Hatching with 2 broodies

[16 paws]

The pecking orders are funny. I took my 2 boys out, the brothers Rocky II and Blacky. They were being constant twerps in the morning and i got sick of watching it. So chucked em in by themselves..... Well Blacky decides that he just has to try and break out and cuts his comb to shreds on a bit of wire poking out the back of the door....... Bugger me blood everywhere. So i fixed that and moved em to a different coop and run (so glad i have several options) where they can see everyone better. Blacky's comb seems to be healing ok and they have calmed down a bit now and loving finding treats for each other.... And Rocky, the dad, through the fence lol silly young boys.

The main flock is a lot calmer now and the young ones are getting used to the step on feeders i have for them now, without being harassed constantly. So 2 left in there, Stripey the young Plymouth Rock and Rambo. 2 young brothers Orpingtons by themselves and Rocky the dad with his 5 girls.

New coop on the way to make it 6 areas (coop and run) I'll have lols. I'm going to split of Stripey and put him with some girls when he matures, including Wilma the other Plymouth i have. So really want to get some of those eggs hatching when Stripey works out how to do it. Until,then she can stay with Rambo so we she starts laying we will hatch those and see what type of birds they turn into. Fun times soon

Thats a lot of coops to keep clean, no wonder your name is Pooman

hehe
I wish my roos got along like yours do

 

[Teila]

Congratulation Teila on being chicken obsessed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cant wait until I become chicken obsessed,

Oh wait a minute,

I ALREADY AM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

lolz 16 paws, thank you

Obviously, today I am not work obsessed! It is Friday, it is quiet and I really do not feel like working

Edited to add: Sadly, I have to sit here in front of the computer in case someone calls or logs a ticket and I cannot go outside and play with my girls

 

[Pooman]

16paws, the deep litter virtually takes care of the manure problem by itself. Maybe every couple of weeks if the coop is busy (i have 16 in the main coop right now) ill have to fork it over underneath the roost. Apart from that, clean, dry, no smell its all good. Aged wood chips, heaps and heaps of them, the more the better equals no poo issues

I also vote the wilderness broody "broody of the year", so hope she brings a bunch of chicks back for you

 

[Pooman]

Hey Teila, move your PC and phone out the back verandah lols, rhat would be gold, on the phone to a customer with chooks crapping on in the background

 

[Teila]

Totally agree Pooman, I also use the deep litter method in the run but mine is more based on lawn clippings. Some people shy away from the deep litter method because they say that it can cause 'damp' issues but I have never had a problem. With the girls constantly turning it over it does not have a chance to sit for long or get damp.

As you know, I have nowhere near the number of chickens that you do, a whole 5 mini-chickens, so their coop gets cleaned every morning

 

[Teila]

Hey Teila, move your PC and phone out the back verandah lols, rhat would be gold, on the phone to a customer with chooks crapping on in the background

lols Pooman .. yeah, I should do that!

I am thinking that the distraction would be just a little bit of a challenge for me though ... "Can I just pop you on hold for a moment, one of my chickens has her head stuck through the fence into next door"

 

[MistyMountain]

Teila, Today is day 19 for MJ, so babies maybe tomorrow or Sunday?? My boys are super excited!!

 

[Farmer Viola]

G’Day Team Broody!

Missed a few posts here and there, sorry!

SC, beautiful little bubbies! I agree with Pooman, while she is still protecting them is the best time to integrate as she will take on anyone who wants to pick on them. Of course, it goes without saying, keep a very close eye on everyone.

TG, aaaaw, how cute and exciting that the egg cheeped at you! Congratulations! They are so absolutely adorable!

Also sending positive pullet vibes your way

IC,

at the big butted boys!

MM, sorry, I have lost track of things, how long does MJ have to go? Me three on the lock down thing, Cilla missed that memo also!

PM, Cilla also missed the memo on cutting the cord and shooing away the bubbies, Blondie is just over 4 months old and still well and truly attached.

FV, sounds like you are having some fun times with your gals at the moment

Me? I got nothing, no broodies, no news and of course, still no eggs!

Not complaining, I definitely do not want any dramas and thoroughly enjoying spending time with my girls. I have, however, found myself drooling over all your beautiful bubby pictures and I am no longer wondering if I will cave on my ‘no more hatches’ resolution and now know for a fact that I will definitely give in .. already planning how to set things up depending on who becomes broody and who is going to need to change their sleeping arrangements etc to accommodate the broody …
*sigh* I am hopeless! lol

well maybe you can help me figure out how to plan coop sleeping arrangements lol! this is my first time with a broody in the flock... my flock free ranges, has a coop with 2 roosts at 2 levels, and an enclosed run. we built it with the idea in mind that we might separate it down the middle, so there's 2 doors to the coop into the run also. we used the division when we introduced a group of 14 chicks (now 4month old adolescents) to the adult flock. I could put the division in again, but it seems like half and half would be too small for the main group and too large for the broody/chicks group. SO I am planning to just keep the mamas in with the flock....

my flock has 6 hens (2 are broody, so only 4 non broody adversearies) and I have a lot of teenage boys around 4months old. 1 boy is slightly older almost 5months and he is trying to be the King. so he is somewhat keeping order over all the other guys. I am growing out the King (Faverolles) to pair with my faverolle pullet, and all the other males are blue laced red wyandottes that are being grown out either for breeding or for meat. 4 are potential breeders and are going to be staying for another 3-4 months. 3 males are the wrong color (splash and black) and they will only last until they become a problem, or grow enough meat (probably 20wks/1 month from now).
anyway, that's 2 broodies, 4 hens, 8 teenage boys, 7 teenage girls, and there are also 2 smaller chicks I think they're 3mos old now, 1 male 1 female.

bertha is on 10 eggs, and beetlejuice could have as many as 8-10 eggs.. I have been sticking eggs in the incubator from my wyandotte hen. she is still fertile even though I removed her rooster almost 2 weeks ago. so I have been setting all her eggs until they stop being fertile. and the teenagers should be getting to that point soon.

so right now both broodies are in the coop, each in a cat carrier on the sand flooring below the roosts. no one else better go broody, because I am out of cat carriers! I stuffed them both very full of straw and the doors of the cages face each other so the broodies can stare at each other all day. I hope this will make them friendly towards each other when they both have chicks, but I don't know. beetlejuice had a bleeding comb yesterday, and I think it was because she got in bertha's nest. she bit just the tip of 1 spike off, but it really bled a LOT. I cleaned her up, she is so sweet and tolerant of me, I adore her.

to get out of the coop, there is a 5ft ramp that slopes to the ground from about 16in up. so I am worried about chicks getting up/down the ramp. I can put feeders and waters in the coop, but the adolecents will surely knock it over and soak the sand flooring in the coop.

or, I could manually move the cat carriers from the coop into the run, set them on the floor, and use chicken wire to fence off a corner area with food and water and make that their permanent area. I guess I would need to manually move them into the coop at night for warmth(?), what do you think about that?

ShelbyCoral,
I have always let mama raise them with the flock. But she always had them in there to begin with. I would watch them closely when you put them together. I always made sure the littles had a place they could hide behind if they needed to. Put something like a box in front of a corner. This way the littles can run behind it but the biggies cant.

Good luck and by the way they are precious in the picture you took.

Marie

this is encouraging! I am feeling sort of paranoid about how the integration into the flock will go for my broodies and their chicks. I have created hiding spots just like you describe, by using logs from a tree we cut down placed in the corner. it creates a gap that's just small enough that the big bullies can't get through, and the chicks can hide. I have 2 youngins in with the big chickens (they had a fenced 2 week introduction period prior) and creating these small spaces gives them a place to hide out. they use it mostly in the mornings, until I let them out of the run to free range

 

[Farmer Viola]

The pecking orders are funny. I took my 2 boys out, the brothers Rocky II and Blacky. They were being constant twerps in the morning and i got sick of watching it. So chucked em in by themselves..... Well Blacky decides that he just has to try and break out and cuts his comb to shreds on a bit of wire poking out the back of the door....... Bugger me blood everywhere. So i fixed that and moved em to a different coop and run (so glad i have several options) where they can see everyone better. Blacky's comb seems to be healing ok and they have calmed down a bit now and loving finding treats for each other.... And Rocky, the dad, through the fence lol silly young boys.

The main flock is a lot calmer now and the young ones are getting used to the step on feeders i have for them now, without being harassed constantly. So 2 left in there, Stripey the young Plymouth Rock and Rambo. 2 young brothers Orpingtons by themselves and Rocky the dad with his 5 girls.

New coop on the way to make it 6 areas (coop and run) I'll have lols. I'm going to split of Stripey and put him with some girls when he matures, including Wilma the other Plymouth i have. So really want to get some of those eggs hatching when Stripey works out how to do it. Until,then she can stay with Rambo so we she starts laying we will hatch those and see what type of birds they turn into. Fun times soon

wow that coop set up sounds like a dream! I cannot wait to have 6 coops hahaha

well I won't lie...I've thought about robbing some place and getting one of those video cat collars and attaching it around her midsection. At this point I would tape a Tom Tom to her back...lol. Surely it of she hatches chick's they will follow her around because if she is such a terrible mother she leaves day Olds all alone in the woods I will just get rid of her. Can't have such an inept mother sneaking off to have chicks whenever she feels like it.
Last year she had some issues with the hatching part, but the single chick that hatched out of 16 eggs (2 tries of 8 between 2 hens. Each getting 8) her and her sister managed to hatch one chick out of a combined 32 eggs... but something was stealing the eggs out from under them.. which is why I think she decided to set in the woods this year... but surely if something will rob eggs from the coop they will rob eggs from a nest in the woods..but she is perfectly shaded and patterned to disappear here. Thus how she's spent at least close to 3 weeks if not longer without going missing. Everyday she comes takes a really gross poo, dustbathes, and eats then disappears again so she's got to he well hidden... either way I know for a fact she will set on nothing until a chick pops out...I mean her and her sister sat last year for around 11 weeks... so she won't give up, ever... and that worries me. Because if something did eat the eggs she won't just consider it a wash and come home..maybe I could trap her in the dog crate and give her a couple eggs to set...that way I can watch her. Heck I would stuff stuff the dog crate in the woods if that would make her more comfortable... I just want something I can securely close her in whilst she is trying to set eggs... because she might be awful at it. She seems to be doing a good job so far, I say that because on days that are a little chilly, 65-70 we don't see her, but on hot days she comes down during the hottest part of the day which I would think is for her to take a break and also to keep the eggs from overheating, or she feels comfortable leaving the nest only when it is really hot outside...

omg haha you crack me up taping a tom tom to her!

she sounds like a good mama she knows how to use her camouflage to her advantage. I really hope you find her soon. is she staying outdoors all night too? how cold does it get there? I had just theorized that I would need to move my broody into the coop every night, but your girl is staying outside so that makes me wonder.....

Oh look, I have gone from 'Overrun with Chickens' to 'Chicken Obsessed' on my profile .. how appropriate!

congrats Teila!

 

[ShelbyCoral]

Okay, my last broody ( my oldest silkie, Diva) has a chick that is lethargic! What do I do! It comes walking into my hands without me doing anything and it just falls dramatically and sleeps! It is very skinny! We really love this one as we have named him Uno! Even though he is a rooster, we still want to keep him! What do I do!? Take it away? Take him inside? He is not growing! I gave him save a chick and nothing happened! When the mama does the clucking noise he goes running to her but falls asleep under her... HELP!?