Hatching with 2 broodies

[Carrie54452002]

cute pics carrie! what breed is your mama?

Ehis is good info and a great picture!

So so sweet. I like the one where they are all crammed up under Cilla too!

She is an Old English Game Bantam

Thanks everyone on the comp.iments on the babies! They are doing fab as well as Mumma! The only thing I am struggling with is when I leave for work I leave them in their brooder and with it being Winter here it gets dark at 4:30-5 o clock so when I get home I can't let them out either. I have been letting them out to free range on the weekends and just keeping an eye on them to make sure the others are playing nice but I feel awful keeping them locked up all week What does team broody suggest in this situation?

On another sad note, my banty cochin is NOT doing well at all She is my only remaining original girl and this makes me very sad. I can't put my finger on it but I am not sure she will make the weekend. I have her in a kennel with fresh vit B water and food with some scratch mixed in but I have tried to see if she is eggbound with no luck. She hasn;t laid for over a week now and just seems generally lathargic. I did find just a couple lice on her but by no means "Infested". No seeping from anywhere, wormy poos,coughing/sneezing, etc... so bummed and confused. I don't feel an egg but am about to stick my pinky up her bum to double check, would hate to lose her over something I MAYBE coud've prevented or helped with if I would just get over the grossness of sctually doing that to a poor chicken. Ugh, so discouraging... thoughts?

 

[Teila]

She is an Old English Game Bantam

Thanks everyone on the comp.iments on the babies! They are doing fab as well as Mumma! The only thing I am struggling with is when I leave for work I leave them in their brooder and with it being Winter here it gets dark at 4:30-5 o clock so when I get home I can't let them out either. I have been letting them out to free range on the weekends and just keeping an eye on them to make sure the others are playing nice but I feel awful keeping them locked up all week What does team broody suggest in this situation?

On another sad note, my banty cochin is NOT doing well at all She is my only remaining original girl and this makes me very sad. I can't put my finger on it but I am not sure she will make the weekend. I have her in a kennel with fresh vit B water and food with some scratch mixed in but I have tried to see if she is eggbound with no luck. She hasn;t laid for over a week now and just seems generally lathargic. I did find just a couple lice on her but by no means "Infested". No seeping from anywhere, wormy poos,coughing/sneezing, etc... so bummed and confused. I don't feel an egg but am about to stick my pinky up her bum to double check, would hate to lose her over something I MAYBE coud've prevented or helped with if I would just get over the grossness of sctually doing that to a poor chicken. Ugh, so discouraging... thoughts?

Hi there Carrie
Hhhhm, that is a bit sad about not being able to let your little ones out during the week. With our weather at the moment, the bubbies are able to be outside in the covered run while I am at work. I wish I had an answer for you. I know what you mean by feeling a little awful but you are doing the right thing for their welfare. I'm not familiar with your weather and how the chickens handle it but if they were outside, would they be doing much in the cold anyway? Even though they are outside my girls (and probably boys now) don't do much during the day except lay around the place! lol. Your little ones do have each other for company also, so I am sure they are getting up to stuff and having some fun while you are gone.

Oh no, I am sorry to hear about your banty cochin
As you probably know from earlier posts, I recently lost Britney and her symptoms were similar to the ones you describe. She hung in there for 2 weeks. She hadn't laid for about 4 or so weeks and she had been wormed and was on antibiotics. I couldn't feel an egg either but I did try the 20 min warm bath. One thing she did have that you did not mention is diarrhoea. While not eating as much as she usually did, she still had a small appetite and ate something. Her tail was drooped but she still had nice colour in her comb. It turns out she was probably internal laying which is not the same as egg-bound in that they continue to lay but internally as their reproductive system has gone haywire. The yolks etc are somewhere in their system, causing infections so while the antibiotics may clear up the infection, they immediately get another one. Sadly, there is no cure for internal laying. I hope that this is not what your banty has and that she picks up. Do you have access to some antibiotics, you could try a course? Any chance she has cut her foot somewhere and developed a Staph infection? Having said that, in my experience they go downhill very fast with that. Again antibiotics would be helpful in that situation. Maybe try some garlic in her water; that is apparently a natural antibiotic and some people swear by it. Some honey in her water should also give her spirits a bit of a lift. She may benefit from some yogurt and scrambled eggs.
I am sure you are doing all you can for her and she knows that you love her. If support from others made any difference she would be up and running around because I am really hoping for the best and will be thinking of you and her.

 

[lizgarf]

Eeek, Liz, the fact that Ida is one day younger than Daisy but smaller is maybe not a good sign either; I have read that the pullets can be smaller than roosters at this stage. But, as you know, I am no expert. I hope for the sake of your egg production levels, they are both pullets Sorry, I forgot, if one is a Rooster will you still be keeping him? My little guys all still look the same except for some slight colour variance. ?Tina (I so hope so) is the only one of the 4 who has not developed leg feathers to the extent of the others and you can actually still see her legs, not fuzzy!

Sadly, I won't be able to keep a rooster. They're officially prohibited in Oakland, and my neighbors wouldn't be supportive of my trying to get around that.

I looked long and hard at them today and took a bunch of pictures. At 4.5 weeks, it may still be too early to tell, but they look completely pullet-like to me, except for Daisy's pink comb. One useful comparison tool I've been using is this BYC thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-of-sexing-updated-with-weeks-1-3-pictures/10. In that thread, it's pretty easy to tell the roosters from the pullets by 3 weeks, and others by 5, and my bubbies really don't look like their roosters. In addition to the solid feather-development, the overall oblong shape of my chicks looks like pullet:

Just like mom on the roost:


Here you can see the pink comb and wattles on a pullet body:


See, oblong:


Or, is this a rooster stance?:


Frida, what do you think?


Team Broody? Should I post on another thread for advice or just wait another couple weeks . . . ?

 

[Teila]

Sadly, I won't be able to keep a rooster. They're officially prohibited in Oakland, and my neighbors wouldn't be supportive of my trying to get around that.

I looked long and hard at them today and took a bunch of pictures. At 4.5 weeks, it may still be too early to tell, but they look completely pullet-like to me, except for Daisy's pink comb. One useful comparison tool I've been using is this BYC thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-of-sexing-updated-with-weeks-1-3-pictures/10. In that thread, it's pretty easy to tell the roosters from the pullets by 3 weeks, and others by 5, and my bubbies really don't look like their roosters. In addition to the solid feather-development, the overall oblong shape of my chicks looks like pullet:

Just like mom on the roost:


Here you can see the pink comb and wattles on a pullet body:


See, oblong:


Or, is this a rooster stance?:


Frida, what do you think?


Team Broody? Should I post on another thread for advice or just wait another couple weeks . . . ?

Ah gees Liz .. it's too hard. I don't know. If you pushed me for an answer, looking at the thread and then back to your bubbies I would say girls but don't hold me to that.
You don't have to make a decision yet do you? It probably wouldn't hurt to try another thread and get some more expert opinions. If someone told me which of my little ones they thought were guys and gals, I would still wait and see.
My little ones puff up their chests and bounce off each other also but then I have seen Cilla and Dusty do the same thing so I don't think that can be a factor!

Two eggs today! Cilla laid her first egg for 8 weeks ... woo hooo! She definitely is weaning. I opened up everything today so everyone could get out. She spent a good 3/4 of an hour outside and didn't once run back to the bubbies. Her and Dusty were having a great time rekindling their friendship. Even though they could, the bubbies did not want to come out and were quite happy in the run but they didn't seem too fussed that mumma had left them. I sat in there with them and fed them some cheese and talked to them for ages :-D

We have a storm coming in now so everyone is back in the 'Estate' (possibly hail). I am going to leave it to the last minute to intervene and rustle them inside if it rains. I am hoping to see them do this of their own accord.

 

[lizgarf]

Ah gees Liz .. it's too hard. I don't know. If you pushed me for an answer, looking at the thread and then back to your bubbies I would say girls but don't hold me to that.
You don't have to make a decision yet do you? It probably wouldn't hurt to try another thread and get some more expert opinions. If someone told me which of my little ones they thought were guys and gals, I would still wait and see.
My little ones puff up their chests and bounce off each other also but then I have seen Cilla and Dusty do the same thing so I don't think that can be a factor!

Two eggs today! Cilla laid her first egg for 8 weeks ... woo hooo! She definitely is weaning. I opened up everything today so everyone could get out. She spent a good 3/4 of an hour outside and didn't once run back to the bubbies. Her and Dusty were having a great time rekindling their friendship. Even though they could, the bubbies did not want to come out and were quite happy in the run but they didn't seem too fussed that mumma had left them. I sat in there with them and fed them some cheese and talked to them for ages :-D

I don't have to do anything about it until they crow loud enough for my neighbors to hear! Hopefully, that won't happen at all, or at least, not anytime soon. What about you? Will you have to find homes for your roosters, assuming you have some?

Wow, Cilla is laying again!! That's so exciting! I know it's not a fair comparison, since you're in springtime and I'm in winter, but this could be some encouragement that at least Frida will start laying again soon. Grace looks done with her molt. . . . Do you think they could all boycott laying for the whole winter?? Stella was 6 months older than all these girls and she laid pretty steadily throughout her first winter, and Grace started laying in November and kept it up the whole time. I heard they go through a molt during their second winter, and I guess when they start up again depends on the bird and other factors. It doesn't get all that cold here, but the days are already down to only about 10 hours long.

Love the image of you in the run with the bubbies. I hope you don't have to give too many away . . .

 

[Teila]

Yep Liz, sadly I am in the same boat as you .. if they crow they have to go :-(
I have warned the neighbours I talk to that I probably can't sex them until they crow or lay and they are OK with it. I have assured them that will be going .. where? I have no idea! I think I would have to have some roosters, surely I couldn't be lucky enough to get 5 girls! Even if they are all girls, I still don't have the room for all of them. I want to keep 2, so I really do hope 2 are girls.

I hope for your sake, someone starts laying soon .. having to buy eggs when you have chickens is a little ironic! I am not sure if the weather here really affects their laying. I have had Cilla since February and she has dropped about 6 feathers with the bubbies but I am not sure if/when she may molt. I must admit, I was surprised when Cilla laid today! Dusty is just Dusty and plods along, still laying mostly every day or second day. Aussie chickens would definitely be on a different clock to American ones!
The storm passed and Cilla has been back out free-ranging for probably an hour and half .. no interest in going back to the bubbies. I feel sorry for them! Gees, talk about cutting ties! I have spent ages making it up to them, chatting and stroking them. Cilla is going to have to go back with them soon for dinner and then bed time.

"Love the image of you in the run with the bubbies" .. my back is not loving it too much right now! lols

 

[Teila]

"We have full bellies and we are very tired!"

 

[lizgarf]

Ruh roh . . .I posted some pictures in the "what sex is this?" forum and the only response so far is for two cockerels! Maybe I've been wrong all along! In any case, it's still too early to tell, but those combs are troubling, especially Daisy's pink one.
Very much regretting not just getting an 8-month-old laying red star back in September when I had the chance, but then, I see my little family of four together. . .
Ah well, I guess I'll just keep waiting and seeing and keep my ears open for good rooster homes . . .

 

[tommysgirl]

Liz I will be making Red Stars in my backyard sometime in the future...depending on the appearance of a broody. I will also have black stars and maybe a brown star so if you want me to reserve one or more for you at any time in the future, I will be happy to. I am about 2 hours from you. Could meet you in Marin when the time comes.

 

[lizgarf]

Thanks, TG! We'll be in touch. If you know anyone who needs any BCM roosters if it comes down to that, I'd love the help!