I'm never gonna get an egg!!!

[Crooked Chicken]

Hi everyone. How's everybody been? I finally got all the chickies out to the coop today, just in time for more cold weather. Their new digs in the coop aren't near as roomy as I thought, so hope they get accepted by the others quickly (ha ha ha).

 

[WVduckchick]

How old? Are you letting her set?

My girl? She's about a year and a half. Did her first set last winter (coldest part of winter, to boot!) when she was 6 months old. She sat twice this summer.

I was going to take the eggs, but didn't have the heart to rob them from her. Now she has a helper, trying to take the nest, runs in when Sara does her daily outing. They had a loud fight the other day, Sara saying "GET OUT of my box!" but the other is now sitting just inside the coop beside the box. Last I checked, there were too many eggs, so I'll candle them soon and give the other girl the eggs that are further behind.

 

[apryl29]

Hi everyone. How's everybody been? I finally got all the chickies out to the coop today, just in time for more cold weather. Their new digs in the coop aren't near as roomy as I thought, so hope they get accepted by the others quickly (ha ha ha).

Are they getting along well? My younger one wants to get more chicks this year, but I'm thinking it's not a good idea since we don't have a lot of space and we have several who are quite pecky with those beneath them.

My girl? She's about a year and a half. Did her first set last winter (coldest part of winter, to boot!) when she was 6 months old. She sat twice this summer.

I was going to take the eggs, but didn't have the heart to rob them from her. Now she has a helper, trying to take the nest, runs in when Sara does her daily outing. They had a loud fight the other day, Sara saying "GET OUT of my box!" but the other is now sitting just inside the coop beside the box. Last I checked, there were too many eggs, so I'll candle them soon and give the other girl the eggs that are further behind.

How exciting! How much longer do you have til they hatch?
I always wondered if it was ok to let a pullet hatch their eggs. Kind of like how an 11 yo human is capable of birthing a child, but it's not really a great idea... Good to know it's ok. I haven't had a broody yet. My birds will all be a year old this spring, I've thought about letting someone hatch out, but right now all our chicks would be bantam crosses & I'm not sure how much I really want to do that.

 

[CapricornFarm]

I got 4 eggs the other day , from 4 pullets i have left from my August chicks i ordered. I had 10 pullets and 2 cockerels. Mereks sucks.

 

[WVduckchick]

Are they getting along well? My younger one wants to get more chicks this year, but I'm thinking it's not a good idea since we don't have a lot of space and we have several who are quite pecky with those beneath them.


How exciting! How much longer do you have til they hatch?
I always wondered if it was ok to let a pullet hatch their eggs. Kind of like how an 11 yo human is capable of birthing a child, but it's not really a great idea... Good to know it's ok. I haven't had a broody yet. My birds will all be a year old this spring, I've thought about letting someone hatch out, but right now all our chicks would be bantam crosses & I'm not sure how much I really want to do that.

If you can hold off getting more, then I commend you!

Any first time broody should be watched carefully. Some know they want to sit on eggs, but don't really understand what's happening when the hatch starts. I had 2 sitting together and 1 killed the first hatchling, so I separated them. But sometimes a duo works well together. I've had about every imaginable combination with broodies. Good ones, bad ones, nice ones, mean ones, early ones, late ones.... I've moved eggs and broodies at the last minute, I've moved some in the first week. All depends on the hen/pullet.

I keep a log, this is broody #45 for me, since May 2016. I know this one started almost 2 weeks ago, I'm guessing most of her eggs should be about day 10. I really need to check them tonight. I haven't messed with her too much, since she has done well in the past.

This was her late-Dec hatch last year. I actually had eggs arrive in the mail the day she started acting broody, so I let her collect a few, then I swapped them out for some that I had started in the incubator.

 

[apryl29]

I got 4 eggs the other day , from 4 pullets i have left from my August chicks i ordered. I had 10 pullets and 2 cockerels. Mereks sucks.

Have you ordered from that place before? Are any of your other birds showing signs of illness?

 

[CapricornFarm]

They were healthy until i bought 3 birds at a swap to teach the guineas how to return to roost. I kept them away from the other birds for a month. After that those birds got sick. And died.
I had not purchased any birds from them before. But every chick i got from them lived until they started dying off, months later.

Have you ordered from that place before? Are any of your other birds showing signs of illness?

The only other birds i have are Polish LF and guineas. One Polish cockerel died.

 

[apryl29]

They were healthy until i bought 3 birds at a swap to teach the guineas how to return to roost. I kept them away from the other birds for a month. After that those birds got sick. And died.
I had not purchased any birds from them before. But every chick i got from them lived until they started dying off, months later.

The only other birds i have are Polish LF and guineas. One Polish cockerel died.

Wow, that's so hard make sense of. Unfortunately I'm not experienced enough to even suggest a possible cause. I wish it was easier to get testing done to find out what causes these sudden deaths.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Wow, that's so hard make sense of. Unfortunately I'm not experienced enough to even suggest a possible cause. I wish it was easier to get testing done to find out what causes these sudden deaths.

I strongly expect it is Mereks.

 

[WVduckchick]

They were healthy until i bought 3 birds at a swap to teach the guineas how to return to roost. I kept them away from the other birds for a month. After that those birds got sick. And died.
I had not purchased any birds from them before. But every chick i got from them lived until they started dying off, months later.

The only other birds i have are Polish LF and guineas. One Polish cockerel died.

It's odd that they were ok for a month. Curious, how old were they when you got them? I think the average mareks chicks die when they get near laying/mating age? I had one death that had some Mareks signs and I got worried, but haven't lost one since, so I think it was a random odd thing.

Then again, after all the reading that i did on the subject, it seems like everyone has a touch of it anyway. Some flocks just take harder hits with it.

But still, I'm sorry you lost a few.