting. Got some splashes of brown feathers coming in, but only on the left side! Very curious to see if any will ever appear on the right side. Butter Bean may also have heterochromia.

Just a few days now to the small batch of Ameraucana babies...gettin' the brooder stuff cleaned up today along with a spare setup for broody Sasquatch - who has been continuing to happily brood massive pullets overnight whenever they present themselves to be wing-scooped by her, so I have to think she's a good bet for being safe with small chicks at least. Of course the anxiety over mail order chicks is starting to getting going in the back of my brain already...

 

[DonyaQuick]

CACKLE BABIES ARE HERE

Two more than I was expecting! Fingers crossed they all do well and that Sasquatch accepts them later today. One chick was having a bit of a rough time compared to the others shortly after going in the brooder. It's perked up more now, but I had to sit with it for a couple hours periodically giving it water a drop at a time. Hopefully it was just a little dehydrated.

 

[DonyaQuick]

Oh this is going to be a long night...Sasquatch and her nest and stuff are in my bedroom so that if anything crazy bad happens in the middle of the night (like heaven forbid a rejection of the chicks), I can just jump out of bed to deal with it immediately. Well, good thing I did that, because I will have to be sorting things out in the middle of the night I'm sure! It's easy to make that room dark, so I darkened it up a while ago and all 6 babies are under her now...mostly. Despite having had 6+hrs to eat/drink/etc., they keep waking up and wanting to motor about in the dark and falling out over the edge. So just when I think it's all well and good, I hear "eeeee! *donk* WAWAWAWA" and have to go put a stray chick back under the broody because it is dark and they can't figure out to climb back in. They are physically able to get back in since there's a wadded up towel ramp along the edge, but it's dark so they just stay put and cry. Not had this problem before.

 

[DonyaQuick]

Aaaand it'll be brooder babies this round. That's ok; it was what I'd figured on to begin with. Sasquatch just isn't accepting them properly and it seems like 6 was too many for her. Although she didn't hurt any so far, it could have escallated easily. Her comb is bright red this morning, very sticky-uppy. She had a small freak-out when I took her off the nest and moved the chicks but doesn't seem inclined to return to the nest. She just wants snuggles from me, so I'm sitting with her on my lap near the brooder so she can hear the chicks.

EDIT: so that means it's two failed broody attempts from the cochins - Bigfoot first now Sasquatch. Genetically predisposed to brooding but also not good mama-ing maybe??

 

[DonyaQuick]

Sad turn of events...I lost the chick that I had hoped was just dehydrated. It had much more serious issues than that lurking under the surface, including a herniated cervical air sac that was getting gradually worse and interferring with its crop. I was able to drain about 3ml of air from the growing lump near the back of its neck, but the syringe also picked up close to 1ml of fluid interspersed with the air...so its respiratory system was failing in a broader way by the time I realied what was going on and intervened. Unfortunately that procedure only bought it a couple hours of relief and improved breathing before things went downhill again. Although I can't know for sure whether it was a congenital problem or due to injury in transit, I feel like an injury is more likely.

That's actually the first chick I've lost before reaching a year old if I don't count a couple of incubation quitters that never fully developed. The other five chicks seem just fine so far. Having only ordered 4, still having 5, and knowing that chick losses are just one of those things that happens that one has to be ready for, I feel like I shouldn't be in the dumps about it...but still kind off feels like a crummy start with this batch between the broody fail and then losing one.