Hatching with 2 broodies

[Sonya9]

the few-inch step up into the box will be easily jumped into within a couple days. maybe on the very first day, make them a little step with a towel like you were saying. they will get to hop/flying pretty quickly one chick this morning flew up about 1ft onto my arm where I was sitting in my chair! lol. I really like your broody setup, very nice coop

I also give everyone flock raiser, and supply grit and oyster shell. I don't do medicated, everyone eats the same stuff... easy for me. I think especially since they are free ranging (here), the extra protein from flock raiser is fine!

Thanks. Will stick with the flock raiser and add a towel for the chicks. The coop is small (4'x8') so i couldn't have fit two wire dog crates in there.

 

[16 paws]

Hi all,
Checked my calender and I gave Layla the eggs on a Tuesday so she will be a few days behind what I had thought.A week still to go. I went in yesterday after work and she had a cracked egg in her nest and ants were all over it. It had a dead baby in the egg

I dont know what it is with cracked eggs around here. I have not had one broody hatch without having cracked eggs in the nest. Layla had gotten up off the rest of the eggs and was sitting beside the 5 that are left. The eggs were not warm so I dont know how long she was off them. This may turn out to be another disaster hatch. She is back on them sitting tight now. I would start to wonder if it is just my egg shells being fragile but I got these from my friend. Oh well, we shall see what happens in a week.

Good luck on your hatch Sonya9 and your broody set up looks great. That is one CLEAN looking coop

I would not worry at all about the chicks getting up and down from that nest. They will find a way when it is time to get in and out. You are one good chicken mama

Thanks for all the info you gave me about vitamins and frontline spray. Also thanks for the images.
Have a great night yall

 

[Sonya9]

I went in yesterday after work and she had a cracked egg in her nest and ants were all over it. It had a dead baby in the egg

I am so sorry to hear that! It is so scary to think that one thing can go wrong and a whole clutch is lost.

Hopefully that won't be the case. But worse case scenario, if it is, can you find a chick or two to buy and give her to raise?

Thanks for saying the coop looks so clean! FYI you wouldn't say that about my house...lol. Because the coop was small I decided to paint the interior and that has made a huge difference, it is easy to clean and I don't have to worry about mites, fleas, ticks, or other nasties hiding in corners.

 

[ItalyChickie]

wonder where I can hide a few chicks????

How about under a broody? I bet that's where they'll hide anyway if they get scared.
But really, chicks don't count, I'm sure even the chicken police knows that!

Yup....Saturday is the 21st day. I am nervous! Guess we will both hopefully be having some little miracles next weekend! At this point I believe we have 8, 3 under a broody and 5 in an incubator.

Oooooh!!!! Saturday is day 21 for me as well, also 2 broodies, though I'm pretty certain those two will never co-brood (one is Broodzilla, the other bottom of pecking order, timid girl, no matter how hard she pretends to be fierce right now).

Yay for hatch-along!!!

They remain crazy up to three weeks or more after the hatch. Even bottom of the pecking order little Julie Taylor who in all honesty is a bit of a sham as a mommy is still a fierce protector. She is on week two with babies. She gives them to Gracie Belle to sit on at night and is not terribly attentive during the day but let another hen get between her and them and she is the angriest black feather dustier you have ever seen. Once chicks get bigger the craziness lessens but until they are weaned it is still a possibility.

Yes, even Pallina is doing her best Broodzilla impression, but after that she still runs away from others when she is on her dust bath break if they get too close... Mine usually start to trust me after a few days though (I'm persistent), even though they still flip out when anyone else (chicken, human, whatever) comes near.

Some were trusting from the start, like Cenere (might be a Cochin thing, Teila?). Ombretta is mistrustful, but much less crazy - she is the most experienced one though, and quite high in the pecking order. My broody twins are definitely in the Broodzilla category.... I guess it's all about chickenalities again!

Wendy is doing great as a mom with her two chicks. She is much, MUCH more broodzilla than BJ and Bertha! Those two almost trust me I feel, they have allowed me to get close to their chicks and even touch them without losing their minds. if I even bring water to wendy she turns into a basketball! I have to get a photo of her poofed up, she's SOOOO huge! it's crazy

the last of wendy's fertile eggs is in the incubator; just 1. her chicks are nearly a week old. I am going to put this 3rd chick under her a night and pray that it is accepted

Yes, my broodzilla (Rosita) did that too, just now beginning to trust me a bit, after seeing for two weeks that 1)I don't bite (if anything SHE bites me sometimes) and 2) I bring treats. It takes time.

How did it go with that last egg?

I love the term Broodzilla, and am going to use it! LOL

x2! I think I'm overusing it already!

Heya team,
Well today has been an interesting day sunshine now has a total of 22 chicks as my uncle has bought over another six today and she has took to them very well and is such a good mummy and now we are going to extend her living area as she has so much I will try and get some pics Tomoz
So today has also been very traumatic as 5 of my silkies and 15 of my uncles other birds has been killed by a cunning fox which managed to slip through a small gap in a metal gate in the garden they were kept in that has now been fixed and has been wired up so the fox can not get through anymore my uncle has also set up a snare to try and trap the fox so this means I no longer have two blue silkie hens anymore which I a quite sad about as they were so pretty and friendly

but I guess these are just some things that you have to face when keeping chickens and everything happens for a reason I am going away for a week so I will not be on for awhile as I'm going on a family camping trip! Anyway so now all the other survivors of the fox attack are now locked up in a secure chicken shed until we get this blumin fox problem sorted I will keep you updated on the news and will try to post some pics
Hope all is well and take care
Ella

Oh no! So sorry to hear it.

Hope you can solve the fox problem soon.

So I got the coop cleaned up and also added the gate for the pen. I have an adolescent Dixie Rainbow pullet, she is bigger than the adult B.O. but still has the mind of a child, she keeps going into the left nest box and tipping it over, I think she is getting ready to start laying which is good, but messing with the broodys is not good (that nest box has infertile eggs so no harm done).

Wondering about the right nest box though, it is elevated a couple of inches off the ground, should I lower it? Or add a towel or something so the chicks can get in/out? Would like to swap it out for a cardboard box but the broody really loves that covered box).

Any suggestions on the setup so far? I can add a divider between the two broodys when the time comes and also remove the feeding stand.

Also right now everyone is on Purina Flock Raiser (medicated), they have oyster shells on the side. Should I give the chicks starter feed? Or is flock raiser okay?

That looks like a great setup. Yes, I think a divider at hatch time would probably a good precaution.
Mine tend to jump a couple of inches from day 1 or 2 at most, but I agree with something to use as a step suggestion, just in case someone wonders out and can't get back in.

Thanks for saying the coop looks so clean! FYI you wouldn't say that about my house...lol. Because the coop was small I decided to paint the interior and that has made a huge difference, it is easy to clean and I don't have to worry about mites, fleas, ticks, or other nasties hiding in corners.

Lol, I had to comment on this, as it's something I think to myself all the time... the coop is cleaned daily... the house, not so much.

So, in my news, we are not exactly done with remodeling, but enough done that I can fit about 3 times as many chickens into that coop.

Basically, we switch to ladder-like roosts setup. (I'll try to explain better/take pics when I'm less tired.) The new kids (3 month olds) are super thrilled, as they get their pick of top roosts. The young ones (1 year olds) are adjusting ok. The older ones, especially top of pecking order ones, are not convinced and very grumbly about all the chaos, but I'm sure they'll get over it.

Now if I only could convince Bonnie and the gang of 13 to go to the main coop, but for the moment, no go, they love their little apartment... I bet they won't fit in there in about another week though.

Everything else is well, without further ado, here are some pics of the 2 week olds with Rosita (aka Broodzilla) and Bonnie's gang.

 

[Sonya9]

OMG that picture is too cute! Those adorable little butts and the gorgeous mama overseeing them!

 

[16 paws]

OMG that picture is too cute! Those adorable little butts and the gorgeous mama overseeing them!

Amazing pictures, those are the fuzziest cutest bums I have ever seen!

Marie

 

[16 paws]

Thanks, cant wait to see what develops!

 

[ItalyChickie]

OMG that picture is too cute! Those adorable little butts and the gorgeous mama overseeing them!

Amazing pictures, those are the fuzziest cutest bums I have ever seen!

Marie

Aww, thank you both! They give me great photo ops!

Here's another from that series - doesn't she look like she is counting them?

 

[Sonya9]

Well we just went into lock down. 21st day is Saturday so not sure if this is a day early but it feels like the right time. I had 5 eggs in the incubator, I gave the two largest to the young broody who has been sitting on unfertilized eggs all this time. I wonder if she could tell they were different, she seemed very attentive to them after sitting for a minute, maybe the hens can feel them move?

Anyway so 2 under the young broody, 3 under the older broody, and 3 in the incubator (which is now safely on top of the fridge, the dogs have ignored the incubator so far but that will change if/when it has cheeping fuzzy little babies inside),

Fingers crossed and I am so excited! First hatch ever!

 

[ItalyChickie]

Our situations are SO similar - except I have twice the eggs and both broodies are first-timers... (Unless you count that disastrous broody twins nest sharing experience one of them had a few months back, but now the other, in photos above, has proven that the problem was the sharing, not the chick raising, so I feel I can trust this one too.)

Lockdown day for me as well! And yes, today is the right day if you put eggs in on Saturday.

I might be getting some on Friday, since half are bantam eggs.

I am certain the hens can feel the eggs move, probably even earlier than day 18... just based on how they start chattering to the eggs and are always more careful with real fertile eggs.

Fingers crossed for your upcoming hatch, will be following all the news and posting mine!

Oh, and by the way, I also worried about the dogs and the incubator last time around, but they ignored it with the cheeping fuzzies inside as well, only paid attention when I took them out to give to Bonnie.