Hatching with 2 broodies

[lizgarf]

I had to share bedtime pictures. 7 weeks old tomorrow; surely she will be teaching them to roost soon? lol

So awesome! She must have gotten used to sleeping on that down matterress!

 

[Teila]

Tee hee ... someone else suggested they were Silkie Slippers to keep her feet warm!

I am going to throw this out there for some input please Team. I am mulling around in my head what to do about the sleeping arrangements.

As you know, before bubbies, Dusty & Cilla had the chateau and the run. They used to sleep in the chateau. Then when the bubbies arrived, Cilla & Co are sleeping in the ranch and Dusty is sleeping in the chateau by herself in the single nesting box (she has never slept on the roost, prefers the nesting box)

The chateau does not have a silkie friendly roost while the ranch has lots of room and two silkie friendly roosts.

The divider is open all day and they are all together.

I normally drop the dividing door about half an hour before bed time and pop Cilla in the ranch end. She tells the bubbies when it is time for bed and they follow her lead into the ranch, I have never seen them go to bed before her even though she has always loved to leave it until the last minute and was never the first one to bed. They are OK on their own when she is out free ranging but if she is with them they still follow her everywhere.

I am tossing up whether to stop dividing them at bed time? But this is what is going through my head ....

* If Cilla decides she wants to go and roost in her old digs with Dusty and the bubbies go with her, they won't all fit on the roost and probably can't reach it. They can't cuddle in the nesting box near the roost because Dusty sleeps there and I know she is not going to want to share.

Do you think I should just leave it as it is until the bubbies are a bit older and have started to use the roosts in the ranch?

Maybe I should leave it until I have seen them go to bed without her lead and then throw it open for everyone to sort out where they want to sleep?

I could continue separating them indefinitely but I think Dusty and Cilla would be happier together seeing they have rekindled their friendship.

*Sigh* What to do?

 

[tommysgirl]

I hope everyone has had a great Thanksgiving! I had a lovely hike in the redwoods with Reggie, got some plants in the ground, and had dinner with my Italian friends, one of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions.

I managed to get some pictures today, to show the ch-ch-ch-changes the bubbies are going through. It's looking to me like I probably have one of each, but it's still too early to tell for sure.

The whole flock (Ida/ho on the upper left, Daisy/Desi on the step below):

Great little flock shot and yep it looks to me like one of each. I still am not sure about my babies.

Hhhhm Liz, Daisy/Desi does look a tad bigger than Ida/ho doesn't he/she?

Lovely pictures once again Liz, happy Thanksgiving to you all xoxo

I had to share bedtime pictures. 7 weeks old tomorrow; surely she will be teaching them to roost soon? lol

Precious...it's now like they are a fluffy pillow for her to lay on!
I would put them together on a day when you can be home to watch what happens. It will be revealed pretty quickly if things will go smoothly. I am willing to bet that everyone will play nicely. Putting them together when Cilla is still watching out for them may be better since in my experience...limited to one hen one time before this...once she gives up watching over them they will be less likely to be be treated kindly.

 

[Teila]

Great little flock shot and yep it looks to me like one of each. I still am not sure about my babies.

Precious...it's now like they are a fluffy pillow for her to lay on!
I would put them together on a day when you can be home to watch what happens. It will be revealed pretty quickly if things will go smoothly. I am willing to bet that everyone will play nicely. Putting them together when Cilla is still watching out for them may be better since in my experience...limited to one hen one time before this...once she gives up watching over them they will be less likely to be be treated kindly.

Howdy TG and thank you once again for the advice

Yeah, when they all do start roosting she is probably going to miss her fluffy bed

They are all together during the day and have been for a month or so now. They give Cranky Aunty Dusty a wide berth and pretty much do their own thing. Haven't seem Dusty giving them a hard time of late; she seems to have accepted that the little munchkins are part of the family. Cilla is not really protecting them anymore and is best buds with Dusty again. The majority of the time, Dusty and Cilla are hanging out together. Having said that, it is raining today and during the heavy showers everyone is cuddled together under the smallest shelter they can find. Don't go and use the big, totally dry areas, all squeeze into the smallest semi-dry area available! lol.

My dilemma was more about bed time and as you can see, they are still cuddling up to mumma at night. But if I don't drop the divider Cilla may try and sleep with Dusty and that is when there might be problems. The more I think about it the more I am swaying to continuing with the evening separation until she seems not to want to cuddle up with them and they have taken to roosting. At 7 weeks old they are still relatively bubbies I guess. They will always be my bubbies! lol

Once again I guess I should stop fussing and let Cilla lead the way. I am sure she is going to let me now when she doesn't want to sleep with them!

 

[lizgarf]

My dilemma was more about bed time and as you can see, they are still cuddling up to mumma at night. But if I don't drop the divider Cilla may try and sleep with Dusty and that is when there might be problems. The more I think about it the more I am swaying to continuing with the evening separation until she seems not to want to cuddle up with them and they have taken to roosting. At 7 weeks old they are still relatively bubbies I guess. They will always be my bubbies! lol

Once again I guess I should stop fussing and let Cilla lead the way. I am sure she is going to let me now when she doesn't want to sleep with them!

Hmm, it seems to me that maybe she is sleeping with them in the nest because she doesn't have anyone else to sleep with. I guess I'm not sure I'm fully understanding the problem with night integration, since day integration is not a problem. I haven't had any known issues with night integration. I would bet that if you take away the divider, Cilla will return to the roost with Dusty and the bubbies will eventually follow, but of course, I can't promise that.

 

[lizgarf]

Hmm, it seems to me that maybe she is sleeping with them in the nest because she doesn't have anyone else to sleep with. I guess I'm not sure I'm fully understanding the problem with night integration, since day integration is not a problem. I haven't had any known issues with night integration. I would bet that if you take away the divider, Cilla will return to the roost with Dusty and the bubbies will eventually follow, but of course, I can't promise that.

Oops, I wrote that before I saw your longer post explaining the problem - I had missed it. So, now I understand the dilemma more, but I still think it probably won't be a problem, and you may as well give everyone options, so Dusty won't keep being lonely at night.

 

[Teila]

Oops, I wrote that before I saw your longer post explaining the problem - I had missed it. So, now I understand the dilemma more, but I still think it probably won't be a problem, and you may as well give everyone options, so Dusty won't keep being lonely at night.

Liz, oh dear, I managed to confuse all and sundry! lol
You know what it is like, we have all this stuff in our heads and try to explain it to someone else .. fail! lol

You know what, you are probably right, I should just leave the divider open at night, see what happens and who sleeps where. If chaos reigns I can revert back to how it is now for a couple more weeks!

Not today though, I think we are in for lots more rain and I can see myself running around at dusk in the rain moving soggy chickens around! lol

In my ideal world Dusty would give up sleeping in the chateau and follow Cilla & Co to the ranch ... yeah, like that is going to happen! lol

 

[lizgarf]

Hey Team,
Now that there seems to be a strong chance that Daisy is Desi, I've been thinking of trying to keep him. But, my first research on rooster-keeping freaked me out. Apparently they can be mean, and you have to try to show them who's boss, and maybe remove their spurs, etc. That's without even getting to the noise! My plan to bring him inside won't work if I can't pick him up! I was wondering if TexGG and TGG had any advice about rooster-keeping that could be useful to me. I had heard of plenty of nice roosters before, so it seems there must be some ways to foster that (or maybe it's just personality, but my hens are all pretty nice to each other, and I doubt I just got lucky). Yesterday, I saw Desi trying to peck the moms and chest-bump a little bit, and I really don't want anyone beating up on my hens, including a broody-raised rooster!

 

[texgardengal]

Hi ladies!
Love all the pictures!! Liz, your babies have gotten so big!!! So pretty. I LOVE that pic of Bettina. She's adorable. Desi/Daisy is much bigger. Do roosters usually get bigger this early? or does that happen later whey they are "grown-ups"? They are just part of the flock now....Does Reggie do OK with them? I couldnt tell from the pictures but it looks like she's right there with them?
Teila those little white fluff balls under momma. So cute. They're big too! I'm so jealous. How fun baby chicks are. Telia Is there any way you can add to the Chateau? add a board and make the roost wider or L shaped or put a wide flat board on it? Is it possible to lay a board against it so they can just walk up there? Just an idea. Would be nice if Cilla and Dusty could go back to their nesting box and the kiddo's could still be close to mom but far enough away to make Aunt Dusty happy.....But I may have the layout completely wrong in my head. lol but ya, you are right. Sound like the ranch is much roomer and more accommodating with the roosts but will it doesnt sound like Dusty likes roosts.
I dont know much about roosters. Other than mine. George wants everybody to know he is the boss. He gets the first pick at food and sits where he wants on the roost and everybody just lets him.... Bart is much bigger and I tell him that all the time..... that he's bigger and dont let him get away with that! but he just lets him? George doesnt have to peck anybody... I've never ever seen them fight, or either rooster peck anyone. He will kind of chase after Bart if he tries to eat first...or just cuz he feels like it.... but they get along. Maybe he (if he is a "he") is just establishing his spot in the "pecking order". Letting everybody know early on; Hey! I'm the rooster around here. I go into our pen every day. It's only 20x20 and has a net over the top...we have TONS of hawks around here, and the actual coop is, I guess 5x8 and it is in the center of they yard so it's pretty close quarters and neither of my roosters is aggressive to me in any way and has never been, ever?
They do crow...before the sun comes up..and then for awhile....in the morning. If they hear another rooster crowing in the area, that will get them started up again later in the day but for the most part they are pretty quiet.
They are VERY protective of their ladies though. It's so cute. If something is threatening...kids, dogs.. they will herd the ladies in a corner...get between the threat and the hens, puff up and start with this weird loud clucking....not really a crow.... it's great.

 

[Teila]

Texgardengal. Thank you so very much for your response

Not touching the rooster topic lol .. got no idea about roosters except they crow and fertilise eggs!

I had an idea last night to leave Cilla out free ranging with Dusty til as late as possible to see what the bubbies would do. I caved, I had to put her in with them, they were peeping so much for their mum! She was still looking for somewhere higher to roost.

I think she wants to be with them but also wants to roost.

I have been mulling over what to do for a while now and this morning I had an idea; don't now why I didn't think of it before! Doh!. Your suggestion of changing the chateau was probably the spark. If Cilla is looking for somewhere higher to roost and the bubbies still want her with them; why don't I give Cilla a higher roost in the coop with the bubbies?

In the picture you can see the two low roosts in front of them (apparently ideal for Silkies) so I have secured a higher perch slightly further back so no chance of being pooped on; it is about the same height as the one she had in the other coop.

I am a little excited to see what happens. I don't think the bubbies will be able to get up to it but it is close to the roosts they could use and if she uses hers, they might just start using theirs.

If Cilla is happy with the new roost, Dusty can probably hang in there for a couple more weeks (she spends all day with them) when the bubbies might be used to sleeping on their roost and then I can throw it open and see what happens.

I will let you know how I go.