Hatching with 2 broodies

[tommysgirl]

Thanks for the support, everyone!
Yesterday was pretty stressful. Not much has changed today, but I'm beginning to feel more relaxed about the situation. It has been very hard to keep the temperature constant in my little homemade incubator. I put the eggs back under their moms in the early evening, and they set on them well until late morning today, when the scratching started up again. So, the two hopeful eggs are back in the homemade incubator now. It's hard to say which set-up is less risky for them really, but at least they can keep still. I'll put them back when things settle down for the day, and then let them stay with them tomorrow, come what may. It'll be 24 days tonight, so not much hope beyond tomorrow morning, anyway.
In the meantime, things are going well with the family of four. I keep debating moving them into the larger crate. In the meantime, I've been removing the wire which has been cutting off their nest from the rest of the coop, for several hours a day while the other hens range in the back. I may skip the crate and go straight to integration in the next couple days. Aw, the things we wonder about on the farm.
Sounds like your girls are very well taken care of, Teila!! I'm sure they appreciate all you do for them! Picture updates soon? I just threw some dirt into their nest area after reading your post - hopefully that'll help with any grit they might need!

Oh, I've been enjoying trying to figure out if I was lucky enough to get two girls, by looking at their wing feathers: http://www2.ca.uky.edu/smallflocks/Feather_sexing_practice.html
Anyone tried this before? It looks like the boys' feathers are close in length, while the girls have long and short ones. If my overly hopeful, completely novice, eye can be trusted, I might have two girls!!

I know what you mean about the overly hopeful, completely novice eye. I did it with my first hatch. 4 chicks I thought/hoped maybe I had a girl but their feathers indicated that they were all boys and that was accurate. It doesn't work with all birds but it is pretty reliable for the quick feathering ones.

 

[lizgarf]

I know what you mean about the overly hopeful, completely novice eye. I did it with my first hatch. 4 chicks I thought/hoped maybe I had a girl but their feathers indicated that they were all boys and that was accurate. It doesn't work with all birds but it is pretty reliable for the quick feathering ones.

Really?! 4 for 4 boys!?! Man, with my odds, you never know, but #2's feathers definitely look differentiated! #1 as well, but with less certainty. Given the low hatch rate, my hope is that my ladies just strategically saved the girls for us.

 

[lizgarf]

Crazy update for the day:
I decided to take the barrier down with the other hens in the nest, and it went pretty well. Bettina, the sweet Brahma, pretty much ignored the chicks. Grace, who's on top of the order with Stella gone, gave everyone a couple pecks, broodies included, but nothing too bad. I was worried that the chicks would poke themselves on the barrier if I left it in place, or would get stuck on the other side, now that they started to wander, and it seemed like they had outgrown their nest, so I decided to move everyone into the dog crate. It was a quick, hectic, move, but it seemed to go ok at first. Rousseau was on another scratch frenzy, and maybe she hit it wrong, but the suspected bad blue egg suddenly exploded! Yep, an exploded egg does happen. I cleaned it up and regretted the move, but left everyone in place. Frida settled in, but Rousseau seemed agitated, so I opened up the crate, and took the water inside to change it. When I got back, Frida had moved everyone back to the original nest. Things were calming down for the evening, so I brought the last-hope eggs back to the nest from the heating pad-incubator and put them under Frida. I'm keeping the barrier off, and we'll see how it goes from here.

This whole broody-hatch process sure has been more complicated than I had ever imagined! I think it must be more about my obsessive personality and a hefty dose of bad luck, because it sure went smoothly for Teila and her hands' off hatch! Maybe nature is more efficient in Australia!
We'll see if our little family of four makes it through all the new hurdles to come.
--Liz

 

[coops gone crazy]

I think a few new pictures would be great guys! Lets see those chicks.

I just snuck out to the small coop in the dark- plastic chair, towel, flashlight and iPhone with iTorch app ready (that is what I found works best for candling believe it or not!).

The bad news- there are only 3 eggs left!!! 1 blue and 2 brown. We started with 4 blue, 8 brown.

The good news- there is hope! I have pretty much written this attempt off as a bust but 1 brown and 1 blue looked to have very normal air cell development and I saw movement in the blue for sure! The other brown is questionable. Air sac looked a bit big and shaped different. I could see a dark area in it that I thought maybe I saw movement in but then decided I wasn't so sure and the dark area doesn't seem big enough. But- 2 hopefuls still!!! I was actually surprised. 9 more days and I guess we will see. Helen is sitting tight. The silky Yzma seems to be out and about in the coop all day but also sits at night so I figure- if she helps keep them warm at night so be it.

Fingers crossed.......

 

[Teila]

G'Day Team!
Hhhm, Liz, Mother Nature is being very efficient this evening, rather heavily watering everything with light flashes and subsequent booms to go with it .. yep, little ones are experiencing their first tropical storm. While Brisbane is officially sub-tropical, we still manage to put on a good show in the wet season. The storm gave me a chance to check that the 'ranch' does not leak (all good) but sadly, it severely hampered quality time with the little ones when I got home .. basically "Hi bubs, here's some dinner and fresh water .. see you in the morning! lol Quick head count, still 5 munchkins

With some pangs of guilt I have no idea why my first brood all hatched with no dramas, no damage and no loss. Might have been a smidgen of stress involved lol. Maybe where they were situated in the 'chateau', maybe because I didn't touch them at all except on the very rare occasion and as you know, no candling. I really do not know .. Cilla was a great broody and continues to be a good Mum but there is no way I am going to compare her to others in Team Broody .. maybe the timing was just right, Spring starts in September in Brisbane! Maybe my pay back for a great hatch is going to be that they all turn out to be Roosters!

I do know that these tiny little critters have caused some big upheavals in the lives of all around them and that there is no way I could have have done it without Cilla. Working full time does not give me the opportunity to spend the time with them that I would want and having their Mum around must be so nice for them.

I can't wait for tomorrow so I can try out the wing-thing you posted Liz .. I have my eye on a keeper (currently brown) and I am hoping we have good weather tomorrow so that I can spend most of the day with them, checking out their chickenalities!

Tomorrow will probably also be a decider for Liz; fingers crossed for some good news there and of course, we continue the countdown for Coops, who I think is next?? Sorry, if I missed someone sooner .. this little thread is growing nearly as rapidly as our bubbies!

Til tomorrow Team .. take care

 

[lizgarf]

Good morning, Team!
Well, my hopes of waking up to one more chick this morning were not realized. It's sad, because I'm pretty sure that blue egg was viable just a few days ago, but something in all the chaos of the past few days just didn't let it make it's way out. Hard to believe I saw good development in all 4 blue eggs early on, but not one of them made it to hatch. Only 2 out of 8 eggs made it - ironically 2 of the eggs that were the hardest to candle. I think the whole experience with the dog on the day I was gone, plus shipped eggs, plus super dry air, plus co-parenting, plus #1 coming early all combined to make the hatch a tough one. I'm not sure I'd do anything differently next time (except the shipped eggs), though. Having Rosseau and Frida together was worth the smaller hatch, if that was a cause.

But, the little family of four seems to be enjoying their integration into the rest of the coop. There was a nice scene this morning of Rousseau showing them how to dust bathe, while Frida was keeping them warm. Of course, I didn't have my camera on me then. But, I did get a couple cute new family shots, back in the nest. Grace is definitely not impressed with this whole adorable display, but so far, she just seems to try to get in the occasional light peck. She also hasn't laid in over a week - possibly due to a molt, possibly for stress at the loss of Stella, the dog, the broodies, etc. At this point, for good or bad, it's an integrated flock.

Teila, I hope you get some good chicky-time in this weekend! It may be too late to do the wing feather check. That's supposed to only work in the first couple days. But, you might start noticing secondary signs soon. I don't know anything about sexing silkies - that's what you have, right?
Coops, what is happening to all your eggs?? Could there be a snake? If your egg-eaters would eat growing eggs, I'd be really nervous to have them around chicks! Any way to separate Helen?

And, now, the cuteness:




Scratch lessons in the big coop:

 

[tommysgirl]

Good morning, Team!
Well, my hopes of waking up to one more chick this morning were not realized. It's sad, because I'm pretty sure that blue egg was viable just a few days ago, but something in all the chaos of the past few days just didn't let it make it's way out. Hard to believe I saw good development in all 4 blue eggs early on, but not one of them made it to hatch. Only 2 out of 8 eggs made it - ironically 2 of the eggs that were the hardest to candle. I think the whole experience with the dog on the day I was gone, plus shipped eggs, plus super dry air, plus co-parenting, plus #1 coming early all combined to make the hatch a tough one. I'm not sure I'd do anything differently next time (except the shipped eggs), though. Having Rosseau and Frida together was worth the smaller hatch, if that was a cause.

But, the little family of four seems to be enjoying their integration into the rest of the coop. There was a nice scene this morning of Rousseau showing them how to dust bathe, while Frida was keeping them warm. Of course, I didn't have my camera on me then. But, I did get a couple cute new family shots, back in the nest. Grace is definitely not impressed with this whole adorable display, but so far, she just seems to try to get in the occasional light peck. She also hasn't laid in over a week - possibly due to a molt, possibly for stress at the loss of Stella, the dog, the broodies, etc. At this point, for good or bad, it's an integrated flock.

Teila, I hope you get some good chicky-time in this weekend! It may be too late to do the wing feather check. That's supposed to only work in the first couple days. But, you might start noticing secondary signs soon. I don't know anything about sexing silkies - that's what you have, right?
Coops, what is happening to all your eggs?? Could there be a snake? If your egg-eaters would eat growing eggs, I'd be really nervous to have them around chicks! Any way to separate Helen?

And, now, the cuteness:




Scratch lessons in the big coop:

Littles scratching = super precious! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Teila]

Good Sunny Morning Team!
Gotta luv the weekend.

Sorry to hear about the blue egg Liz; I was hoping you would get at least one :-(
You know what though, I think Team Broody deserve a pat on the back for their efforts to date; pretty good for beginners I think!

Your family-of-four is adorable and it is a credit to them and you that it is working so well! You are strides ahead of me! Having separated Cilla & Co, I now have the task of integrating them back in; hopefully starting today on a free-range if Cilla lets them out! Britney and Dusty have had glimpses of Cilla and luckily appear to remember her lol (they haven't seen much of her over the past 4 weeks!). Hopefully today, they will get a chance to see the little ones as well.

Congratulations to you that you have two adorable little bubs after a great percentage of the odds were against you! Aaaw, poor Grace, maybe some bubbies around might break that tough exterior :-D

Ah, OK, I was leaving the wing-thing until I had time on the weekend, including following the link you provided to have a read. I'll still check out the site anyway.

Bubs are a week old today and breakfast included some pasta, rice and lettuce which they seemed to enjoy. I have warned them that today could include a photo-shoot

Yep, Liz, they are Silkies and I have no idea how to sex them either. I have no experience with Silkies. Cilla is a Bantam Black Cochin, Dusty is a Bantam Langshan and Britney is a Bantam Leghorn. Looks like I am going to have to find out what sex they are by their chickenalities and development.

Cue music .. "Mumma, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Roosters" !!
Have a good day Team Broodies ... I will check back later for news and hopefully will have some photos to share

 

[tommysgirl]

Yep, Liz, they are Silkies and I have no idea how to sex them either. I have no experience with Silkies. Cilla is a Bantam Black Cochin, Dusty is a Bantam Langshan and Britney is a Bantam Leghorn. Looks like I am going to have to find out what sex they are by their chickenalities and development.

I hate to tell you this but silkies are pretty much unsexable even by the experts. You have to wait until they crow or lay eggs so it's going to be awhile

 

[Teila]

I hate to tell you this but silkies are pretty much unsexable even by the experts. You have to wait until they crow or lay eggs so it's going to be awhile

Thank you tommysgirl

Lols .. oh dear! Oh Joy! What have I done? Tee hee!
Ah well, at least I get to keep them for a while before I have to make a decision what to do. On the other hand, that gives me even longer to get attached and not want to part with them. I only ever planned to keep one from this hatch.
Let the fun commence ........