Hector's World: Adventures and Mayhem at Mountain View Poultry (or Sequel to The Evolution of Atlas

[speckledhen]

Going into Day 18 now with Bonnie. I candled today when she was out to poop and all ten eggs are full of chick. Could not tell if all were moving, but none show signs of being deceased so looks like Hector will be a daddy in a couple of days.


And, I snapped a few as I was closing up the barn tonight, was too busy replacing fence near the driveway gate to get to Hector and company when he was out today.

 

[Wyatt0224]

Hector will be very happy. Do you ever show the daddy roosters their children, and if so do they ever seem to know?

 

[speckledhen]

Hector will be very happy. Do you ever show the daddy roosters their children, and if so do they ever seem to know?

I showed Cora to Bash today. He flirted, she was scared and wide-eyed at his big handsome self. The D'Anver roosters help raise the chicks so they seem to know who is theirs. Spike gets flustered when the large fowl BR chicks get bigger than he is by 8 weeks old and starts being a little stern with them in a way he never is with D'anver chicks.

 

[1muttsfan]

 

[speckledhen]

Bonnie has just gone into Day 20, on the heels of a 7 hour blackout! This is why I love hatching with broodies!

I candled her eggs while she was off the nest at midday. I saw chicks in the air cells of ALL TEN EGGS! Hector will be a daddy by sometime tomorrow, I bet! One thing that is good about Jill's eggs it that they are very wide so plenty of room for a chick to stretch out.

Now, I have one each from Dru and one from Wynette and I hope I can catch which is theirs and put a band on them, but hard to say hatching under a broody hen. Will try to keep it so I know which are Jill's three and which belong to the other hens. I've love for a pullet from Dru-her mama, Dottie, was a pullet-producer for the most part. Any cockerels must go, a couple of girls go to Hector. I hope that of the five BR chicks, four are pullets, but I don't have room to give Hector more than two in his current pen. Zara and Athena can't live in there, too chaotic because of Zara mostly. And we know that one or both carry the dwarf gene anyway.

 

[1muttsfan]

 

[speckledhen]

We have nasty weather. The winds were horrendous today, limbs everywhere, power out from 9 a.m. until after 4 p.m. Here is my poor yard today. It won't be fun going to the barn to monitor the hatch.

 

[1muttsfan]

Wicked!

 

[speckledhen]

Five chicks have hatched under Brahma mama Bonnie as of this evening, however, DH did not bring the shells into the house when he checked last time, so I have no idea if any of the BRs hatched, and if so, which ones. I will most likely not be able to discern Jill's three from the one from Dru or one from Wynette, unless one of those does not hatch.

It's brutal trying to check under Bonnie! She's a viper! But, in any case, all BR cockerels will be sold and I'll choose (if I have them) two pullets for Hector. Brandy is also now broody, ack! Crazy Brahmas! Thea is still clucking, but has never started actually sitting or stopped laying.

 

[1muttsfan]

Maybe she just has a lot to say :cd