Hatching with 2 broodies

[Teila]

When I get up in the morning I have to keep my voice down because once they all hear me they start singing for their breakfast.
Tee hee, Cilla is lucky to get anywhere near the treats! lol

I just rang Hubby because I couldn't remember if I opened the dividing door .. I had and apparently Dusty is cranky because she wants to get in her favourite nesting box and can't because Cilla and the bubbies are all squished into it .. Cilla is laying an egg and the bubbies are apparently helping her!

I don't want to be at work!! Where is my chicken-cam?!!! lolz

 

[lizgarf]

I just rang Hubby because I couldn't remember if I opened the dividing door .. I had and apparently Dusty is cranky because she wants to get in her favourite nesting box and can't because Cilla and the bubbies are all squished into it .. Cilla is laying an egg and the bubbies are apparently helping her!

Now, that is a cute image!
Thanks for understanding my plight, TG and Teila! I'm back in love with my bubbies today. They had a good post-storm forage (1.3 inches of rain!) out and about in the backyard. They still look mostly like pullets with big combs to me. I don't know what sex they are, but they're just starting to get their pretty green/blue metallic sheen to some of their feathers, making them that much more fun to watch!
Now that the rainy season has finally arrived, I have a few dozen plants to finally put in the ground! For some people, it's the holiday season - for me, it's planting season! Let's hope the chickens don't find them!

 

[Teila]

Now, that is a cute image!
Thanks for understanding my plight, TG and Teila! I'm back in love with my bubbies today. They had a good post-storm forage (1.3 inches of rain!) out and about in the backyard. They still look mostly like pullets with big combs to me. I don't know what sex they are, but they're just starting to get their pretty green/blue metallic sheen to some of their feathers, making them that much more fun to watch!
Now that the rainy season has finally arrived, I have a few dozen plants to finally put in the ground! For some people, it's the holiday season - for me, it's planting season! Let's hope the chickens don't find them!

Typing as I am thinking, so making this up as I go along! lol. Worse care scenario, they are boys, how long after they start crowing do they start paying attention to the ladies and start producing fertile eggs? If it is not a huge gap, just maybe you could get some of their bubbies before they have to go? If you don't have a broody on hand you could try incubating?
As I said, making it up as I go along but it could be a way to get something back for all your efforts should the worse happen ... or, if you have to give them away, whoever you give them to, might be able to help you out with some of their fertile eggs next time you have a broody (that is what I was hoping to do)??

Even as I am typing this Liz, there is a picture to the right of someone's 'White Faced Black Spanish' with huge comb and wattles and it is a "she"!

"Let's hope the chickens don't find them!"
I have a tropical plant called an Elephant Ear (not sure if you have them) but I love these plants and every time they have a baby, I re-pot it, so I started with 1 and now have 4. One of the little ones I potted I popped him into the cat run but Syba kept sitting on him so after weeks of the poor thing trying to grow and getting nowhere, I moved him out under the tree .. the girls found him! OK, they didn't eat him but because he is a small plant in a big pot, they dug him up frequently. So this poor little plant that has been hanging in there for probably 6 months now is still only 1 leaf and has not grown one iota but definitely deserves a chance because he is determined not to give in. So every time I let the girls out, I pop a milk crate over him; he now has 5 leaves and is growing nicely
Pretty soon he will have filled out the pot enough that he doesn't need the milk crate and the girls should leave him alone.

 

[lizgarf]

That is an interesting thought, Teila, about trying to get future babies out of them if they turn out to be male. I'm not sure how long I would be able to keep them, or if having them around will raise much havoc in the flock, let alone in the neighborhood. I'll just see how it goes and what they grow into. Ida's comb is still yellow and she doesn't have wattles, and she's smaller than Daisy and a bit shyer, but otherwise, they look exactly alike - they look like little pullets with noticeable combs. My adult hens have combs/wattles (Stella's were huge, but everyone's are small now since they're not laying), but I think the worry is that they're bigger and pinker on cockerels at this age than on pullets. Ironically, Daisy was the one who was convincingly female, according to the wing-feather test, and Ida was uncertain. But, the test may not work for these ones, and I could also have done it wrong.

In any case, the main side perks of having the hens go through this extended molting/broody/eggless period is that they've been relatively uninterested in digging up the garden (and they're nice and quiet!). Since I left the rat race and started working from home, my pet project has been turning my large hilly yard into a food forest. For the past 4 years, I've been planting fruit trees, edible perennials and vines, vegetables, and lots of flowers for me and the bees. The established plants are pretty safe from the chickens, who can be deadly to the new plants, especially Grace. For instance, I discovered my rare, Chilean, super-berry plant perfectly dug out of the ground after Grace wandered beyond her usual comfort zone and found it. One wire fence, and an extended molt later, that same super-berry plant is actually doing well now. Maybe it'll even make some super-berries some day (that survive the squirrels too - one can hope)! So, the hens may not be giving me any eggs, but between their poop and their more placid personas, my garden is getting along nicely!

 

[Pooman]

Hi girls....


I have been meaning to check in, but its so,sad now sorry.

RIP Dot the Darkhorse

She was killed today by a young brown today, i buried her in the backyard. I have subbed in the most interested hen out of the main flock. She isn't that interested, but seems to be sitting on the nest. Hopefully the little uns will survive.

The Darkhorse in action...

 

[lizgarf]

Oh, PM, I am so crushed to hear this.
Can you bring the babies inside with you if the sub hen isn't working out?

 

[tommysgirl]

Hi girls....


I have been meaning to check in, but its so,sad now sorry.

RIP Dot the Darkhorse

She was killed today by a young brown today, i buried her in the backyard. I have subbed in the most interested hen out of the main flock. She isn't that interested, but seems to be sitting on the nest. Hopefully the little uns will survive.

The Darkhorse in action...

So sorry pooman :-(

 

[Teila]

Oh no Pooman! That is the saddest news. I am so sorry for your loss and the bubbies loss also ... was she protecting them from the snake?

I am dumbfounded, that is just so cruel

I agree with Liz and wonder if you can set them up inside and raise them if the sub does not work out.

 

[Teila]

6 Weeks Old today ...........

 

[lizgarf]

So sweet, Teila! Happy 6-week birthday, silkie bubbies!

The two pictures I wish I had my camera for today: One mom + one broody, hanging out together in two separate pairs on each roost in the coop; Ida, the smallest chick, way up high on a branch in the lemon tree - the hens' favorite hang-out spot in the backyard.