I Built A Bridge!

[lizgarf]

Little Lu is out of the egg!! Rousseau and I had to help a little at the end, because its foot was stuck in the membrane, but it's out! And if its lung capacity is any indication, it should be a pretty strong little chick! My goodness Lu is a loud chirper!! And Rousseau seems to be on it. Phew!
Still not sure how this is all going to go, but it's been an amazing evening! I am unbelievably pooped! I really hope I can finally sleep through the night!

 

[Teila]

Howdy Bridge Club

Sneaking in during work hours for a bit of a 'catch up’ which, will all the posts, is going to take a while and probably a good job I did not leave it too much longer …….

I have a Word doc open and I am replying to the posts as I am reading them .....

Hello again MM, good to see you … catch up whenever you can. I am sure we all understand the pressures of work, family etc.

So sorry to read about the little one that did not make it Liz but congratulations on the seven (so far) .. so adorable!

Liz no, sorry, did not learn much from the Frizzle breeder, I do know that he has fertile eggs available most of the time. However, my chances of getting a Frizzle I can keep are diminished in that 9 eggs is probably the max and out of those 9, assuming they all hatched, I would need 1 to be a pullet AND a Frizzle. Considering last hatch I got one pullet and the hatch before only two, my odds are probably not good. Knowing my luck all the roosters would be Frizzles

Tee hee at car park versus parking lot .. will have to try and remember that

Aaaw, beautiful pictures Liz .. so love the little bubbies getting in on the wing-thing and their so very, very proud Dad! I see him peeking in the background!

At “Hatching with Three Broodies!”

.. OMG Liz you have me on the edge of my seat with the Lucy eggs and Rousseau story. Good thinking on giving them to Rousseau. Not your brightest bird huh? Definitely a Frizzle thing I am thinking; LuLu is a total fruit-cake but also totally loveable.

Wooo hoooo … welcome to the world Little Lu, we have all anxiously been awaiting your arrival!

Extra little hug for Rousseau also; clever girl!

Now, get some sleep Liz

IC yeah, I am ready for another batch of cuteness at Bambrook Bantams also; it has been just over 6 months since we had the pitter patter of tiny chookies! You never now, someone else might beat Cilla to the broody mood; maybe Tina

Thank you arkansas55 and welcome to the Bridge Club which, at the moment, should be the Excitement Club!

16 paws probably best that Pancake’s bubbies are not until Wed or Thursday; all this excitement in one hit would be too much! Lol. We may get a day or two to calm down before the next round

I better scoot back and do some work ……

 

[lizgarf]

Liz no, sorry, did not learn much from the Frizzle breeder, I do know that he has fertile eggs available most of the time. However, my chances of getting a Frizzle I can keep are diminished in that 9 eggs is probably the max and out of those 9, assuming they all hatched, I would need 1 to be a pullet AND a Frizzle. Considering last hatch I got one pullet and the hatch before only two, my odds are probably not good. Knowing my luck all the roosters would be Frizzles

Tee hee at car park versus parking lot .. will have to try and remember that

Aaaw, beautiful pictures Liz .. so love the little bubbies getting in on the wing-thing and their so very, very proud Dad! I see him peeking in the background!

At “Hatching with Three Broodies!”

.. OMG Liz you have me on the edge of my seat with the Lucy eggs and Rousseau story. Good thinking on giving them to Rousseau. Not your brightest bird huh? Definitely a Frizzle thing I am thinking; LuLu is a total fruit-cake but also totally loveable.

Wooo hoooo … welcome to the world Little Lu, we have all anxiously been awaiting your arrival!

Extra little hug for Rousseau also; clever girl!

Now, get some sleep Liz

Thanks, Teila! Lovely and thorough response, as usual! So sweet to hear from all of you cheering us on. Never a dull moment with a team-broody hatch! This supports my vow to do no more than one hatch a year! I couldn't handle any more hatches, let alone anymore chickens! But, man, I sure do love those little fuzzy butts and their proud mamas!

 

[Teila]

Liz You are welcome hon .. seriously, I am nearly as excited as you are! I feel like their Down Under Aunty; I was sort of there while Lucy and Desi were born and now I am on the edge of my seat for their bubbies, so cool

 

[ItalyChickie]

OMG, how did I manage to miss all of this excitement? And why do the exciting things always happen when it's night my time???

Liz, congratulations!!! I am so happy and relieved that Rousseau was ready and available, and that you were there to step in.

Can't wait to meet the new little one!

I guess I am going to have to coordinate my hatches next time so I can be a part of hatching with 3, 4, 5 or 6 broodies. Actually, since Cochins, Orps and Silkie crosses will also be grown up in spring, I could probably manage 10+.

Until then though, I think that's enough for this year, so for now I'll wait for Cilla - or Tina, or Blondie as the case may be - to go broody. Or anyone else from the team.

Not much to report here, except for WAY too much work and not enough time with my adorable little family. I guess I better get to it so I can have some quality time with them in the afternoon.

 

[Teila]

I know IC isn't it exciting! So much going on at the Bridge

Funny you should mention waiting for Cilla or Tina or Blondie; a funny (as in strange) thing happened today. This morning around 10am, Tina was in one of the nest boxes and I thought 'OK, egg on the way'. About an hour later, lots of sqwarking so I go and check and Tina has been booted off the nest by Cilla. PS. Of course there is more than one nest box. Anyways, I'm thinking 'OK, egg on the way from Cilla'. I will just grab hers and Tina's later. Had a bit of a crisis at work, didn't get to go back until 4pm when I let them all out for their supervised free range; checked the nest box; just one Cilla egg. Hhhhm, looked everywhere else to see if Tina laid her egg elsewhere .. nope. Picked the egg up and it was very warm, someone had only just got off it .. OK, bit weird but I carried on feeding them, chatting to them etc.

5pm comes along and Tina goes and plonks herself back in the nest box! Everyone else went to bed 45 minutes later and she is still parked in the nest box.

So, Tina is either making a a huge production about the next egg which should be there tomorrow morning .. OR; she is thinking about going broody! My only concern is that if she is thinking about going broody, she left the egg for an hour; whereas you would be lucky to get Cilla to leave eggs for 10 minutes!

Anyways, we shall see tomorrow what develops.

Then, of course, there is the question of, if Tina does go broody, do I give her a chance at motherhood? Would she be able to protect her bubbies from the over zealous matriarch Cilla? I can separate Tina during the brood and hatch but once integration happens, I am not sure how Cilla would be; I'm thinking a bit mean On the other hand, if Tina does make a great mumma and gives Cilla a good 'bashing' it probably wouldn't hurt Cilla to be knocked down a peg or two!

Ah well, food for thought .. guess I just wait and see who goes broody first

 

[lizgarf]

Little Lu made it through the night, but s/he's seriously splayed and may have some issues with the butt/navel. I made an attempt at a brace and put some antibiotic ointment on her butt (left over from Grace's bite wounds), and put a a special mat on the floor of the nest. Still as vocal as ever! Looks like I'll have to keep them isolated for awhile from the others. Splayed legs are caused from inconsistent temperatures during incubation- hmm, I wonder how that happened!!
@tommysgirl - didn't you cure splayed legs before? Please offer advice!!!

And, now here's the real kicker: the last egg is pipped!! Man, I was really about to toss it, seeing in what bad shape Lu is in, but it's back under Rousseau. Too much craziness for one little farmer to handle!

 

[ItalyChickie]

I know IC isn't it exciting! So much going on at the Bridge

Funny you should mention waiting for Cilla or Tina or Blondie; a funny (as in strange) thing happened today. This morning around 10am, Tina was in one of the nest boxes and I thought 'OK, egg on the way'. About an hour later, lots of sqwarking so I go and check and Tina has been booted off the nest by Cilla. PS. Of course there is more than one nest box. Anyways, I'm thinking 'OK, egg on the way from Cilla'. I will just grab hers and Tina's later. Had a bit of a crisis at work, didn't get to go back until 4pm when I let them all out for their supervised free range; checked the nest box; just one Cilla egg. Hhhhm, looked everywhere else to see if Tina laid her egg elsewhere .. nope. Picked the egg up and it was very warm, someone had only just got off it .. OK, bit weird but I carried on feeding them, chatting to them etc.

5pm comes along and Tina goes and plonks herself back in the nest box! Everyone else went to bed 45 minutes later and she is still parked in the nest box.

So, Tina is either making a a huge production about the next egg which should be there tomorrow morning .. OR; she is thinking about going broody! My only concern is that if she is thinking about going broody, she left the egg for an hour; whereas you would be lucky to get Cilla to leave eggs for 10 minutes!

Anyways, we shall see tomorrow what develops.

Then, of course, there is the question of, if Tina does go broody, do I give her a chance at motherhood? Would she be able to protect her bubbies from the over zealous matriarch Cilla? I can separate Tina during the brood and hatch but once integration happens, I am not sure how Cilla would be; I'm thinking a bit mean On the other hand, if Tina does make a great mumma and gives Cilla a good 'bashing' it probably wouldn't hurt Cilla to be knocked down a peg or two!

Ah well, food for thought .. guess I just wait and see who goes broody first

Even more excitement!!! Now I can't wait for tomorrow's verdict on whether or not Tina is broody! (I'm secretly hoping that she is... team broody needs some frizzle babies!!!)

I guess that tells you what I think re giving her eggs.

Obviously you know your flock better than I do, but from what I have seen with mine, hens that tend to go broody (i.e. Cilla) usually are not mean to baby chicks. Cenere even lets other broodies' babies clean her beak when I give them yogurt, she did this with Pallina's and Chiocciola's chicks. Ombretta also seems to allow babies take the food from right in front of her, etc. Others might give a chick a peck to teach them manners, but it doesn't go beyond that, and chicks learn who to stay away from very very quickly. In my flock, the only ones who are mean to babies are the Red Stars, those with absolutely zero broodiness. Even my leghorn seems to be curious when chicks are around, and not mean at all.

If anything, I did worse with Pallina (lowest in pecking order) when I separated her away from the flock but in the same area as another broody - that's a recipe for broody wars, while the rest of the flock didn't go beyond the occasional peck once they started to come out.

Anyway, that's just my two cents, obviously your decision - if Tina is even broody at all!

A quickie photo update, then back to work for me.

Dust bath and stretching time (also Ombretta trying on some grey feathers):













These two are too lazy to participate and prefer chilling in the shade:





Growing Araucana/EE chicks, because it has been a while:






And Pallina's family, which is by now impossible to take a group shot of - someone is always off exploring somewhere:

 

[ItalyChickie]

Little Lu made it through the night, but s/he's seriously splayed and may have some issues with the butt/navel. I made an attempt at a brace and put some antibiotic ointment on her butt (left over from Grace's bite wounds), and put a a special mat on the floor of the nest. Still as vocal as ever! Looks like I'll have to keep them isolated for awhile from the others. Splayed legs are caused from inconsistent temperatures during incubation- hmm, I wonder how that happened!!
@tommysgirl - didn't you cure splayed legs before? Please offer advice!!!

And, now here's the real kicker: the last egg is pipped!! Man, I was really about to toss it, seeing in what bad shape Lu is in, but it's back under Rousseau. Too much craziness for one little farmer to handle!

Glad to hear Lu made it! Really hope s/he gets better soon. I had one chick with splayed leg last year, and no usually suggested materials on hand, but a few days (4, I think) with an improvised hair elastic brace had cured it completely. Hopefully works the same way for Lu.

And wow on the last pipped egg!!! I'll keep my fingers crossed for it!

 

[arkansas55]

congrat's on the lil chick so far,i dont know about change,chicken's seem to hate it but maybe if you has a small ISO cage,food and water can be put in any pan,just till baby chick is bigger,but i would leave them where they can all see and hear each other,good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!