Hatching with 2 broodies

[MistyMountain]

Me too Teila...Those eggs were rocking back and forth when I looked at them this morning and I thought of you b/c Gracie Belle was "nattering away" at them.

Norma has gone broody again I believe. Round two for her. She gets eggs next week

Julie has also stuck tightly to that nest and has forbidden anyone who may have wanted to use the one next to her from doing so...She is mega grumpy. I am giving her 3 Marans chicks tomorrow. they will be 6 days old so I hope that she accepts them and they accept her and that the adoption goes smoothly. If not I will have the brooder set up anyway since I will be chick sitting a bunch of marans babies this week. In exchange I can keep any/all of them. Not keeping all but am keeping at least the three littlest.

My blind baby didn't make it. It was a tough little thing but it couldn't keep up. I don't think it got cold but it looks like maybe bigger birds trampled it. I found it on its side in the coop yesterday evening.

I know some people will say I should have euthanized it from teh start but I felt it deserved a chance. Others will say I didn't do enough but I really don't have time to coddle a chicken that can't fend for itself so I gave it vitamins and left it to momma and nature. I am not surprised it didn't make it but I was hopeful that it might.

TG, so sorry about your little chick. I am glad you gave her a chance though. It is truly amazing how tough and how fragile these birds can be at the same time.

Do you let the mommas and babies loose with the flock from day one? MJ is restless in the little cage with the 9 littles. I want to let her out so badly but I am afraid the babies will get themselves in trouble. What would you do?

Integration is going well. I did have to remove one leghorn cockerel from the big coop and two from the roost in the big run at dusk. They go in there and then can not find the way back out. Willie and the rest of the flock has been pretty tolerant of the youngsters. They do get pecked, but not too bad. They learn quick anyhow.

Lilly, our dog, ignores the big flock for the most part when they enter her area around the house. She has taken up to messing with Willie, though, because he will mess with her right back. Well, she caught him yesterday. No damage done, but she did need to be called off of him. Maybe he will keep himself and the flock away from the house now, which would be nice.

Poor Chica, I tell ya, I get a favorite and they tend to be the most accident prone there is. She is limping. Upon soaking her feet and checking her out, it seems she has bumble foot on one foot, but not the one she is favoring. She seems a bit better today, but I am not sure if that is after resting it all night last night. I am going to observe for a bit and take the sit back a bit and wait approach to the bumble foot. It makes sense to me that chickens have been prone to getting this for years and years and years and that if I jump to pick away at any scabs or sores that I could do much more damage or create more infection than if it were left alone. If it reaches a point where it is a clear problem for her I will toughen up and do the surgery. Does that make sense? Ah, life on the farm.

 

[tommysgirl]

TG, so sorry about your little chick. I am glad you gave her a chance though. It is truly amazing how tough and how fragile these birds can be at the same time.

Do you let the mommas and babies loose with the flock from day one? MJ is restless in the little cage with the 9 littles. I want to let her out so badly but I am afraid the babies will get themselves in trouble. What would you do?

It makes sense to me that chickens have been prone to getting this for years and years and years and that if I jump to pick away at any scabs or sores that I could do much more damage or create more infection than if it were left alone. If it reaches a point where it is a clear problem for her I will toughen up and do the surgery. Does that make sense? Ah, life on the farm.

Thanks...so true they are tough and fragile all at once.

I am still working out the logistics of the mamas and babies and so far it has been case by case and dependent on:

1)Available Space
2) Mama's experience
3) Mama's position in the PO

Beakface is a 3rd time momma and one of my original flock and at the top of the pecking order. She stayed in the coop in the nest box until the day the chicks hatched then I moved them into a broody box in the broody pen for about 36 hours.

She and Gracie Belle got into it in the broody pen so I moved her and her little family out of there and moved T and her three...Bigelow, Tetley and Lipton into the big pen at night and moved BF and her littles into the pen T and her babies had been in.

Currently there are flockmates in all three pens and everyone free ranges. So yes my mamas and babies are integrated for the most part from about day 3 on. I trust mamas to know when to bring babies out of the pens to range. It's hard because there is potential for the hawks to get them when they are out and are so little but on the upside they are learning early to be predator savvy. The only predator loss so far has been white birds and they didn't get taken until they were nearly 4 and 9 weeks old.

Gracie Belle and Julie will hopefully be able to share the broody pen nicely with their respective babies for a good while They have different nesting spaces but share the living space. I will just wait and see but ideally they will be in there and by the time Godiva gets her littles, Beakface and her brood will be able to move easily back into the Big Pen so that Godiva can keep her babies in a covered pen for awhile.

Basically it is like this:

Broody pen for at least a few days if availble followed by original pen which is also covered and has 5 fairly mellow full time residents, and to the Big Pen when I need to move another group of babies into the original pen. The big pen is about 600 sq feet and the coop which is only used for nesting, laying and sleeping can accommodate 25+ LF birds.

I have a 4th pen available for growing out boys when they get to where they can't stay in the big pen anymore. My last batch never had to move into it even though we had two adult roosters. I think that is because they had been raised up from chicks with the whole flock.

Is your head spinning...sorry to go on and on. That is just what I have done up to this point. The number of broodies this year has been a challenge but so far we have been OK with the space we have had available. I don't think there will be any more first timers this summer so the whole broody season may be slowing down soon. I love it but it will mean fewer complications and less drama so I am ready.


ETA Gracie Belle has been in the broody pen almost since day1. She is low on the PO and I was worried she would have her eggs violated. She still lost the one the other day but that was all on me for letting Joan Baez in with her in the first place.

 

[ShelbyCoral]

Congrats and we don't believe you until we see pictures I think these should all be named Claudette!

Congrats!!!

 

[tommysgirl]

Oh and MM re letting them out. They have been learning her voice and her different clucks (orders) since before they came out of the egg and unless they are really terrible listeners they will stick close. If they are terrible listeners well...don't mean to be graphic but it's non adaptive and you don't want to pass on that trait anyway. Sorry if that offends anyone. I was raised a farm girl.

 

[MistyMountain]

Oh and MM re letting them out. They have been learning her voice and her different clucks (orders) since before they came out of the egg and unless they are really terrible listeners they will stick close. If they are terrible listeners well...don't mean to be graphic but it's non adaptive and you don't want to pass on that trait anyway. Sorry if that offends anyone. I was raised a farm girl.

No offense taken here, that is kind of the way I see things too. I am just afraid of overdoing it, being this is the third day for the teenagers to be out of the coop. I just didn't want to stir the pot too much and stress anyone out. If we didn't have plans this evening I would let them out a couple hours before dark so they can ease into it. Looks like Saturday will be my first chance at that. I care for them, spoil them with treats, fancy up their coop for them, but I really need them to take care of themselves as well.

 

[Lesa Mae]

So still just the 2 little babies the mommas are doing great still sitting on the remaining 4 eggs and the little ones are in there under both of them I'm hoping that the girls will continue to co-parent these chicks without incident!!

 

[missnu01]

OK for a week one of my hens Is broody by day and normal chicken by night...she goes in the nest to lay an egg in the morning and then sits there all day puffed up and growling pecks me when i go to gather eggs. But sleeps on the roost at night. Is it possible she is doing this just to avoid the roosters? I've got some cockerels that just started to crow and are being a pain. I need to grab them and get them ready to eat...but I haven't yet. But this egg guarding hen is getting on my nerves.

 

[Lesa Mae]

OK for a week one of my hens Is broody by day and normal chicken by night...she goes in the nest to lay an egg in the morning and then sits there all day puffed up and growling pecks me when i go to gather eggs. But sleeps on the roost at night. Is it possible she is doing this just to avoid the roosters? I've got some cockerels that just started to crow and are being a pain. I need to grab them and get them ready to eat...but I haven't yet. But this egg guarding hen is getting on my nerves.

Well hasn't all us ladies not gone with the I'm not in the mood so I will avoid the (cockerel) at all costs????? Good for her!!

 

[tommysgirl]

OK for a week one of my hens Is broody by day and normal chicken by night...she goes in the nest to lay an egg in the morning and then sits there all day puffed up and growling pecks me when i go to gather eggs. But sleeps on the roost at night. Is it possible she is doing this just to avoid the roosters? I've got some cockerels that just started to crow and are being a pain. I need to grab them and get them ready to eat...but I haven't yet. But this egg guarding hen is getting on my nerves.

She is maybe getting ready? I have a couple of broody teases who behaved similarly for days/weeks but now both are full blown and waiting on their eggs/chicks.

 

[tommysgirl]

Well hasn't all us ladies not gone with the I'm not in the mood so I will avoid the (cockerel) at all costs????? Good for her!!