Hatching with 2 broodies

[Teila]

Hey Gals

Aaaw, thank you TGG .. I miss catching up with the Team also. Yeah, work has been very busy and I am lucky to take a break; no chance of checking Team news at all!

My mini-roosters are just adorable .. I am going to miss them when they have to go
Blondie is getting lots of cuddles ... she is such a sweetheart! What's the bet she grows up to be a meanie? lol. Tammy seems to lurk in the background and I am trying not to get too attached at this stage because I am still not 100% she is a she.

TGG, I do not have any experience with chicks and cold weather except knowing that I was not allowed to let the gremlins go to bed wet!
Our minimum temp last night was 22 degrees C (approx 71-72F) and I dozed off with the fan pointed at me and listening to the thunder and rain from the evening tropical storm.
Tonight is probably going to be about the same and when I checked on Cilla and the bubbies; where they would normally just have their heads poking out from under her, they were all laying around her with basically only their tails tucked under.

Suzi seems much better today. I didn't get to spend as much time as I would have liked with her but when I let them out, she raced out with Tina and Dusty and had no troubles keeping up with their foraging and scoffing down her share of dinner I donned the glasses and followed her around waiting for a poop so I could check it .. as you do! lol. I didn't catch her dropping one so my stalking was in vane!

Looking forward to more bubby pictures TGG!

Liz, that is so awesome about Frida and Lucy, I would be pretty happy about that also. Agreed that she is a wonderful mumma, waiting for her little girl to mature before she moves on to her next phase

The other thing taking up my time is that hubby is away at the moment visiting his Dad. Normally, he sits in the garden with a beer after work and does the supervised free range guard thing while I catch up on chores inside and join him a bit later. Because he is not here, I am doing the guarding and when everyone has gone to bed, inside to do the chores and the ultimate in 'shock to my system', I have to cook as well!! Shock, horror! Hubby does the cooking, not me! lol

I was a single mum for 10 years and I did fine! Hubby goes away for a week and while I have not gone to pieces, I really do miss him. On the weekend I vacuumed, washed and polished the car and stripped down the BBQ and cleaned it just to keep myself busy and wear myself out so I could sleep! Very silly!

Now to get reacquainted with my much loved recliner and time myself on how long it takes me to fall asleep

 

[tommysgirl]

I wanted to post these but am not neglecting your posts will go back and read and reply:


Coop Progress this weekend. My H is so great. I swear I dropped one of the screws at least 20 times before it was finally screwed in. Maddening! I know he would have been done with this weeks ago if he had been working on it but it is my project. He is telling me what to do but I am making the cuts and screwing the screws. Now I feel like I can tackle more projects...chicken related or not.



This^^ is the door side it will face North so not a lot of ventilation.

wire mesh for under the roost and the nest box a repurposed wine box from the 70s. I have 5 more of them.

With the door open the pen it goes in is behind it. It's the one I locked myself in a while back. It had a redone dog crate in it as a coop I will be so happy when I can put the real coop in.

The west and north sides. Mostly solid because that's where the weather comes from

Next weekend I hope we finish....I am planning to paint it...country red and white plus add a decorative tin sign to the door side.

Its purpose will mostly be to grow out chicks, a place for broodies etc. So it is small. It may end up as a bantam pen or a breeding pen for a trio/quad if I ever get that far. It's just nice to not have a dedicated pen that can be used for a variety of needs.

 

[tommysgirl]

Well, it appears we'll never know for sure who lays first: Lucy or her broody mama, Frida, because they both left eggs in the nest box today!! No wonder it was so loud in the coop.
I almost cried - my first grand-chick's egg!

I think Frida's egg is the one on the bottom, next to Lucy's dark marans egg. Frida's eggs look like Rousseau's (the one above it), but slightly narrower, so I was waiting to see two in one day before I could be certain she was laying. There was one before that looked like it might have been from her, but I'm pretty sure this is the first one. Bettina's is the big one on the upper left.

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love the leaves in your nest box. So pretty!

I am a little worried about Suzi, she has a touch of diarrhoea and spent a bit of time in the coop/run today while Tina and Dusty patrolled the garden. I have wormed them, just in case. I also wonder if she may not be thinking about laying her first egg (she is five and half months old) which would be wonderful because then I would know she is a she!
Not that I think they have them, but I have also dusted the nest boxes for mites.

The Aunties at siesta time:


This little one is still looking very much like a boy:


Blondie:


Blondie and one of the boy band:


Another boy band candidate (this is the same little guy in the above picture):


This little one is the one that had us stumped and I have started calling her Tammy because I think she is a girl:


The front one is the same little fella as pics 3 and 4 and at the back is Tammy .. love this picture


At the front is Tammy with a boy band candidate:

Hope Suzi's condition clears up soon. Pooey but fluff is no treat for anyone. I have two that desperately need their bums bathed but I haven't had the time to do it. Their vents are clear it's just that they have clingons

How old are you babies?? if they are over 5 weeks I would definitely say Tammie is a a girl.

Thanks for the Vote of Confidence TGG

 

[texgardengal]

why am i not surprised! Molly...is laying an egg every day right in the middle of her bubbies... not even feathered out! I don't care if you are laying Molly. You are not finished....Bart will just have to wait. I love your coop TG. It's a perfect broody coop or Watever coop! You're right it is great to have a place just in case. I feel certain I would not have had a successful hatch had I not removed Molly from the big coop.
No wonder you've been scarce Teila.
I would have double duty without my hubby...we share cooking and chores...mostly cooking lol. With two teenage boys we do a lot of that... I do most of the chicken duty but he jumps in anytime I ask. ...

 

[texgardengal]

Im missing a chickie.....

Went out to do evening chicken duty; hubby was putting the net over the top of the new big coop and I started counting....789...789. No 10 Bad thing is...I cant figure out which one is missing. It's not one that stands out immediately. You know, some stand out...lightest one, darkest one. Funny eyes...I dont know. It was getting dark and Molly was settling in for the night and and I was having a hard time finding out who was missing....It's dark now and I just looked everywhere I could think of and I wasnt hearing any little lost peeps. I'm really frustrated. I looked all over. I'm afraid one may have wiggled his way through a hole somewhere and got out and a cat or who knows what may have grabbed him. A hawk? I didnt have the top on the big coop but I do have one over the littles....I didnt see any sign of trouble.

Fence was all in place, no holes in the fence I could see. sigh....

 

[lizgarf]

Im missing a chickie.....

Went out to do evening chicken duty; hubby was putting the net over the top of the new big coop and I started counting....789...789. No 10 Bad thing is...I cant figure out which one is missing. It's not one that stands out immediately. You know, some stand out...lightest one, darkest one. Funny eyes...I dont know. It was getting dark and Molly was settling in for the night and and I was having a hard time finding out who was missing....It's dark now and I just looked everywhere I could think of and I wasnt hearing any little lost peeps. I'm really frustrated. I looked all over. I'm afraid one may have wiggled his way through a hole somewhere and got out and a cat or who knows what may have grabbed him. A hawk? I didnt have the top on the big coop but I do have one over the littles....I didnt see any sign of trouble.

Fence was all in place, no holes in the fence I could see. sigh....

Oh no! So sorrry, honey!!

 

[Teila]

Im missing a chickie.....

Went out to do evening chicken duty; hubby was putting the net over the top of the new big coop and I started counting....789...789. No 10 Bad thing is...I cant figure out which one is missing. It's not one that stands out immediately. You know, some stand out...lightest one, darkest one. Funny eyes...I dont know. It was getting dark and Molly was settling in for the night and and I was having a hard time finding out who was missing....It's dark now and I just looked everywhere I could think of and I wasnt hearing any little lost peeps. I'm really frustrated. I looked all over. I'm afraid one may have wiggled his way through a hole somewhere and got out and a cat or who knows what may have grabbed him. A hawk? I didnt have the top on the big coop but I do have one over the littles....I didnt see any sign of trouble.

Fence was all in place, no holes in the fence I could see. sigh....

Aaaw, TGG, I am sorry to hear that; so sad

 

[tommysgirl]

Im missing a chickie.....

Went out to do evening chicken duty; hubby was putting the net over the top of the new big coop and I started counting....789...789. No 10 Bad thing is...I cant figure out which one is missing. It's not one that stands out immediately. You know, some stand out...lightest one, darkest one. Funny eyes...I dont know. It was getting dark and Molly was settling in for the night and and I was having a hard time finding out who was missing....It's dark now and I just looked everywhere I could think of and I wasnt hearing any little lost peeps. I'm really frustrated. I looked all over. I'm afraid one may have wiggled his way through a hole somewhere and got out and a cat or who knows what may have grabbed him. A hawk? I didnt have the top on the big coop but I do have one over the littles....I didnt see any sign of trouble.

Fence was all in place, no holes in the fence I could see. sigh....

Did it turn up today??? hope so!

 

[tommysgirl]

yesterday pm I saw this on the California Poultry People FB page.
"I have 12 hens and roosters, mostly silkies or sizzles with one cochin, looking for new homes. All have been raised in a petting farm and are under 3 years old. Friendly and healthy. The petting farm is no longer going to use chickens for the kids to hold so all need to find new homes in the next month or so. They are located about 45 min north of San Francisco. One of the silkies is egg crazy and she comes with her eggs shes been sitting on or if they've hatched then all her kids! All are free to good homes. No eating them."

So I dropped the gal a message. Guess who is bringing home that broody mama???

Meet Juliet! She is going to hatch out her clutch and I am scheduled to pick her and the chicks up April 12 or 13!!! Oh Happy Day!!!

 

[Teila]

yesterday pm I saw this on the California Poultry People FB page.
"I have 12 hens and roosters, mostly silkies or sizzles with one cochin, looking for new homes. All have been raised in a petting farm and are under 3 years old. Friendly and healthy. The petting farm is no longer going to use chickens for the kids to hold so all need to find new homes in the next month or so. They are located about 45 min north of San Francisco. One of the silkies is egg crazy and she comes with her eggs shes been sitting on or if they've hatched then all her kids! All are free to good homes. No eating them."

So I dropped the gal a message. Guess who is bringing home that broody mama???

Meet Juliet! She is going to hatch out her clutch and I am scheduled to pick her and the chicks up April 12 or 13!!! Oh Happy Day!!!

Ooooh, how exciting and what a cutie!!