I'm not sure if my hen has gone broody or is ill?

[silkiechicken]

With just two birds, why not look into incubating your own eggs? It's really not that bad and there are reasonable priced bators out there, or you can do it yourself. Then you could set every last egg you have, whenever you want, and raise them up inside. There's no guarantee they will go broody, or that every hen makes a good mom.

 

[chickenbike]

I do have an incubator and that is how we hatched these current chickens. So, yes, at the very least I hope the rooster will fertilize eggs and we will definitely try hatching some in the bator as well. The difficulty is that Partridge Chants are not available in hatcheries in western Canada. I found one couple who went out of their way to bring eggs back to BC from QC and this is where we got our eggs from. She lost several Partridge Chants during the winter (they have Partridge and White Chants) and will be focusing on replenishing her own flock before offering fertile eggs again. Possibly we will get late summer eggs from her to hatch depending on how things go for her. Although with any luck with my own two (be it incubator or a broody hen) I can get spring chicks somehow.

 

[silkiechicken]

Great, then you're set!

Why not hatch some of the current eggs if your roo's with the girls? Just takes one mating success to fertilize eggs for 2-3 weeks in a hen. You know you want to fill the house with chicks.

 

[chickenbike]

Quote:
I didn't know that one mating would fertilize the eggs for that length of time, thanks for the info silkie.

The rooster is in with the healthy girl. They have all always been together. So, with just the one girl laying, then after the rooster mates her, I can collect several days worth of eggs for the incubator? How should I store the eggs before going into the bator, or should I put them in each day as she lays for a few days?

 

[silkiechicken]

Yep, chances are better if they get mated more often, but the girls have a way of storing sperm for a few weeks so unlike mammals, their timing doesn't have to be just right.

Just collect up the eggs, don't wash them to preserve the bacteria blocking bloom, and put them in a carton air cell side up. If they have any dirt on them, just brush it off. If it is really dirty, and you do choose to wash the eggs, do it under water warmer than the egg. Ideally, about 15C or so and something like 80% humidity is the best to store them at, but room temperature for a week to 10 days is also fine. Hatch rate just goes down past about 10 days of storage, but that said, I've hatched eggs stored over a month. Just put the carton in a plastic bag to keep evaporation down, and tilt the eggs every few days to ensure the yolk doesn't stick to the shell.

You do want to collect them and set them at the same time, because else you may risk the developing ones chances by having to up the humidity for the ones hatching. If you want to do a staggered hatch, you'd ideally have two incubators, one for incubating days 1-18, and one for hatching days 19-21/22.

I'd just collect up 2 weeks of eggs, set them all on a Monday for a Sunday hatch so you can watch them, wait two weeks, start collecting again for 2 weeks and repeat the hatching cycle. Granted, you might run into a problem of maintaining 5 brooders of a dozen chicks a pop each a month apart!

 

[chickenbike]

Thank you again for the info silkie. We are in the midst of yet another snow blizzard and our rooster has been less actively mating with the ongoing snow dumps adding to the existing foot of snow still in the yard. Once we see spring weather I'm sure he'll be up to his tricks and I'll collect eggs for the hatch.

My sick girl is still with us, bless her fight and determination. I am wishing I could do more for her.

 

[silkiechicken]

Best of luck with the girl, hope she makes a full recovery. You're already doing more than most for her so time will tell.

 

[chickenbike]

Well, after two days of my sick girl only eating two bites of a porridge/yoghurt/broccoli purree, today she has already eaten a full 3/4 cup. A definite increase in her appetite today, she has not done any open-beaked breathing, and stands a bit steadier. Maybe a turn for the better.....we're very pleased and still taking things one hour at a time.