Hatching with 2 broodies

[tommysgirl]

That will be one stunning chicken, now that is one you are going to have to keep us up to date on with its development!!!

Well...OK if I have to post pictures I will...sigh,,,you people and your demands

TG gees, talk about show stopping, those bubbies would steal the show anytime! Beautiful .. I want some! lolz

Having a girl that looks like that Blue Wheaten definitely would not be a bad thing!

A bit more general news, not chicken related though ... for various reasons (not criminal

) we no longer have a car .. we do, however, still have legs and our new 'car' in the form of a pull along garden cart, nice big wheels and frame etc. We take it up to the shops to bring back the shopping, to the gas station for the BBQ gas bottle, the feed store for feed etc ... talk about 'The Good Life', all we need now is a goat to pull it along! lolz

Anyways, Syba, our big puddy cat (sadly, not big enough to pull the cart! lol) has just got back from the Vets for his annual check up, vaccination and worming .. we do not worm him ourselves, ever tried popping worm paste or a worm pill down a wannabe panther's throat?

I was so proud of him, sitting in his little cage, riding on the cart down to the Vet's and back; he was a very brave boy; we must have been quite a sight and did get some strange looks (we live in the suburbs). We had a blanket over the cage but he could see out the front and his dad pulling him along. OK, so he howled the whole way there and back again (like he used to in the car), but he was still very brave! lol

The Vet was very pleased with him, nice and healthy and shiny, good teeth etc

Congrats on the good vet check! Is the no-car thing temporary or a lifestyle change? Either way I like the cart idea but you really do need a goat

The biggest thing going on here is that Julie Taylor seems to have adopted those 3 babies without a hitch. Last night my daughters and I sneaked them under her in the dead of night. This morning she is so pleased with herself for hatching a golf ball into 3 chicks. I have them secluded for today so they can get to know each other's voices and such and I will seclude them tomorrow too then on monday I will put them into the broody pen with Gracie and her brood. I think those two can mother side by side.
side...I am hoping so anyway.

I really want to keep two of the older chicks. I have a shot at it too. Last night Tom and I were watching TV and I had the little blue one one my chest/neck for about 20 minutes. Figured I was pushing my luck in the poo dept so I put it back when I got up to use the bathroom. Came back and he had her tucked into the neck of his shirt. She fell asleep on him and spent a good half hour like that. If he falls for her...she is one I want to keep...We will have no choice but to keep a same sized friend and one of the marans has much more developed wings and feathered legs so I am banking on it being a pullet. The other 3 I believe I can find homes for on CL pretty easily.

 

[16 paws]

That is too cute...Where did you get that picture? Love it to pieces....
I am sitting here trying to figure out how I could live without my car. I would love that but we are way up on top of a very high hill. Quite a long trek into town. That cart is something I can see myself in very easily. I know I would be the laughing stock of this high tech area of cal. but who cares?
My kids would have to dis-own me too because you know, that generation cant have any thing that goes back in time. The older I get the more I long for simplicity!
You go Teila!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I will join you when I figure the logistics out!

Yea for the simple life......
Marie

 

[Farmer Viola]

show stopping or not it was news and you tell it so well that the show might just stop. And since you brought it up:

Gracie Belle becomes a momma!


Little yellow boy, little red girl and little black girl

Mystery yellow in background...It came from a brown egg that I thought was a del. Maybe my choc rock? It is chipmunked so not a Del


Marans babies

congratulations Gracie Bell!!

love the photos. she looks so proud of herself!

Teila, your Blondie story cracked me up! I love it when you can see their little cogs spinning figuring something out

 

[Farmer Viola]

16Paws, tommysgirl, Teila, MM, thank you so much for your advice! I truly appreciate it. I took all of the information to heart and made my decision to construct Casa de Broody yesterday.

I put each cat carrer in it's own metal dog crate. I use these for brooders inside. I put cardboard up the first foot, so no baby chicks can get out of the cracks. I scooped some sand from their coop into the flooring, and set up a feeder and waterer (secured onto the bars).

Each hen inside her cat carrier was moved into the dog crate, and I took the door of the cat carrier off. So she can get up and move around inside the crate, and then get back inside the nest box too. There is not that much extra room, but there is enough. I figure this is almost like enforcing lockdown, since they are due on Sunday.

I put them in their new Broody Apartments side-by-side last night. I covered them with a heavy duty tarp and secured it down. I covered the front (their view) with a clear plastic sheeting so they can't see the entire flock running around all day, less stimuli. it's just draped over, and has a big gap/breezeway, good ventilation and lets light in. I could take a photo, but it is embarassingly white trash looking haha. Oh I also put it up on wood blocks so it's not directly on the ground (moisture).

I actually moved the mamas last night right at bed time, having constructed the apartments during the day. Today is day 20, tomorrow day 21, so it's like a 2-day Lockdown.

I went to check on them this morning and they are both happily clucking away. I swear I could hear peeping. No... surely not yet?? I reached under Beetlejuice for a peek and I could see an EMPTY egg half, crushed, and 2 tiny little feets behind her butt fluff! I couldn't actually see the baby but it's definitely in there, and ALIVE! 1 day early too, I guess I got them out of the coop just in time.

edit: I guess I need to go put marbles in their waterers. I was thinking I had 2 days. nope!


OMG I'm so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[16 paws]

Congratulations Tommysgirl and Farmer Viola,
GracieBell is a cute mama and her chicks are so adorable and colorful too

Farmer Viola,that sounds like a great setup for the two broodys and just in the nick of time!!!!!! Thats what I love about chickens, they seem to not care about that white trash stuff.

Congratulations on the newbies, isnt it exciting to see that first cracked shell? I will never forget it.
Have fun and take lots of baby pictures with mom of course!
Marie

 

[Farmer Viola]

Congratulations Tommysgirl and Farmer Viola,
GracieBell is a cute mama and her chicks are so adorable and colorful too

Farmer Viola,that sounds like a great setup for the two broodys and just in the nick of time!!!!!! Thats what I love about chickens, they seem to not care about that white trash stuff.

Congratulations on the newbies, isnt it exciting to see that first cracked shell? I will never forget it.
Have fun and take lots of baby pictures with mom of course!
Marie

ha ha you are right about that!!!

ok so.. I cannot keep away ... I was able to get a couple pics of the new baby!

peekaboo!

this hen is Beetlejuice, she has been on fake eggs for 14 days. I only gave her 2 real eggs and 1 has hatched (Bertha has the other 7)

 

[Teila]

Howdy Team

Quote: “Well...OK if I have to post pictures I will...sigh,,,you people and your demands“

lol TG.

That is great news about JT and I chuckled at “pleased with herself for hatching a golf ball into 3 chicks“ that is a pretty good trick

“Came back and he had her tucked into the neck of his shirt.“ Aaaaw; these guys of ours are really just big soft, teddy-bears

FV I am pleased my little bantam commando made you laugh and yes, it is so much fun watching their thought process, read them like a book When she comes out of the coop with her little boots on and a rope slung over her wing, I will know that the abseiling lessons are the order of the day!

I am excited for you FV .. beautiful pictures! Beetlejuice is gorgeous! We should run a competition to see whose broody wins the step-away-from-my-bubbies-evil-eye contest. BJ would be in the running

In general news:

The no-car thing is an enforced lifestyle change. Our car needs a new gear box and after we got over the initial shock of the $6,000 quote; we made the decision to let her rest in peace as she also needed new shoes, registration was due, timing belt was coming due for replacement ($1,500++) brakes needed work and sadly she was not worth the money. Hubby’s hours got cut back, so we can’t afford another car so we walk. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to have a car but we are improvising with a sense of humour attached

Luckily, like you 16 paws, I don't care what people think, you do what you have to

Cilla is still chasing Tina around the place, for whatever reason and squatted for me again last night. She is also nattering away and checking out the nest boxes in the ranch (she has never laid in the Ranch though, always the Chateau). Seriously thinking she is just going straight to broody, not going to worry about the whole egg-laying thing and is looking for somewhere to raise her 'invisible' family

 

[16 paws]

Hi Telia,
Well, maybe we can have a broody-hatch-along. The latest here is that Layla, my blue cochin has been brooding for 2 days now. She is sitting on wooden eggs and she actually threw one of them out of the nest yesterday.Guess she knows more than I think.
I just contacted a friend that keeps more rare chickens and she is going to hook me up with some Brabanter and Basque fertile eggs.

I know I just said I didnt want any more chickens but how do I say no to Laylas will to be a mama once in her life? Talk about a softie....hummmm my neighbors are going to hate me!!!! It is very hard to re-home roos here. I guess it is because we live close to the city but not in the city and we can have up to 25 chickens here while the city has different rules about that. So I have been trying to re-home some of my roos but no takers so far....
I guess I will just have to tell Layla she can have eggs but she has to magically turn them all into little pullets

Anyone want to bet on how that is going to go?????

 

[tommysgirl]

.
I guess I will just have to tell Layla she can have eggs but she has to magically turn them all into little pullets

Anyone want to bet on how that is going to go?????

uhmmm no.


Can I join you guys??? Norma is on round 2!!! I am giving her eggs from my Olive Egger. She is the bio mom of two of my other chicks. I want to see if they are SLs but I can't tell with these two b/c I think they are the same sex...they look identical except for their head markings. Anyway I am giving her whatever I collect by the 2nd or 3rd. I just want to increase my sample size so that I know if these babies are SLs or not. oh and I want to try to hatch a few more baby ladies

 

[Pooman]

Soooooo... Lets find out if 1.8-2oC high on the new incubator has been killing my eggs. The dog has eaten 6 of the last 12 we tried for dinner... She loves the new incubator. Turns out there was a thermometer for taking people temperature in the cupboard. Its perfect, goes from 36-40 degrees, so accurate. Anyway bunged it in and it has been sitting at close to 40oC, no good me thinks, so have dialled it back to just under 38oC and we have 8 more eggs in there, some from all the current layers. So, waiting 3 days again. I'll let you know how they go.

And we have no broodies now, do they go broody in the winter?