Hatching with 2 broodies

[Sonya9]

Rest in Peace auntie Emm. I just found her smushed under Layla. Two more died and one is alive. This is hard....

Very sorry to hear that 16 Paws.

 

[Farmer Viola]

The Chicken Chick suggests covering the top with rubberized shelf paper to protect against poop.

The best thing I did with my coop was add a poop shelf with PDZ though, when I go in to collect eggs or check the chicks it takes me less than 30 seconds to scoop the pdz with a cat litter shovel and dump all the poop from the night before in a can, plus it adds nice clean floor space under the perches. I am lazy and that poop shelf makes it soooo darn easy to keep the coop smelling clean!

Another benefit is that pdz lasts a long long time, even after a month hardly any is missing. A 20 lb bag will probably last me close to a year.

I love the chicken chick!
I cover both of my ecoglow brooders in clear contact paper after every use. when baby chicks are using it, I also use shelf liner for good grip! I put shelf liner in the incubator, then tape it to the brooder when they make the transition to brooder.

I have never used PDZ before.. our entire coop is one big poop shelf. lol! I use sand flooring in the coop, and mix in DE in the summer and wood ash in the winter for dust baths. I also treat it with homemade AEM-1 solution spray, it contains probiotic microbes that help break down the poop and eliminate ammonia smell by actually consuming it!

Where can I buy the neem oil? They are back today

Amazon has it, http://www.amazon.com/Dyna-Gro-Pure-Natural-Polish-Ounces/dp/B0012BGXVQ
I buy mine at a garden supply store called Concentrates Inc here where I live, if you have a nursery or that kind of place, they will most likely have it. it is used as a natural insecticide for your garden plants without killing them. you can dilute it in vegetable oil and rub it on, or spray it on

Rest in Peace auntie Emm. I just found her smushed under Layla. Two more died and one is alive. This is hard....

I am so sorry

I am sending thoughts and prayers your way, I know what you are feeling is not easy, I wish I could help you more

 

[ShelbyCoral]

Wow! It been a month since I've been on this forum! Over 200 posts to read! I don't think I'm going to read all of the posts.

I Have broody news. I bought 2 broody girls, a sweetish flower hen and a chocolate Serama. They have to be together! The lady said they got broody together and sit together. They share the eggs. if one gets up, the other one follows. I swear its like follow the leader.

I also got around 30 chicks mostly silkie chicks... hopefully will sell them... I only want one boy AND THERE BETTER BE A BOY IN THE PILE OF 30!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If there is no boy I'M GOING TO LOOSE MY MIND!

i may just put all the chicks under the broodies.

So how is everyone?

 

[ItalyChickie]

Rest in Peace auntie Emm. I just found her smushed under Layla. Two more died and one is alive. This is hard....

Oh no, I am SO SO sorry!

It is hard... nothing I can say will make it any easier. Just remember you still have other baby chicks (and not so baby ones) that need you, so stay strong for them, alright? And that we're all with you for moral support.

I'm about to run out to a meeting, so probably won't have much time to write today, but I will be checking in to read the updates.

 

[tommysgirl]

Yikes you all are prolific! I am just popping in to give you a little update. We are just back from vacation and I have loads to do before going on a girls weekend to the Napa Valley on Friday

Norma has hatched 5/6 so far. They are due today. #6 is zipping.

I came home to 4 chicks the fifth had pipped and was out within a couple of hours and the 6th is chirping away in there. The chicks are darling red chipmonks. They do not appear to be sex linked in any way but once they are are all out I will be able to get a better look at them. For the first time since late March I do not have a broody on eggs or waiting for them...it's been quite the haul.

Remember the three Ameraucana/EE eggs that Beakface hatched....hold on to your hats but they appear to all be pullets. They are 6 weeks old today their combs have a single row of peas and there are no wattles yet. That I would get three pullets from shipped eggs boggles the mind but that is what I think I have. There is a dark blue a light blue and a sort of blue laced.

I definitely have two Marans girls too so things are looking up on the boy/girl ratio.

Thought I had lost the little white Marans boy last night. At bed time he was no where to be found. I was so sad but also confused because I had seen him a couple of hours earlier and knew he had been around There is a lot of chirping round here at bed time as chicks and mamas sort themselves out so I couldn't hear his "Help Me" chirp until everyone was tucked in. Once I heard it it iwas loud and clear and coming from...a light weight plastic dish that was upside down in the run. He had perched on the edge and it had flipped over trapping him inside. He was very relieved to be be found and tucked in with his siblings and cousins under Gracie Belle who continues to cover the 9 of them while Julie sleeps on the poo tray. They are 4+ weeks old so it is a bit of a stretch for her but she is dedicated haha.

Cosmo started crowing and it is possible that little miss Stella is laying but I am not sure since we were on vacation. I just know that there were what looked like Bantam eggs in the basket.

My Del boys aren't crowing but I witnessed one of them try to mound Jamie Lee Curtis...she shook him off and laughed at him.

Everyone your pics are darling
Congrats on all the new chicks...we certainly aren't slowing down here are we

Sorry for the losses...

It is always hard to lose the babies as well as the hens that work their ways into our hearts
Hope you all are well and happy.
Wishing your flocks lots of bugs and vegetation!

 

[Sonya9]

Remember the three Ameraucana/EE eggs that Beakface hatched....hold on to your hats but they appear to all be pullets. They are 6 weeks old today their combs have a single row of peas and there are no wattles yet. That I would get three pullets from shipped eggs boggles the mind but that is what I think I have. There is a dark blue a light blue and a sort of blue laced.

Wow...three out of three are pullets? I see lots of beautiful blue eggs in your future!

 

[tommysgirl]

Wow...three out of three are pullets? I see lots of beautiful blue eggs in your future!

I hope so! Norma finished with her hatch! she has 6/6 so what that means is that she is 14/14 for the year! Broody mamas all the way!!!!!!

 

[HealthyMNmama]

I haven't been on in a few days, but have a quick question.
Midnight has been leaving the nest once a day to do her thing and teach one of the three chicks about life. The rest of the time she spends on the eggs and Kayla takes care of the chicks. (Co-Broodies on eggs of free-range farmyard variety/timeline for those who have missed my scattered posts.) Right now Midnight is up for the second time and THERE'S A CHICK HATCHING! One leg (or wing, I can't tell) is out and it's working hard. Since she's off, do I pull the chick inside and make a incubator (which I've never done and I have 4 human boys to feed and get to bed right now) or do I throw midnight back on her eggs or do I let her do whatever she wants? I heard peeping earlier today when she was on them, so I had hope. I don't want another hatched, dead baby chick.

 

[Farmer Viola]

I haven't been on in a few days, but have a quick question.
Midnight has been leaving the nest once a day to do her thing and teach one of the three chicks about life. The rest of the time she spends on the eggs and Kayla takes care of the chicks. (Co-Broodies on eggs of free-range farmyard variety/timeline for those who have missed my scattered posts.) Right now Midnight is up for the second time and THERE'S A CHICK HATCHING! One leg (or wing, I can't tell) is out and it's working hard. Since she's off, do I pull the chick inside and make a incubator (which I've never done and I have 4 human boys to feed and get to bed right now) or do I throw midnight back on her eggs or do I let her do whatever she wants? I heard peeping earlier today when she was on them, so I had hope. I don't want another hatched, dead baby chick.

her once a day break should be semi quick, right? will she come back soon? I would probably put her back on the nest (since she has eaten and drank water by now) and lock her in by closing the exit. forcing her to stay on the nest with the hatching baby. probably (hopefully) once she feels it hatching beneath her, she will sit tight and not want to get up again anyway

 

[HealthyMNmama]

her once a day break should be semi quick, right? will she come back soon? I would probably put her back on the nest (since she has eaten and drank water by now) and lock her in by closing the exit. forcing her to stay on the nest with the hatching baby. probably (hopefully) once she feels it hatching beneath her, she will sit tight and not want to get up again anyway

She already had her once a day break. This is her second. I'll throw her in and block the exit. Thanks. Now I hear my human boys squabbling and supper is 3/4 cooked. Got to run. Thank you!