Hatching with 2 broodies

[texgardengal]

Good morning everyone!!

Quote: HHMMMMM That never occured to me Liz. I have always thought the supermarket eggs are not fertile. I picture hundreds of hens, all smashed in little boxes with no exposure to the dirt much less roo's.....Unless you buy the free range eggs that are so much more $$$ around here. I bought them....before I had chickens because I hated the conditions of commercial egg layers. But, regardless, I have always had the roo's in the coop so they have all been fertile eggs. But, there is no difference in fertile or infertile eggs. You cant even see/or know there is a difference unless someone "sits" on them for a few days. I'm not sure about candeling at a early stage, from what I read about candeling, when I was trying it, is...early on your are really looking at the shell and if it can withstand "sitting". Looking to see of it's porous or cracked. Hope this helps you to keep on eating without feeling weird about it....

Quote:
AHHHH! A smart Broody!!! I need one of those.....

The adventures of Desi....
Quote: LOL!!! I can just picture him sitting on the roost....soaked looking down at the creek, wondering what the heck just happened. Soooooo glad to hear he is crowking....again
Quote: I'm still amazed...and very glad all the chickies are OK. I'm also surprised that they "relocated" him and didnt just do away with him. After trying to eat my chickies, I'd be a little mad. But I guess it was the right thing to do....He is "supposed" to eat littles.....and also, relocating him may not make that big of a difference. You guys probably have more critters where he came from...maybe worse...lol. I've seen you "bugs"...the "tire lock"

 

[tommysgirl]

I saw what looked to be a successful mating with Rousseau the other morning, so I just candled her egg from today, and there is a round shadow in there, which must mean it's fertile, right? I wasn't really expecting him to be able to fertilize eggs at 16 weeks, but I guess he can! No one is broody, though, so I'll just have to get over my sudden sqeamishness about eating fertile eggs. It wasn't a problem when they were fertile super market eggs, but now that I know the parents, I suddenly feel weird about it! Please help me get over this!



How you liking the rain, TG? 2 inches here the past few days, I've read it's considerably more further north. Are you getting dumped on?

OK liz I am here to help you get over it. Regular folks like us can't tell if an egg is fertile until we crack it. If it is fertile the little white dot on the yolk will look like a bullseye. if it isn't fertile the dot will be irregularly shaped and no bullseye. The Chicken Chick has a good article on fertile egg myths that you can google but we are not supposed to post links to other chicken oriented sites on BYC so these pictures will have to do

See the bullseye?? This is fertile.

This one isn't. The blastodisc is small and has pretty irregularly shaped edges.

Probably what you saw when you candled is the yolk. So take heart the egg might not be fertile. I have a hard time telling sometimes because of the lighting in my kitchen and the glare off the yolk.

We got about 6 or 7 inches which is great. The lake is super low.

Good News on the collar!

We have possums but I do not think they are the same as your possums, ours are cute and eat leaves and fruit


Cilla has a lizard living in her run at the moment, he is all of about 3cm long. Each time I change her water he makes an appearance. He won't last long once the chicks hatch or if she stays off the nest long enough to spot him.

Good luck with Norma TG; I hope she gets the full on broody thing happening for you.

Our possums are hideous. Like God took all the left over ugly parts and stuck them together.

Surprised Cilla hasn't made fast work of the lizard. The first time I saw my little girls about 8 weeks...playing keep away with a lizard I was appalled? Maybe Bantams are not the huntresses LF are

AHHHH! A smart Broody!!! I need one of those.....

I may be giving her too much credit. She did go broody a few months back in the pouring rain in an unprotected flower pot.

 

[lizgarf]

Thanks TG and TGG for the fertile egg help! I candled some more eggs last night and started wondering if what I was seeing was just the yolk. All I know about hatching I learned from BYC and I made some guesses about what a candled fertile egg would look like based on the pictures. TGG, fertile eggs are a pretty common free-range option at the stores I shop at (Trader Joe's and the Berkeley Bowl - not typical supermarkets but not outrageously expensive either.) People around here sometimes hatch those eggs!

Sadly, I heard crowing again today at about 5:30 a.m. I was already awake for some reason (maybe crowing?) when I first heard it, so it may not have been loud enough wake anyone, but I went down and tightened the collar. Back to crowks now, but I'm back to demoralized. I think it's time to start looking for better options for Desi, as he just doesn't seem conducive to city life. If I could just hear his crowks and they didn't wake me up, they wouldn't bother me - but it's worrying about whether they're bothering the neighbors + being woken up that is just too much for me. And, his being so high-maintenance about going back to the coop isn't helping his situation.

I'm thinking about making a flyer with cute pictures to tell my neighbors about the situation and give them a chance to voice in. I think I'll also start looking for a new home for him to start assessing options. Maybe I could even find some place close enough that Desi could come back for some visits with the ladies? Does that happen?

 

[Teila]

Thanks TG and TGG for the fertile egg help! I candled some more eggs last night and started wondering if what I was seeing was just the yolk. All I know about hatching I learned from BYC and I made some guesses about what a candled fertile egg would look like based on the pictures. TGG, fertile eggs are a pretty common free-range option at the stores I shop at (Trader Joe's and the Berkeley Bowl - not typical supermarkets but not outrageously expensive either.) People around here sometimes hatch those eggs!

Sadly, I heard crowing again today at about 5:30 a.m. I was already awake for some reason (maybe crowing?) when I first heard it, so it may not have been loud enough wake anyone, but I went down and tightened the collar. Back to crowks now, but I'm back to demoralized. I think it's time to start looking for better options for Desi, as he just doesn't seem conducive to city life. If I could just hear his crowks and they didn't wake me up, they wouldn't bother me - but it's worrying about whether they're bothering the neighbors + being woken up that is just too much for me. And, his being so high-maintenance about going back to the coop isn't helping his situation.

I'm thinking about making a flyer with cute pictures to tell my neighbors about the situation and give them a chance to voice in. I think I'll also start looking for a new home for him to start assessing options. Maybe I could even find some place close enough that Desi could come back for some visits with the ladies? Does that happen?

Oh no .. not good

 

[lizgarf]

OK, I made one last effort at trying something new: I put Desi in a cat carrier tonight, inside the crawl space under my house. I felt like a jerk, but he was sleeping on the far roost by himself again, anyway, and, that's a danger spot for crowing, because there's no way to damper the sound. So, I'm hoping that the combined effect of the cat carrier and the dark will either prevent the crows or make them even quieter (with the collar still on, of course). I hope he's safe in there. He's right next to a vent, and the space is at least 500 sq. feet, so plenty of air.
I also made a flier with cute pictures of the chicks/chickens and explained the whole Desi Dilemma and that I wanted to be a good neighbor, so please let me know if you've been hearing his crows and if they're bothering you.
I'll put the fliers in the 8 or so closest mail boxes tomorrow, when the rain is finally going to have stopped! 4.5 inches of rain in 4 days here, and sounds like TG may have gotten twice that! Will be nice to see how the garden responds.

 

[lizgarf]

Desi's overnight in the cat carrier inside the crawl space (which is accessible through a door inside the coop, worked well for me! I don't know how it went for him, but I only heard noise once, and it wasn't quite a crow and it was just one, as opposed to the many crows in a row he normally does. Actually he's doing several crowks in a row right now. The volume is manageable, though the sound is distinct enough that it's still obvious I have a rooster.

I was rethinking putting out the flier, since the night went so well, but now that I'm hearing the crowks, I think I probably should.

Cleaning the poop in the cat carrier each day will be a pain, and it will be hard to go away and expect a critter-sitter to deal with Desi, but this set-up is currently manageable for me. We'll see if it is for the neighbors.

 

[Teila]

Hi Team

How is everyone doing? How goes the DDD Liz?

Had the worse day of my 14 year career with this company yesterday. I had to do a 1.5 hour presentation in front of the CEO and various Directors and colleagues. It was a train wreck; I have never been so embarrassed in my life. I knew the material inside and out but I had to follow someone else's script with people in the Boardroom and others on Teleconference, working on a large screen projector .. it was just awful. 14 years credibility went out the window; I looked like a complete idiot

Left home at 06:05am and did not get home until 05:25pm. Hubby was wonderful; he had given the cats some time in their outside play area and fed them; free-ranged and fed Dusty, Tina and Suzi and also made sure Cilla had a break from nesting, something to eat and a stretch plus he had also emptied the dishwasher; his pet hate. Probably a good thing because I arrived home and burst into tears!!

Anyway, obviously I did not get to spend any time with my girls and it felt weird; I normally spend a couple of hours with them every afternoon. Everyone looked happy and Cilla is still going strong.

Day 14.

 

[lizgarf]

Aw, Teila! I'm so sorry for your rotten day!

I know when I feel like a complete failure at my work (which is pretty frequently), there isn't much that can cheer me up; but do take heart that you know your stuff and if you're anywhere near as attentive and considerate at work as you are on this forum, everyone there appreciates you and has your back! And, how lovely to have such a supportive husband! I swear we exported most of the good ones.

DDD is manageable at the moment, thanks for asking. He definitely did not want to go back in the cat carrier last night, but the difference in my outlook, knowing he won't wake me up is amazing! And, within seconds of my letting him out this morning, he jumped on Grace, who was having none of it! I've only heard back from one neighbor about the flier - a vegan who I knew lives too far down to hear him, but who walks by a lot and is a bit of a busy-body, plus her daughter runs the animal shelter, so I wanted to act preemptively! She hadn't noticed him, and was mildly concerned about my getting more roosters from him, but I doubt she'll be a problem. So far, so good!

 

[lizgarf]

I just had to share some pics from today, the first day dry enough to (try to) work outside in a week!
This one is for you TGG! @texgardengal :


Zorro, showing Bettina, how to get some pets:



TG, how do you tag people in a post?

 

[Teila]

Aw, Teila! I'm so sorry for your rotten day!

I know when I feel like a complete failure at my work (which is pretty frequently), there isn't much that can cheer me up; but do take heart that you know your stuff and if you're anywhere near as attentive and considerate at work as you are on this forum, everyone there appreciates you and has your back! And, how lovely to have such a supportive husband! I swear we exported most of the good ones.

DDD is manageable at the moment, thanks for asking. He definitely did not want to go back in the cat carrier last night, but the difference in my outlook, knowing he won't wake me up is amazing! And, within seconds of my letting him out this morning, he jumped on Grace, who was having none of it! I've only heard back from one neighbor about the flier - a vegan who I knew lives too far down to hear him, but who walks by a lot and is a bit of a busy-body, plus her daughter runs the animal shelter, so I wanted to act preemptively! She hadn't noticed him, and was mildly concerned about my getting more roosters from him, but I doubt she'll be a problem. So far, so good!

Thank you Liz, have felt pretty down since it happened and really do want to be here today. One of the girls who was at the presentation rang today for a session kill and when she asked "How Are You?" I could hear the pity in her tone .. yeah, not much that could cheer me up at the moment

Having said that, as per usual, you gave me reason to smile/laugh .. Quote: " I swear we exported most of the good ones. " .. yeah and you are not getting this one back!

Another reason to smile is that it sounds like you might be getting somewhere with the DDD. He would run into the carrier of an evening if he knew the alternative. Lols at " And, within seconds of my letting him out this morning, he jumped on Grace, who was having none of it!" might need to work on his charm
That does sounds positive with the one response from the distant neighbour .. how long have the fliers been out there now? I am thinking the longer they are out there without response, the better.

Ah well, lunch is over, time to get back to trying to restore some degree of credibility. I get to leave in 2 hours and 50 minutes, not that I am counting!