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Faraday40 said:
I tried slipping my Dominique eggs under a broody. (I thought I'd save her 2 weeks of incubation.) She was unsettled by me moving her into the broody box & abandoned the eggs. I found them covered with poo & cold the next morning. I turned the incubator back on & one actually hatched - well over 24 hrs late.

In some tough hatches, a broody can have a higher hatch rate. My bantam orp did much better hatching bantam eggs than I did with the incubator. However, I must admit that I was very upset with the other broody for killing some of my Dominique eggs.

The temperature is not a big deal for a broody. If it were me (& she was strongly brooding), I'd give her 1 egg & then slip the rest of the chicks under when they hatch. I believe the mama's hormones change as she feels the eggs hatch. Mama also talks to the chicks as they hatch, so it helps them bond. I have slipped a few chicks under a hen during the 1st 24 hrs with no problems. When I tried to do it at day 4, the hen tried to attack the new chicks to protect her own babies.

Speaking of broodies, my own had a rough day. Her chicks went to their new home. She was calling for them. Then the other hens tried to pick on her, a roo wanted to mate, & a giant hawk kept making fly bys. I had to lock her up inside the broody cage for her own safety. On the other hand, her chicks had no problem with the separation. I gave them a nice warm, dark box and put a microwavable pad under the box. They snuggled in & fell asleep. It was a very quiet ride. (I was expecting a lot of peeping for mama.) I had a nice visit with chickendreams24 then drove to Great America to enjoy Fright Fest.

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Awww poor girl, hopefully she will be back to her old self soon. And why do the other hens pick on the poor friend who is in distress? All mine did the same thing with Coco when she was having a hard time breathing. I don't understand that at all and I just wanted to scold them all!

And as for my broody, I think I am going to take your advice and put 1-2 eggs under her, and once they have hatched, then slip the incubator chicks under. I hope she makes it til this Saturday, she has been setting for over 2 weeks and I think she is on lockdown, cause I didn't see her come off the nest today. I am going to have to go back and look at my posts to see when she began setting. I have to start a Chicken Journal!

I know you aren't suppose to be able to reliably wing sex Orps, but I have had decent results doing so with my blues. So I will see if they are correct for my Splash orps. If going by wing sexing, I would say I have 3 girls, if I was going by just looking at their size and stance at day 3 I would say 2 girls and 1 boy. Can't wait to see! Then, I sat down and began a breeding chart of who I could breed to who, and playing with the chicken calculator. Can't wait til next spring!
 
You're very welcome I'm so glad we got to meet you and your family too. I hope we can do it again sometime swapping birds or eggs who knows :) I'll give the little brownish one tons of loving and say its from her. No worries they're never going to be wanting for love. In a couple months they may be wanting for grass and sunlight(though hopefully it won't be a terribluly glub winter) but not love. I love orps just from everything I've read about them and I am addicted its true. Hopelessly addicted to Orpingtons and chickens in general but I also very much adore our Wyandottes I can't wait until spring. DH2B said he would enable me more in spring :) yay!!! He'll probably regret saying that lol but yay! I'd really like a couple autosexing breeds one or two of this and that still trying to get a feel for my favorite birds but I have an idea orps are going to be a constant around here. I can't wait to also get some cochins and maybe some Brahmas. Maybe another try at Buttercups I'm not sure. I love that the only chicken limit I have is the one DH2B makes. Eventually once I know my favorites I imagine I'll lessen the flock but right now we're going to need all our birds plus maybe some more to fill egg orders just from family and friends alone. (He is from a huge family) but I admit I also love the variety. BTW thanks again you have given us what may be our first white and black chickens- if you don't count our three white silkies and two black 5 week old oegb chicks(which DH2B doesn't count as chickens lol and somehow the silkies don't truly seem like chickens to me either probably because they bounce around the yard like rabbits most of the time. lol)
 
MeeMa is that at me? If so yes I would like to try some speckled Sussex too as well as some Andalusians and maybe some rocks. Not sure what all but okay so what do you really like about the speckled Sussex? I also of course love my colorful egg basket(although its still a work in progress most of our girls aren't yet laying regularly.) We currently have Cookie's 6 chicks, two 5-6 week old black oegb(one pullet, one roo I believe) 6 17? Week silkies(3 white-1 for sure roo, 1 buff, 1 splash, 1 partridge roo the ones I didn't specify sex on are currently unknowns)
2 17? Week bantams-1 self blue oegb, 1 bantam barred cochin
A sebright, one roo I think wheaten or bbr oegb
14 lf pullets buff Orpingtons, slw, Isa browns, EE
1 lf silver Laced wyandotte roo.
 
Sp Sussex are on my wish list too. DD likes the way they look. We have a Sussex mix, named Precious. I love how she follows & "talks" to me as I do the morning chores. Such personality! If I do not acknowledge her, she only grows louder until I do,

Here's Precious - She's also a camera hog!..... so demanding.
 
ChicagoClucker said:
Awww poor girl, hopefully she will be back to her old self soon. And why do the other hens pick on the poor friend who is in distress? All mine did the same thing with Coco when she was having a hard time breathing. I don't understand that at all and I just wanted to scold them all!
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I believe there actually is a reason for their mean picking. In the wild, a sick/ weak bird will attract the attention of predators, which endangers the whole flock. If they all gang up, kill the sick one, & move on (...or at a minimum abandon it), the the safety of the flock will stay strong. Blood attracts all kinds of trouble, so a small injury can become all out dangerous within the flock. That's why you must treat & camouflage the red. It's just something in their survival instinct.
 
Faraday40 said:
I believe there actually is a reason for their mean picking. In the wild, a sick/ weak bird will attract the attention of predators, which endangers the whole flock. If they all gang up, kill the sick one, & move on (...or at a minimum abandon it), the the safety of the flock will stay strong. Blood attracts all kinds of trouble, so a small injury can become all out dangerous within the flock. That's why you must treat & camouflage the red. It's just something in their survival instinct.
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In reality, I do understand. But, you look at the little friendships that are made between them. The ones they spend all day with in their little group, then all of a sudden they turn on their best friend! I understand it, but just wish they were more like dogs or elephants, loyal friends that would stay with their friend in their time of need. I guess that is the one thing that I do not like about chickens.
 

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