Hatching with 2 broodies

[MistyMountain]

Forgive me for playing catch up here!
Liz, sounds like things are starting to work out! Yesss! You had me laughing here with the "ooh my nose" comment! I agree with everyone else, don't stress yourself out! I sure hope those neighbors back down! Honestly, chickens are nothing compared to a barking dog or "noisy neighbors" as Teila said. Now if Desi could just stay in that weird crow transitioning stage… I am interested to see if those collars do work!

Teila! Awesome on the froggies and fishies! What kind of frogs do you have over there? Kind of a stupid question, I know, but what are the "common" kind? Do you have the big bull frogs like we do here? My sister in law has a little fountain pond at her house. It is filled with frogs! They are fun to listen to at night!

TG, Love your pics! Is he a SLW?

Big news from up on the mountain today!! Our FIRST egg!!! It was a broken rubber egg, but still an egg!! Maybe we can have an omelette by next week!?! I can be hopeful. Off to do chores and pick up feed. Happy Sunday all (and whatever day of the week it may be for those of you in Australia!)

 

[lizgarf]

Big news from up on the mountain today!! Our FIRST egg!!! It was a broken rubber egg, but still an egg!! Maybe we can have an omelette by next week!?! I can be hopeful. Off to do chores and pick up feed. Happy Sunday all (and whatever day of the week it may be for those of you in Australia!)

Congrats on the first egg! That is big news! I hope solid ones are quick to follow. Do you have oyster shell out for them?

I was thinking about your April 23rd chick order, and I wanted to warn you that my hens were born around then, and it took them 8-10 months to start laying! No joke! I plan to avoid late spring hatches in the future. Also, you know your situation better than I, but personally, I'd give the flock you have some time before doing big add-ons. Flock dynamics change with the season and one number of hens may seem manageable now, but less so in the summer or at another point. Those are just my 2 cents and I certainly support more hens if you have the infrastructure! But, I've also seen that smaller flocks are more harmonious flocks. (and this has nothing to do with my current situation, which I realize is relatively minor in the scheme of things).

 

[MistyMountain]

Congrats on the first egg! That is big news! I hope solid ones are quick to follow. Do you have oyster shell out for them?

I was thinking about your April 23rd chick order, and I wanted to warn you that my hens were born around then, and it took them 8-10 months to start laying! No joke! I plan to avoid late spring hatches in the future. Also, you know your situation better than I, but personally, I'd give the flock you have some time before doing big add-ons. Flock dynamics change with the season and one number of hens may seem manageable now, but less so in the summer or at another point. Those are just my 2 cents and I certainly support more hens if you have the infrastructure! But, I've also seen that smaller flocks are more harmonious flocks. (and this has nothing to do with my current situation, which I realize is relatively minor in the scheme of things).

Oyster shell is on my list of supplies from the feed store. I wanted keep them on the all flock sort of feed so the rooster and pullets that are slow maturing don't get a calcium overload. I am so stinkin' excited I can't stand it!

Thanks for the head's up on the chicks. By then I hope that the age they lay won't matter so much (the other 15 better be doing their job!! no freeloaders!!) I just want to get them going so I can close the door on needing any outside chickens or eggs. I don't plan to attempt to add the new ones to the flock for a good 20 weeks. They will have their own coop and run which will be dubbed "the schoolhouse" I am going to paint it red and it will then be used for future broodies and babies. The plan would have the run within the other run, which is more like a pasture. That way they will aways be separate but also a daily part of the flock until they are old enough to integrate (future babies that is). It's hard to explain. We have 11 acres right now, and it is almost an empty canvas for me… given my husband agrees with my dreamer ideas. I am actually considering separating my current flock at some point, which is where the extra rooster would come into play. With the hawk problem, I want to keep my bigger slower hens safe and allow the skittish faster leghorns to do more free ranging. The two remaining Silver Spangled Hamburgs (Lucky) will probably go into the school house with the silkies when the other 4 new pullets reach 20 weeks. Lucky is the bottom of the pecking order now, and speed is all that saves both her and her sister. Being that they are so small, I thought they might make good companions for the silkies until it is time to refresh the flock with some youngin's. My dreams at least, LOL! Thank you for the advice!

 

[lizgarf]

That all sounds amazing, MM! I am jealous of your space and options! I have a lot of space for an urban flock, and I sometimes pretend we're out in the country, but we're not!
Enjoy!!

 

[Teila]

"We may be almost out of these particular woods, and on our way into the rooster thicket." Tee hee Liz
That is good news though and hopefully soon they will all be best buds!
Tut, Desi! How long before you can try his collar out Liz?


Once again, I was woken by what sounded like someone trying to have a crow so I threw on some clothes and raced outside, heart in mouth, to see which of my darling little Silkie bubbies was going to have to leave home and it was Dusty!! That is twice now ... I'm thinking she has a plan; while acting all sweet and loving, she is actually trying to get the bubbies in trouble with the neighbours and gone! lol

Congratulations on your first egg MM

08:10am Monday morning here MM; Ugg!

To be honest MM, I know very little about frogs except that I have Pobblebonks and we have the most beautiful Green Tree Frogs but I have not seen any in Brisbane itself .. heaps up north though.

I live right in the middle of suburbia on a 631 square metre residential block; neighbours all round etc. While there would be many, many frogs all over Australia, not so much in the built-up areas like ours; suburbia and Aussie frogs do not mix well. I don't know why, I just wanted to be able to give the frogs somewhere in suburbia to be happy and it became a bit of challenge for me. I really do so much enjoy my little slice of paradise hiding in the built up neighbourhood.
Nothing I enjoy more than sitting under the gazebo, watching the girls and visiting parrots and doves, listening to the water trickle through the pond system; lots of green

 

[lizgarf]

"We may be almost out of these particular woods, and on our way into the rooster thicket." Tee hee Liz
That is good news though and hopefully soon they will all be best buds!
Tut, Desi! How long before you can try his collar out Liz?

I live right in the middle of suburbia on a 631 square metre residential block; neighbours all round etc. While there would be many, many frogs all over Australia, not so much in the built-up areas like ours; suburbia and Aussie frogs do not mix well. I don't know why, I just wanted to be able to give the frogs somewhere in suburbia to be happy and it became a bit of challenge for me. I really do so much enjoy my little slice of paradise hiding in the built up neighbourhood.
Nothing I enjoy more than sitting under the gazebo, watching the girls and visiting parrots and doves, listening to the water trickle through the pond system; lots of green

I don't have a collar for him yet. I just emailed the maker. I might go pick up some wide velcro and see about making a temporary one. I'm nervous because he's still growing and I don't want to buy multiples.
The good news is that Rousseau finally laid the egg that has been making her so loud this past week! Hopefully now she'll quiet down a bit, but she always was a loud layer. Maybe I'll just let her stay broody next time she gets that way and forget about her little eggs. Frida has about 5 days to go until she reaches her 4-month anniversary of the last egg she laid. She has showed no signs of being ready to lay.
The bad news is the Brady sisters are now in the backyard, and I'm not entirely sure I'm going to get them back into the coop! They made their own way there. The home flock is back in the coop, but the Brady sisters were not interested in my first attempt at showing them the way back (my dog's barking didn't help), and I'm nervous they'll try to roost outside tonight! That would not be safe. Wish us luck!

 

[lizgarf]

Update! Jan is in the run/coop, but Marsha flew up and over the house and is now in my neighbor's yard, adjacent to mine! No fences divide these parts of my yard, so I can see her, but I'm not sure how this is going to go! Lots of dogs in the neighborhood, but at least she's proven she can fly! Oy vey! Wish us more luck!

 

[lizgarf]

Phew! Everyone is now in the coop for the night! That was crazy! I should have listened to my second thoughts when I saw the old owners chasing Marsha around the yard when I went to get them. Jan was easy to catch and put in the coop tonight, but Marsha flew up and over a house to get away from me! She was hanging out in my neighbor's yard, where a stray cat was stalking her, and very, very, slowly made her way to my yard and the coop. The funny thing is that Rousseau and Grace seemed more concerned about her than Jan did! But, anyway, I tossed scratch into the coop for about 5 minutes and Marsha eventually made her way back in. Jan sort of herded the others out of the way when she was close, and as soon as she was in the coop, Frida got her big babies up onto the roost and out of the way. Marsha tried to take over the main roost, but I shooed her off, and she went back over to the far roost with Jan, who was ambivalent at best about her sister's return.

I guess this means they're a flock now, for good or for bad. And Marsha is even more of a diva than her namesake.

 

[Teila]

@Rousseau, woo hooo congratulations on your highly anticipated egg! Are you thinking 3-4 more before you go broody and start the whole cycle again?

Liz, hhhhmm, I wonder if Jan was not so worried about Marsha because she is used to her roof hopping antics? Have you considered a one-of wing clip just until she gets accustomed to her new boundaries?

It sounds like you are definitely making significant progress towards one flock .. Thursday is probably not quite so scary now?

How's the egg situation with the Brady Girls, has anyone laid an egg or even looked like laying one? I'm thinking more eggs might be a bit of a pay back for all your added stress

 

[lizgarf]

@Rousseau, woo hooo congratulations on your highly anticipated egg! Are you thinking 3-4 more before you go broody and start the whole cycle again?

Liz, hhhhmm, I wonder if Jan was not so worried about Marsha because she is used to her roof hopping antics? Have you considered a one-of wing clip just until she gets accustomed to her new boundaries?

It sounds like you are definitely making significant progress towards one flock .. Thursday is probably not quite so scary now?

How's the egg situation with the Brady Girls, has anyone laid an egg or even looked like laying one? I'm thinking more eggs might be a bit of a pay back for all your added stress

I think Jan wasn't worried about Marsha, because Marsha keeps pecking her!
They haven't shown signs of laying yet. The original email looking for new homes said that they had just finished their first seasonal molt and should be laying again soon. They weren't on starter feed during their molt, like my girls, so without that added protein their molts could take longer. And the current stress wouldn't help. But, if they don't start laying soon, then that would be worrisome.
Laying schedules do seem to complicate integration. Rousseau was shouting again this morning, not about her egg, but because Grace was trying to lay and wasn't keeping the Bradies in check. Things calmed down eventually, though, and it's been quiet since (except when Grace finally did lay - in the back yard where she managed to squeeze past the temporary door in the run - new project - fix the door!). But, I'm concerned I may not have created enough safe laying spaces for them. The Bradies seem to be intimidating the layers a bit.
Thanks for the clip suggestion. The old owners mentioned clipping their wings in the past. Now that I see that she knows where the coop is and to return to it, I'm not very concerned about her flying. I would rather she be able to fly away from predators. Plus, I'm trying to build trust with her, and I think clipping her wing would not help that. But, I'll keep an eye on the situation and figure that out as it goes. Stella was a bit of a wanderer at first, but she mostly stopped after she was here for a couple weeks.