Hatching with 2 broodies

[tommysgirl]

Baby Pics!



This is how you eat fermented feed



The whole fan damily

The little red girl and the little yellow ??


A+ student on eating fermented feed


Little girl staying after class


Mom says run this way


Now she says run that way

look at the action of the one in the back lol they were RUSHING to get whatever yummy morsel she had unearthed.

 

[halfbakedtulip]

oh Tommysgirl they are beautiful

 

[chickencrazy999]

Precious mamas and beautiful birds in general.  Guinea Pigs make such cute sounds and yours is darling.  What is the gestation period for a Guinea Pig?  Good luck with Maddie and Muffin...cute names btw!

Thank you yes I agree they are lovely there gestation is 10 weeks

 

[halfbakedtulip]

@tommysgirl --I am going to raise something from the dead here lol I was back reading about FF. Have you done it with laying mash for your new chickies?

I would really like to start this because no one is laying right now Dot slept on the roost last night so she is definitely not broody. I am thinking she either a) always co-parented on the farm she was on or b) she just realllly misses Banty. Either way Banty isn't letting her near. The 3 frizzles are on a never ending molt. I would really like to have at least 1 of the 4 who arent broody lay me some darn eggs. I had to buy eggs this week

 

[halfbakedtulip]

Ok I see I am an idiot because the last post you made that I even commented on has them eating fermented feed. Please ignore me...I clearly need more coffee

What I did want to ask is how much does everyone feed their chickens? When I went to the "oh Lardy" link you provided she said she feeds 3 cups a day to her 5 hens. I don't think I feed that much (Maybe I do and I am just bad at guesstimating!) Or is it because mine are all bantams maybe? I fill a small circular feeder (I think it is for chicks actually) and then they have 2 of those pvc top/lid things in the coop that I fill every day. They have never gone empty so

 

[MistyMountain]

Ok I see I am an idiot because the last post you made that I even commented on has them eating fermented feed. Please ignore me...I clearly need more coffee

What I did want to ask is how much does everyone feed their chickens? When I went to the "oh Lardy" link you provided she said she feeds 3 cups a day to her 5 hens. I don't think I feed that much (Maybe I do and I am just bad at guesstimating!) Or is it because mine are all bantams maybe? I fill a small circular feeder (I think it is for chicks actually) and then they have 2 of those pvc top/lid things in the coop that I fill every day. They have never gone empty so

I am having the same problem. Mine free range all day, but still eat feed when they go in the coop at dusk. I hope to get my buckets this weekend and start fermenting. I don't want to do a super long back slopping ferment, just a bigger size of the oh lardy method. I have already switched my layers to grower with oyster shell on the side so I don't have to mess with separate feed for the layers and babies. I just need to figure out how much my 15 hens +1 Roo and 19 3 week olds eat per day. I suppose this will be a learning process either way since the amount of food they depend on from me will change with the seasons. I am interested in any suggestions, though!!

 

[tommysgirl]

@tommysgirl --I am going to raise something from the dead here lol I was back reading about FF. Have you done it with laying mash for your new chickies?

I would really like to start this because no one is laying right now Dot slept on the roost last night so she is definitely not broody. I am thinking she either a) always co-parented on the farm she was on or b) she just realllly misses Banty. Either way Banty isn't letting her near. The 3 frizzles are on a never ending molt. I would really like to have at least 1 of the 4 who arent broody lay me some darn eggs. I had to buy eggs this week

What a pain to have to buy eggs! sounds like you NEED more chickens

Because I have Roosters, chicks and hens living all together I don't feed a layer at all. The added calcium in a layer is harmful to chicks and roos so everyone gets a a grower/starter and I serve calcium on the side.

Ok I see I am an idiot because the last post you made that I even commented on has them eating fermented feed. Please ignore me...I clearly need more coffee

What I did want to ask is how much does everyone feed their chickens? When I went to the "oh Lardy" link you provided she said she feeds 3 cups a day to her 5 hens. I don't think I feed that much (Maybe I do and I am just bad at guesstimating!) Or is it because mine are all bantams maybe? I fill a small circular feeder (I think it is for chicks actually) and then they have 2 of those pvc top/lid things in the coop that I fill every day. They have never gone empty so

you are not an idiot...caffeine deprivation is not idiocy haha. I am really happy that I started with the ff for the chicks. You know how they go scratch crazy in their feed and waste SO much? Well they still hop in and try to scratch but they can't. It is too wet.

I am not a good gauge of how much to feed chickens because we have feed thieves in the form of feral peacocks. But yes, you would feed less because you have smaller birds.

 

[tommysgirl]

Baby Pics!



This is how you eat fermented feed



The whole fan damily

The little red girl and the little yellow ??


A+ student on eating fermented feed


Little girl staying after class


Mom says run this way


Now she says run that way

look at the action of the one in the back lol they were RUSHING to get whatever yummy morsel she had unearthed.

Thanks...they are SWEET and not afraid of me. I am the food lady

 

[ItalyChickie]

I am so joining this thread! Such a happy, lovely, positive lot you are! I loved reading your adventures Teila! It is funny how my situation has changed from when I started reading this thread to now

I will try to be brief (haha ya right!) I have a lovely little rescued silver laced sebright who has gone broody. I am not even going to tell you the panic I went through when I couldn't get her out of the nesting box! I thought for sure she was egg bound! I never in a million years imagined it would be her to go broody. She was sitting on an egg that I took away and then the next day I thought let's see if she really is and laid it in the nesting box a bit away from her. Came back 10 minutes later and she had scooped it under her! So I left her for a week to see if it was real. While she is still lovely to me boy is she a devil to my other chickens lol I went and got her 4 silkie eggs to sit on Saturday. Saturday evening my milles fleur was in a nesting box...uh oh! So Sunday she was still there so I went to the farm we got her from and got a milles fleur egg and a milles fleur/silkie cross egg. Put them under her and worried how it would go with the 2 of them sitting. (Just to let everyone know Banty my sebright is top of the pecking order and Dot my milles fleur is second. They are the gruesome twosome right until Banty went broody)

Cut to today (Monday) morning and Dot was standing in the middle of the coop when I went out in the morning the eggs cold. I grabbed them and put them under Banty. Dot spent the day hanging out with the frizzles which she normally hates. When Banty came out for her quick drink and food etc Dot puffed right up and the two of them had a mini brawl. I find this very odd. So anyway Banty went back in eventually and come this evening Dot is back in a nesting box on an empty nest. She hasn't laid since Friday I believe. I am wondering if she is doing some kind of sympathy brood? She doesnt seem very committed and the fact that she is being nice to the frizzles makes me think she is lonely for her buddy. Her and Banty are the only ones who sleep on the high roost and now she is alone. I am wondering if that is why she is in the nesting box?

Either way I have clearly lost my mind. I live in town and we are allowed to have 6 chickens..and I have 5 already. I have justified it to myself that all of them probably wont hatch and that even if they do there has to be some boys so they will go find new homes ...sigh...chicken math lol

Welcome to the thread!!! I'm a recent joiner myself, for the same reasons. And it really is a great group.

In my opinion, broodiness is totally contagious... I had 4 hens go broody at the same time. Whether they are serious or not, really depends on the individual hen... but yeah, it sounds like you have who is serious about it and the other, not so much.

Oh! And you should totally listen to Tommysgirl re chicken count, she is our resident chicken math expert, so you don't really have 5, only 2.5!

On another note, panick sunk in when I went to barn this morning I'm only counting 5 babies 5 not 6 where can the other
one be??? I can not find it for the life of me ! Has anyone else ever had his happen ??? Can't find any where it would have got out and they are inside a barn so it's not even running around outside of the coop

??? No sign of her anywhere!!!!

Oh no!!!

Is there any chance a predator could have gotten in? Or she could have gotten out somehow?

I had this happen with a 4-day old last year, but mine are outside, and he had spraddle leg, so was quite slow moving... we had later decided it was a snake since we saw one in the same area the next day. (will never know for sure though) But I don't know if that's at all possible with your setup?

I am keeping everything crossed that she has turned up in the meantime! Keep us posted.

Hey Guys,
great pics everyone and welcome to all the new comers
well my one broody hen has now turned to two Maddy I's determined to be a mama and muffin has been successfully sitting for 11 days today so I candled her eggs and 3/8 of the eggs have active chicks in them the other five where infertile and had rolling air cells but I'm happy with that and I then decided to set the eggs that Maddy #1 had layed before she sadly got taken she has been sitting on them for two days now and I will candle them in a couple of days so now they both have three eggs each so I am hoping the best for them here are some pics of the gang also including my three piggies
Nemo

Muffin



Maddy



Maisy

and Violet my two pregnant piggies



​

​

Oh those guinea pigs are precious!!!

Does this mean there will be pics of baby guinea pigs too soon??

Baby Pics!



This is how you eat fermented feed



The whole fan damily

The little red girl and the little yellow ??


A+ student on eating fermented feed


Little girl staying after class


Mom says run this way


Now she says run that way

look at the action of the one in the back lol they were RUSHING to get whatever yummy morsel she had unearthed.

They are adorable!!! Awww, mine no longer have those fluffy featherless butts, and I already miss them!

Ok I see I am an idiot because the last post you made that I even commented on has them eating fermented feed. Please ignore me...I clearly need more coffee

What I did want to ask is how much does everyone feed their chickens? When I went to the "oh Lardy" link you provided she said she feeds 3 cups a day to her 5 hens. I don't think I feed that much (Maybe I do and I am just bad at guesstimating!) Or is it because mine are all bantams maybe? I fill a small circular feeder (I think it is for chicks actually) and then they have 2 of those pvc top/lid things in the coop that I fill every day. They have never gone empty so

I don't feed quite that much... mine free range all day, but eat feed in the morning and evening, and I'd guesstimate about 1 cup for 3 chickens... I'll try to measure next time how much I use up.


In my news, Cenere has decided the babies are no longer babies enough to need her at night, and has been sleeping in the big coop for the past two days. (That, or it's simply getting too hot... ) Ombretta is still with them, and they still co-parent during the day. (In fact, Cenere gets up before everyone and stands there waiting for me to let her in with the babies.)

They free-roam everywhere and aren't afraid of the dogs anymore. Well, not much, anyway.


Here are some flying/escaping lessons in progress



bed time with just one mom instead of the usual two

 

[tommysgirl]

Here are some flying/escaping lessons in progress



bed time with just one mom instead of the usual two

I love watching flying lessons!

Jamie Lee Curtis is getting an assist from her buddy Joan Baez who was caught treating the babies yesterday. I love it when you have sweet girls that get along!