Hatching with 2 broodies

[lizgarf]

Haha, I hope to keep it short for your clients, Teila! As of 9:05 am here, I have not heard any new crows from Desi!!! I may have wasted a sleepless night, waiting to hear a crow. It's a relatively dark, misty, morning here, and putting the tarp on the coop may have been a big factor, but so far, all is quiet on this Oakland hillside!

And, Desi seemed fine with the new collar. I'm sure it's less comfortable than the other one, but I don't think it's much less comfortable, and the other one didn't work! If this does work, it doesn't look like it's unduly burdensome for the boy, at least for non-crowing purposes.

Wow, the Silkies are bigger than Dusty now! I guess that's no surprise, looking at my big babies and their tiny mamas, but I figured yours were all bantams . . .

I'll report back if crowing happens! You may need a couple more days of crossed-finger typing!

 

[lizgarf]

Oh poo, he just started crowing again. I've now tightened collar #2 and sent a message to the rooster collar lady on facebook to try to figure out if her's will work better and how soon it can get here.

 

[tommysgirl]

My aunt decided to go with the fertile eggs instead of breaking her broody

She has two silkie/d'uccle eggs, an egg from my red mutt girl Noma, one from one of my Delawares and one from her "red pen" which has golden comets and a NH covered by a Mutt roo of unknown origin.

@Teila other people have told me that the silkie feather gene doesn't show until the second generation in mixes. If we get girls I will breed back to a silkie. That will mean that some of her chicks are going to be silkied but more would be white then mille fleur. I don't know %ages and my brain hurts when I hear people saying things like F2 x F3 and what not but I am doing this for the broody potential

Liz good luck silencing...or quieting Desi I am inspired by your dedication to keeping him. I run a fb page for chicken people in my area. If it comes to it and you need to find him a home where he can live a life of luxury with a harem I would be happy to help you.

 

[lizgarf]

Liz good luck silencing...or quieting Desi I am inspired by your dedication to keeping him. I run a fb page for chicken people in my area. If it comes to it and you need to find him a home where he can live a life of luxury with a harem I would be happy to help you.

Thanks, TG!! That is a very comforting thought. Maybe I'm being ridiculous trying to keep a rooster, when I probably don't really want one. I would love for him to be able to crow and have a full, safe, life, but I hadn't imagined that many roosters really get that opportunity. I figured he'd be better off here if I can comfortably quiet him a bit. But, maybe I need to re-think that. He has just started his mounting attempts (on Rousseau, of course), and I don't know how well that is going to go for everyone. I've heard of hens getting roughed up pretty badly. Maybe he's going to require more monitoring than I want to sign on to. This whole rooster thing is all new for me, and I'm not sure how I feel about it beyond admiring his beauty and not wanting to separate the flock.

Anyway, no new crows yet after second tightening of #2, but that hasn't meant much so far. I'll let you know if I need your help and appreciate any insights or advice.

 

[Teila]

Wow, the Silkies are bigger than Dusty now! I guess that's no surprise, looking at my big babies and their tiny mamas, but I figured yours were all bantams . . .

Tee hee Liz, believe it or not, they are all bantams. Dusty is actually a bit lower on the sloping garden bed than the Silkies, she is still just that little bit bigger than them; only just though

Oh poo, he just started crowing again. I've now tightened collar #2 and sent a message to the rooster collar lady on facebook to try to figure out if her's will work better and how soon it can get here.

Mutter, mutter, mutter, @#$% !!

Anyway, no new crows yet after second tightening of #2, but that hasn't meant much so far.

Oooh, hopefully promising! Still got everything crossed!

Woo hoo TG, more Team Broody bubbies; your Aunt's bubbies definitely qualify, especially when we see the pictures!

It is really good to know that you may be able to help Liz with Desi also ... I am still very much hoping that it does not come to that though.

The eggs got to meet their new mumma this morning and she just managed to cover 9. There was a bit of pushing one side causing one to pop out the other side but she got them sorted in the end. Did not phase her one little bit that when I put her off the nest for breakfast and a stretch she had three and when she got back she had nine lol ... let the countdown commence!

Out of bed before the girls again this morning. No hen songs or attempts to crow before I left for work.

*Sigh* better start the day ... will check back at lunch! Need coffee!!

 

[lizgarf]

The chickens are all on the roosts for the night, with no more crows from Desi today since my last report. He still makes little honking noises (it sounds a bit like he has a cold), and a few times today he stretched his neck up and opened his mouth with no sound, kind of like a yawn. Maybe that was a crow attempt? Not sure. He doesn't seem under distress, but he doesn't seem thrilled with the situation either. We'll see what tomorrow brings. In the meantime, I learned today that marans are know for their crazy crowing. Fabulous! Lucy sounds more like a honking duck than the other chickens. Desi also took about 40 minutes to get back into the coop tonight with his ladies. I'm torn. I really want to keep him, but I don't want to make anyone miserable in the process (including him).

I also just learned that Desi could be the least of my animal worries at the moment. The hind leg of my 19.7 year-old cat, Zorro, has suddenly seized up. He has been the picture of feline geriatric health until today, still climbing the fence and making sure I followed his feeding schedule, but I knew something was up when he failed to alert me it was dinner time and then refused to budge and howled a bit when I tried to reclaim my usual spot on the couch from him. He's still able to get up to his regular high spots, but he's clearly not well. His hind-legs had looked a bit off for the past couple weeks, but he really didn't seem bothered by them at all (I know, I know). I'm planning on taking him into the vet first thing tomorrow. I've always said I wouldn't go through extreme measures with elderly pets, and I struggled to maintain that philosophy with for Zorro's brother, 5 years ago, but end-of-life kitty care is a hard and expensive process no matter what, and I really don't want my elderly baby to suffer or to lose him. {insert sad-faced Liz}

 

[tommysgirl]

I also just learned that Desi could be the least of my animal worries at the moment. The hind leg of my 19.7 year-old cat, Zorro, has suddenly seized up. He has been the picture of feline geriatric health until today, still climbing the fence and making sure I followed his feeding schedule, but I knew something was up when he failed to alert me it was dinner time and then refused to budge and howled a bit when I tried to reclaim my usual spot on the couch from him. He's still able to get up to his regular high spots, but he's clearly not well. His hind-legs had looked a bit off for the past couple weeks, but he really didn't seem bothered by them at all (I know, I know). I'm planning on taking him into the vet first thing tomorrow. I've always said I wouldn't go through extreme measures with elderly pets, and I struggled to maintain that philosophy with for Zorro's brother, 5 years ago, but end-of-life kitty care is a hard and expensive process no matter what, and I really don't want my elderly baby to suffer or to lose him. {insert sad-faced Liz}

I am so sorry to hear about your Zorro. It is so so hard to face end of life situations with pets. We used to have Boxers and the oldest one we ever had was only 11 when he passed from a brain tumor. Now I crave another but don't want the heart ache. I know you will make a compassionate decision about Zorro when it is time but I hope his back end issue is just a glitch in his week and he will be AOK soon.

@Teila I think we can expect your hatch and my aunt's in the same 24-36 hours!

I am so excited that she decided to set eggs instead of breaking her girl. I thought my Norma (she who went broody in a rainstorm in a flower pot in November but thought better of it when I put a bowl upside down in her "nest") had caught the broody fever again today but she is just playing at it. Threw out some scratch and she was off that nest in a flash and stayed off. Also had no puffed up buc buc buc buc buc buc buc action. But because she is AMAZING as a layer and the daughter of my first roo, Ray I think I will store/hoard her eggs outside the fridge for 5 days at a time so that when/if she does go broody she can hatch her own.


Anyway, my aunt lives right behind me and is pretty chicken clueless so I am in charge of the hatch...actually it is Penny who is in charge but I will be taking out the eggs that don't belong and candling just 2 times though. can not WAIT to see if anything is happening with the bantams!!

 

[Teila]

Aaaw Liz, sorry to hear about Zorro, I also hope that it is nothing serious and he returns from the Vet with some anti-inflammatories and instructions for lots of rest and recouperation.

Thinking of you both; sending positive vibes your way!

Oooh TG, that is exciting, it will be nice to impatiently wait together! So, you are due before me?

Gently touched the eggs today for the last time just to check that they were equally warm. As I mentioned earlier, I was a little concerned that she would be able to handle them all. All equally warm and Cilla is doing well. She had shuffled them around a little from this morning but seems to be managing them quite well. Are we there yet?! lol

 

[lizgarf]

Thanks for the support, ladies. Zorro has always been so healthy, it was a bit of a shock to see him so suddenly show his age like that. The vet was able to give me a regular appointment at 4 today, so I'll be taking him then. (and if Desi is not in the coop by 4, he'll just have to wait until we get back!) He did well through the night, spending most of it cuddled up to me on the bed. Reggie is getting a little better about not interfering too much - one of her herding instincts is to flip out whenever anyone seems distressed.

Desi made some more crows this morning - luckily not until about 8. He made a couple more after I tightened the collar to as tight as I think I can do it without hurting him. The last crows were probably manageable in volume - I'm not sure if anyone would complain about it unless it happened at 5 am. But, I heard back from the rooster collar lady and decided to order one of hers and will give that a try when it arrives. In the meantime, I'll keep covering the coop at night and see if anyone complains about his croak/crows during the day. TG, there's a good chance I'll enlist your help to try to re-home him.

Good luck with the hatches, ladies! I like the two-candle plan!

Here's a picture I took just the other day of Zorro with his chicken friends:

 

[MistyMountain]

Liz,
So sorry about Zorro! Sending lots of good thoughts your way and hoping his vet visit goes well. He is a beautiful cat!

Teila, Woohoo for eggs!!! Let the count down begin!!

I am having some concerns about my future "broody" plans. I first thought I need to get some silkies, since they tend to go broody a lot. I had a couple silkies a while ago, and well… they were not really my favorite. (Sorry Teila!!) It just seemed like they are not suited for life on the farm. I worry about the big poofs on their heads and being able to see well. I also worry about the cold weather and the chance of them getting wet. Of course they will have their own coop and covered run, but I am afraid to venture down that ornamental road again. Having said that, I know some of you have cochins. What are your thoughts on them? I feel like they would be better suited for what I am doing here.

for you Liz, for both Zorro and all the trouble Desi has been giving you. I hope the new collar works for you!