I thought it took 28 days?

[StevenW.]

Hows the babies doin?

 

[racuda]

Quote:
It is a sad story.

When I came home from work last Thursday there was a white peachick in the run dead. It was pecked to death. I though it hatched early and the other chickens killed it. By that night 6 more chicks hatched and they looked really good and healthy. I left them under the Buff Orpington hen.

The next morning I went out to check on them to find total carnage. Every chick but one was dead, having been pecked on the head or back. I moved the one surviver under a broody cochin, but it's wounds were too severe and it died a few hours later.

I think that either the Buff Orp is just a chick killer like some chickens are, or maybe since the peachicks are active and get out from under the hen sooner than chicken chicks she killed them thinking they were some kind of predator. Chicken chicks stay put for at least 24 hours under the hen. Peachicks don't follow this "rule" and it confused her.

I located some eggs locally that same day and picked them up. Since this Buff Orp is a great sitter I put the new eggs under her. A couple of days before they hatch I am going to move them to two broody cochins to finish the job. I don't think the cochins are likely to kill them but I am going to keep a close eye on them for the first 8 hours or so.

 

[MinxFox]

I am sorry about that.

Watch out for even the cochins just incase or maybe even take at least one peachick away from them when it hatches just to make sure you don't lose them all for whatever reason. Oh man I am putting myself in that situation and I would just freak!! I hope you can get some more eggs and they hatch out to be really great peachicks that don't get pecked to death.

 

[SuperPeacockman]

If you have a brooder I would take them all

 

[StevenW.]

That's very sad

I would think about having a brooder ready just incase with the other eggs you got.

 

[racuda]

You should see where I got the eggs from. A guy has them on an abandoned farm in the middle of the woods way back from the main road. I couldn't have made it back there without my 4 wheel drive vehicle.

After going down the trail for half a mile or so I came to a large clearing with a ramshackle house with all the windows out, a run down barn, broken tractor. In the middle of this was a large area of just dirt, no grass in sight, and over a hundred peafowl walking around. I had never been that close to so many.

They were flying to various landing spots, swooshing past my head with a great rush of wind. They were calling to each other. I took some pictures trying to show the vastness of it, but the pics don't do the place justice. I couldn't get many birds in the picture at one time.

 

[racuda]

 

[StevenW.]

Oh WOW! That must take a lot of effort just to find the eggs!

 

[pbj0206]

Wow! That is amazing! I am sorry for your loss. There is no better way to incubate than under the real thing, but I would definitely take the chicks as soon as they are born and put them in a brooder.

 

[racuda]

Everyone always advises to take the chicks and raise them in a brooder. Is it because of disease? I really like letting the hen teach chicks and poults the ways of the world. She keeps them the right temperature, shows them how and what to eat, when to hide, etc. I have another Buff Orp with 5 two week old Royal Palm turkeys right now and she is doing great with them. Are peachicks that much different?