Illinois...

[Junibutt]

Quote:
I have a spare incubator if you need one till your arrives

 

[ChicagoClucker]

I think your chances of hatching would improve under a broody - especially if she's a proven one.
I don't remember how close we live to each other, but if you want to borrow my Hovabator until your new one arrives, send me a pm. (It's an old still air to which I added a computer fan. Kind of a franken-incubator, but it has a turner. I use it as a back up if I have a staggered hatch.)

Meanwhile I had an impulse. I purchased some penciled rock hatching eggs. Here's how they arrived:
5 were smashed & gooey


5 = I had to rinse off to clean away all the slimy egg
2 were reasonably OK.

What's strange is that only 1 of the smashed eggs had a scrambled yolk. The other 4 were definitely fertile. They were all cracked along the equator
I candled the remaining 7 & the air cells didn't look too bad. Has anyone successfully hatched eggs in such a condition?

Anyway, they're in my good incubator. The recent silkie eggs looked worse when candled & even got frozen along the way. If I can get 1 penciled rock female, I'll be very happy. Of course I could set just penciled rock eggs, so I added a bunch of choc cuckoo (Godiva xBrick), B/B/Mauve (Oopsie's), black, & lav orp eggs. I thought I saw some bulls eyes in Cookies' eggs, so I set 3 bantam eggs as a test. Due to the rooster size diff, I've never been able to hatch any of my own bantam eggs. Perhaps little Brick is more active than I had thought.

Oopsie's been thinking about going broody for the past 2 weeks. Two days ago, she finally took the plunge & started sleeping in the nest box. Poor girl kept getting kicked out by the dominant hens, so I moved her to a nice broody apartment- giant dog crate. She's sitting on 2 eggs, 2 fake eggs, & a golf ball. She didn't like the box I provided, removed all the eggs, & moved them to the shavings. If all goes well, I'll be playing "chicken mind games" on her. She'll sit & hatch the 2 eggs, but then I'll slip about another 20 chicks under her. In the past, placing a broody hen into the brooder helps make sure all the chicks are eating, drinking, etc. & the chicks that can't fit under mama have a heating pad. Her number goes down as chicks get sold & if we decide to keep any, the flock intros go smoothly. I've never had a LF orp go broody before. I was beginning to suspect that only bantams go broody. Hope she does OK.
@Junibutt
How did your orps do with broodiness?

Quote: Thanks for the offers of the incubators @Faraday40 and @Junibutt..

I decided this morning that I was moving the eggs under the broody hens. My Grandson had a sleepover last night, so I had to wait til he left before I could switch out the eggs. I have 3 broody hens, 2 are first timers and 1 is Minnie who kicked one of the first timers off her nest. So the 1st timer sits there and waits for Minnie to get up and go to eat, drink and take a dust bath, then returns to nest and kicks her off again. Minnie is also the one who was killing the newly hatched chicks that the other broody hen hatched last year. So really don't want her in with any other broody. I tried moving the 2 new broody hens to a crate in the garage. They didn't want any part of it at all. I tried waiting, watching the eggs get cold, but they are too nervous in a new place. So, moved the eggs and girls back to the nesting boxes. So, I am just going to let them keep the nesting boxes, I setup some temp nesting boxes outside of the coop, and I will close up the coop during the day so no one can kick them off their nest. Including Minnie. Fingers crossed, there were 9 choc cuckoo and 9 what I think are SL orps or split to black SL eggs. I hope I am right.

Faraday, sorry about your pencil rock eggs. I have received eggs in that condition before and have had a few of the eggs hatch. Hope you get your pullet.

And I had the couple of LF orps go broody. Clara my hatchery buff orp (1 of my 1st chickens) did wonderfully hatching my bantams and another hatch last year. She was a good momma. She hasn't shown any signs of broodiness as of yet.

Also wanted to ask, has anyone gone to the Kankakee swap to Sell Chickens? I need to contact them so I can find out how I do this, if there is a pre registration or just show up the day of?

 

[Molpet]

Thanks for the offers of the incubators @Faraday40 and @Junibutt..

I decided this morning that I was moving the eggs under the broody hens. My Grandson had a sleepover last night, so I had to wait til he left before I could switch out the eggs. I have 3 broody hens, 2 are first timers and 1 is Minnie who kicked one of the first timers off her nest. So the 1st timer sits there and waits for Minnie to get up and go to eat, drink and take a dust bath, then returns to nest and kicks her off again. Minnie is also the one who was killing the newly hatched chicks that the other broody hen hatched last year. So really don't want her in with any other broody. I tried moving the 2 new broody hens to a crate in the garage. They didn't want any part of it at all. I tried waiting, watching the eggs get cold, but they are too nervous in a new place. So, moved the eggs and girls back to the nesting boxes. So, I am just going to let them keep the nesting boxes, I setup some temp nesting boxes outside of the coop, and I will close up the coop during the day so no one can kick them off their nest. Including Minnie. Fingers crossed, there were 9 choc cuckoo and 9 what I think are SL orps or split to black SL eggs. I hope I am right.

Faraday, sorry about your pencil rock eggs. I have received eggs in that condition before and have had a few of the eggs hatch. Hope you get your pullet.

And I had the couple of LF orps go broody. Clara my hatchery buff orp (1 of my 1st chickens) did wonderfully hatching my bantams and another hatch last year. She was a good momma. She hasn't shown any signs of broodiness as of yet.

Also wanted to ask, has anyone gone to the Kankakee swap to Sell Chickens? I need to contact them so I can find out how I do this, if there is a pre registration or just show up the day of?

I haven't but here is an ad w/phone number 815-697-2980 https://www.facebook.com/groups/125...38340509/?sale_post_id=1217580238340509&rt=11

 

[ChicagoClucker]

I haven't but here is an ad w/phone number 815-697-2980 https://www.facebook.com/groups/125...38340509/?sale_post_id=1217580238340509&rt=11

thank you

 

[Wild Birdman]

I haven't been on the boards for a while, but I have brought in 10 2-1/2 month old chicks that I was able to get from a kind lady in Elgin.

 

[ChicagoClucker]

I haven't been on the boards for a while, but I have brought in 10 2-1/2 month old chicks that I was able to get from a kind lady in Elgin.

Pretty Bunch. You will get a nice egg assortment!

 

[Wild Birdman]

Yes, with the first 4 I have, (two r i reds, a barred rock, and the black one) I already get white eggs and jumbo brown eggs. I heard the three new Americanas will give me blue/blue-green eggs, the other barred rocks should be brown, and the five Wyandottes are a different shade of brown.

 

[ChicagoClucker]

No South SIde Irish Parade for me today. Busy chicken day!

1. Izzy my Isabel leghorn has something going on. Pale comb, puffed up and sleeping more while out. Checked crop seems empty, so not eating either and not sour crop. Not egg bound. So gave some antibiotics, will treat for worms beginning tomorrow. Any other suggestions?

2. Zoe Copper Maran- Egg Bound! Noticed her sitting in the same spot with her back end pulsating for 3 hours. Gave her a warm bath and massage for about 45 minutes, with no luck. So got a relaxing blow dry and tried to get her to eat a crushed up Tums and no luck, she wouldn't touch it, so sent her back out side. I tossed some treats out to see if she was eating and she attacked the treats. Hoping she will lay on her own soon.
.
My broody girls are doing a good job, kind of. One of the 1st timers didn't have all the eggs under her. But when I went and checked this afternoon, the other 1st timer moved over to that nesting box and is covering those eggs. So now she will have her own, hopefully if they hatch! Better than getting kicked out of her nest every day.

 

[Faraday40]

My broody gave me a little scare today. I've heard of a "broody trance" but thought it was just a phrase. Oopsie was actually in a trance this evening. Her eyes were 1/2 open & she was sort of unresponsive. I had never seen that before in any of my broodies. After petting, talking, & tidying up her cage, she snapped out of it & seems fine. I hope she eats & drinks as needed. She's only on 2 real eggs & 2-3 fake eggs. With the snow coming, I can always remove the blanks if needed. (I wanted enough eggs to keep her interested.) I also hope the noise of the snow blowers doesn't scare her off the nest or the cold temps break her broodiness. If she does well with those 2 eggs/chicks, she'll get up to another 2 dozen chicks to adopt!

 

[TheRichFish]

West-central Illinois. Brand new to raising chickens, get my first shipment of chicks in early April: three silver laced wyandottes, three black australorps, and three barred rocks. Coop and run almost finished, just waiting for that warm weather to return.