- Apr 7, 2014
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Hello everyone!! It's been afew weeks since I've been able to touch base I've been really busy with he beginning of summer and all the gardening, finally all caught up and I've managed to catch up on everyone's posts.
SC what came of your twin egg ??? Hope that worked out well
As for an update on my girls, I had reported the case of the vanishing chick (it has never been found! A real mystery)
My other 2 broodies have decided they are going to try this mommy thing again they have gone broody together and are sharing a nest with 8 eggs so I guess I will leave them hatch these, maybe they will break their broody after they get to raise some babies!!!
Momma and her babies are doing great they are growing so fast they look like chickens now no more fuzzy butts ( I am secretly looking forward to some little fuzziness again!!)
Here is yet again a blurry pic of momma and her teenagers
Hi! It's good to have you back, I wondered what happened to you! Sorry that the missing chick was never found...
Yay for the new upcoming hatch with the two broodies, looking forward to the updates on that.
Just wanted to say hello - I joined in after reading the entire thread, so was wondering how your hatching adventures were going, but you didn't seem to be around any more. Glad all is well with new hens! Your non-laying girls may be molting, or just on temporary egg strike... one of mine went on an a strike for almost a full year when I discouraged her broodiness (not on purpose, I had no idea!) - doubt it will last that long for you, but I think just give it time. Oh, and your Rambo is seriously impressive!!!Wow oh wow the mega broody thread
Guess what, i havent read it all. Hope your all well. And the chickens are being nice.
My flock has grown out to 24 currently. Hens raised last year are laying now which is great, the girls from last year have all stopped laying so not sure what to do it been couple of months now so hopefully they get back into it soon. Out of 5 hens and a roo in one flock only getting 1 egg a day.... Sometimes none.
The disaster i had last year with one of my hatches resulted in Crow and Stripey, Crow looks more like a crow than a Plymouth Rock so not sure whats going on there and Stripey is a beautiful friendly young boy. So I can make more Plymouths with Wilma... Awesome
The big news is the new import, a 2 year old Indian Game (Cornish) rooster. For those that havent seen or handled one of these bad boys they are the prize fighter of the chicken world. Super muscly, super thick legs, wide stance, just a tank. So he will be going with some mature hens when some suitable ones start laying again.
Oh other fun news, 48 egg incubator is fired up for its test run, we have 7 eggs from Betty and Rocky. Betty is a Bantam black Australorp and rocky is the Roo in my avatar, buff cuckoo orpington. So, we are potentially going to be able,to do weekly incubations because we can use the old small one for hatching while the big one keeps a constant temp and keeps turning. I'm going to build a brooder with a much larger area soon to accommodate many more chicks... Crazy i know lol
Ill do some catching up
Thank you, but I am not so sure my garden is “perfectly groomed”
I spend a lot of time outside with the girls so we tend to potter around doing stuff and they certainly do help keep those pesky weeds under control. Also, unlike some of you, I do not have a lot of garden to look after; not so sure I would be able to keep a larger block so neat.
Well, it sure looks perfectly groomed in comparison to mine!
Then again, I certainly spent more times looking after my tomato plants than, say, roses and since time is never enough, I'm afraid the poor roses and the like get pretty much neglected over here... I'm a farm girl at heart, I guess, useful plants always take precedent in my book over pretty ones. Then again, I did see one of my Red Stars munching on rose petals the other day, so maybe they do have some use after all.
yes this happens quite a bit. I have a girl that lays her egg in the nest whenever mama is up. Then she gets off when mama returns
Welcome back PM!
Teila...we are @ 103 today...I love it but I am pretty sure my flock wishes it was a bit cooler. So do my egg customers.
I had to laugh re my "flock planning" I don't know if you have been keeping track but my ADD has had me making multiple plans since we started on this thread. The constants have been the desired color scheme..red white blue, silver and black; and the addition of blue and a dark brown egg layers. But the birds filling the roles have been in a mostly continuous state of flux....then there is my recent Bantam obsession which I will be fulfilling in the fall I think with any broodies I get around then. And I like that you say "in awe" Other less understanding people would say "in fear of my obsession
So my egg seller sent "18ish" eggs!!!! yikes stripes!!!!I hope for a good hatch rate but yowzers that is going to be a bunch o birds. I only bid on 10. I should have known though last time I worked with her I bought 6 and she sent a dozen. These are a project and not yet standardized in color so I will get a mixed bag of colors and patterns but will only keep the ones who fit into my color scheme. I have had good luck so far in getting homes for anyone I wasn't hanging on to.
that it continues. Hoping for an XL bum kicker of a roo baby to challenge the peas.
There are dishes to be done and so far they have not figured out how to wash themselves. Later!
You are totally planning though! Color schemes, egg colors, etc... me, I just want to keep everybody!!!!
We have roughly the same temps, and my egg customers agree with your egg customers. We don't get to eat eggs any more to keep the egg customers happy! lol. My flock is turning into ducks, I think... they can be seen splashing around in dog water dishes most of the time - unless they're hiding under my car in the big holes they dug out, that is!
Wow, your egg seller rocks! I'm sure you'll find new homes for anyone you don't want to keep.
My Aracauna egg seller, unfortunately, did not come through... his girls aren't laying due to heat wave, can't really blame him. I guess I'll have to wait for those blue eggs a bit longer, and in the meantime the broody twins got Cenere and Pallina eggs - didn't want to make them wait any longer. So July 2 is the next hatch date!
It's funny you should mention those pesky dishes that don't want to wash themselves, I've been battling with the same issue for years... if anyone ever got theirs to collaborate, would love some tips!
Pancake is still sitting and no chicks on day 22I wonder what to do now, I really dont need anymore chicks so I really dont want to buy some day olds for her, hum... After a couple more days I will take away the dud eggs. I wonder if she will break after that?
Have a good night yall!
Marie
Aww, so sorry nobody hatched, poor Pancake! I hear sometimes they can take longer, up to 24 days, but it has never happened to me... Still, might be worth waiting another day or two?
Mine usually don't break if I just take away the eggs (in fact, one of the broody twins had been brooding nothing but hay for the past 7 days or so, not even a fake egg), physical removal from nest multiple times is what does the trick - but every broody is different, so try just taking the eggs first and see how it goes.
I bet she did get off the nest and you just missed it - generally, they try to take their breaks without anyone noticing. Maybe try to watch the next couple of days, but I think that if you have seen her get off the nest before, she will continue to do that, until the chicks start hatching, so my vote is with everyone else - trust her.
Hey there HBT
I totally agree with MN01. If the chicks have not followed her and can easily do so, then nothing to worry about. If she had left the chicks somewhere where they could not follow her and they were getting upset she would most likely go back to them to see what all the fuss was about. If she had left them, they were getting upset and she did not go back, then I would worry. They were probably nice and warm and she knew exactly where they were
I do not think you are over reacting and definitely not crazy ... trust me, it does not hurt to ask. Better to ask and have it not be a drama than not ask and find yourself with dramas.
Enjoy your bubbies; they are such a beautiful experience
Agree 100% - even though I always worry about every tiny little thing, too, but learning that most of the time, those broodies can be trusted with their babies.
All is well over here (besides it being really hot and my chickens turning into ducks).
The broody twins are happily brooding eggs instead of straw, finally... still a bit sad about those Aracauna eggs falling through, but I'm sure there will be another opportunity, sooner or later. In the meantime, it will be interesting to see how the crosses of these two turn out:
And of course who can resist more Cenere's babies.
Though hopefully no more boys! I had a little chat with her re egg gender when she went back to laying, but I'm not so sure I managed to convince her, as she made a rather non-committed noise and ran off to munch on grass...
That said, I can't wait to see that boy's final colors! Blue + red is rather striking, and he's getting some black in the tail too.
As for my potentially-frizzled Orp, unfortunately, I don't think she is after all... saw some baby frizzle pictures, and they definitely have curly feathers happening at a very young age, whereas she just looks like she got a bad perm that didn't take (ask me how I know what that looks like!
They are still different feathers... they just seem to stick out a bit rather than curling towards the tail. Here's a good demonstration picture with her sister, identical colors and feather lengths, but hers are sticking out. Funky feathered buff one on the right, her twin with normal feathers on the left:
And since I'm referring to them as girls, I might as well make a prediction on all 13 now and we'll see how it goes... For some weird reason, I make better guesses at this stage, then start to doubt myself as they grow, so this is just for fun and to give me a record of what I said when they were tiny:
4 buff Orps: 2 girls, 2 boys
2 blue Orps (I actually think one of those is penciled, but for the moment looks blue): both boys... sigh.
1 lavender Orp: boy... double sigh.
the penguins (aka Cochins, who all looked black at hatch, but now getting some color variations... I thought splash and blue looked light at hatch? anyone know?): harder to say, but I actually think mostly girls. Was initially thinking 4 girls, 2 boys, now leaning towards 5 girls and 1 boy - would be happy with either, have had requests for hen+roo Cochins.
A couple of group shots of the family (though not everyone in the shot this time, sorry!), then back to work for me!
. There has to be a way to make sure they are all girls maybe if I write girl on the eggs it will help ???????? I'm searching for a pink sharpie as we speak!!! It will work, it will work, it will work .......
