INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[kabhyper1]

So momma has dug up her whole brooder box and is finding scratch from forever ago and giving it to the 3 day old chicks. Is that okay? I don't think it is much, they are eating their chick starter, I just wasn't sure if it would hurt them. Also should I be giving her some form of grit? I tried to hand feed her some, but she just took it from my hand and dropped it onto the floor and called the babies over I thought about putting a little pile of sand in there for her to bathe in or some chick grit, but the babies a re very small yet. She is eating chick starter with them. It is too cold to put them outside for her to dust bathe and eat grit.

 

[Leahs Mom]

So momma has dug up her whole brooder box and is finding scratch from forever ago and giving it to the 3 day old chicks. Is that okay? I don't think it is much, they are eating their chick starter, I just wasn't sure if it would hurt them. Also should I be giving her some form of grit? I tried to hand feed her some, but she just took it from my hand and dropped it onto the floor and called the babies over I thought about putting a little pile of sand in there for her to bathe in or some chick grit, but the babies a re very small yet. She is eating chick starter with them. It is too cold to put them outside for her to dust bathe and eat grit.

That is wonderful!! She's going to be a good momma. That's exactly what they should be doing. Is the floor dirt where they are?

When my kiddos are confined I get a container (like a rubbermaid of some sort - just so it's big enough for the mom to fit too) and give them some peat moss and wood ash (some use a little DE instead of the ash if you don't have it) for them to dust in. Mom will want it after being confined for so long and she'll teach the babies really young how to use it too! Will keep the mites away.










If you don't have a container just put it right on the floor. They'll use it there too

 

[kabhyper1]

That is wonderful!! She's going to be a good momma. That's exactly what they should be doing. Is the floor dirt where they are?

When my kiddos are confined I get a container (like a rubbermaid of some sort - just so it's big enough for the mom to fit too) and give them some peat moss and wood ash (some use a little DE instead of the ash if you don't have it) for them to dust in. Mom will want it after being confined for so long and she'll teach the babies really young how to use it too! Will keep the mites away.










If you don't have a container just put it right on the floor. They'll use it there too

Okay, I don't have peat moss. Can I use the sand that is in the coop run? I know she would love it. The floor is concrete. They are in the barn. There is a 3 in inch layer of wood chips over that for them. When she was sitting, I would give her scratch in my hand. Apparently she remembered

So side note, I went out to close coops a little while ago, and my blue silkie hen was under the ramp in the run. That is where she lays her egg everyday. I thought she was just being goofy and went to pick her up and she puffed up and growled at me. BROODY!!

Another one bites the dust. My question is, since my one silkie hen that has chicks due this week is sitting on 14 eggs, could I put my blue girl on the nursery side of the coop with her and stick some of the eggs under her? To help with the large load so to speak, or is it too close to hatch to try? That is if in the morning she continues her brooding. I had to remove her because her chosen brooding spot was outside.

 

[Leahs Mom]

For the dust you can use what they're accustomed to. Sand is fine...I just usually put a little dirt in with it as they prefer a find dust and sand is kind-of heavy. You can literally get a shovelfull from the garden or anywhere you have access to some plain dirt.

You know...if I knew I had one going broody like that and some eggs like that I might just try putting them under her. That way you can put her to work instead of just losing the egg time. I'd want to be sure she was going to stick with it before moving eggs. But you could start out with some fake eggs/golf balls, etc. until you know for sure.

If you put it the real eggs under her, put them under at night. They'll have the other hen's "scent" on them and it you put them under in the dark, that will give her the whole night to sit on them and hopefully have her own scent on them. May help her recognize them as her own.

The reason I asked about what the floor is was because if it is dirt, you don't need to worry about the grit so much. When I have chicks inside I usually put out a little grit. But that's because I feed them a home made grain feed. If you're feeding the crumbles it's not as necessary to have the grit, but I'd still put a little dish not as time urgent with the processed feed.

 

[kabhyper1]

For the dust you can use what they're accustomed to. Sand is fine...I just usually put a little dirt in with it as they prefer a find dust and sand is kind-of heavy. You can literally get a shovelfull from the garden or anywhere you have access to some plain dirt.

You know...if I knew I had one going broody like that and some eggs like that I might just try putting them under her. That way you can put her to work instead of just losing the egg time. I'd want to be sure she was going to stick with it before moving eggs. But you could start out with some fake eggs/golf balls, etc. until you know for sure.

If you put it the real eggs under her, put them under at night. They'll have the other hen's "scent" on them and it you put them under in the dark, that will give her the whole night to sit on them and hopefully have her own scent on them. May help her recognize them as her own.

The reason I asked about what the floor is was because if it is dirt, you don't need to worry about the grit so much. When I have chicks inside I usually put out a little grit. But that's because I feed them a home made grain feed. If you're feeding the crumbles it's not as necessary to have the grit, but I'd still put a little dish not as time urgent with the processed feed.

Wonderful! Thank you. You really know your stuff!! The eggs are due to hatch this week. I could put her in there in the morning with the sitting girl. I think it may snap her out of her broodiness though if I take her out of her ramp area lol. I will give it a try though. I wasn't sure if them hatching so soon after she went broody would matter with her instincts for motherhood. They have never been on dirt yet. Only three days old. I have wood ash and sand and DE. Maybe I can make a mixture for them that works.

 

[Leahs Mom]

This is just what I would do...others might have other thoughts...

I would go ahead and move the new broody girl. The reason I'd do it is that I would want to be sure she is really going to be broody before giving her eggs so close to hatch, and moving her around some will show you how determined she really is.

When my red girl went broody for the first time, I took her off her nest at least 2x /day for 3 days and deposited her outside in the middle of the yard. I wanted to be sure she meant business because I was buying hatching eggs and I didn't want to just "think" she was broody. I wanted to know for sure. This is the same girl that brooded again this fall so I didn't do that with her this second time as I have "history" with her. But if I had a new broody, I'd do the same thing again. I hate the idea of possibly thinking they were going broody then finding they weren't after having set eggs.

 

[kabhyper1]

This is just what I would do...others might have other thoughts...

I would go ahead and move the new broody girl. The reason I'd do it is that I would want to be sure she is really going to be broody before giving her eggs so close to hatch, and moving her around some will show you how determined she really is.

When my red girl went broody for the first time, I took her off her nest at least 2x /day for 3 days and deposited her outside in the middle of the yard. I wanted to be sure she meant business because I was buying hatching eggs and I didn't want to just "think" she was broody. I wanted to know for sure. This is the same girl that brooded again this fall so I didn't do that with her this second time as I have "history" with her. But if I had a new broody, I'd do the same thing again. I hate the idea of possibly thinking they were going broody then finding they weren't after having set eggs.

Do you think I should go out there tonight and move her to the other side with the sitting girl? My silkies usually sleep in a pile right by the door. The broody has obviously been sleeping on her nest. I wasn't sure if Ashes, my blue hen would get upset if I moved her to sleep alone over there. I suppose I could try and go out an hour later or so and see how she is. Sorry to repeat a picture post, but its just to give you an idea of where everybody is. The rest of my flock sleeps right behind where my white hen is standing in the back. I would be moving ashes to the side the hen is laying on.

 

[Kiniska]

Got home from a nice vacation to find the neighbor boy we paid to take care of the animals is probably not the brightest bulb. We showed him, physically, how to fill the water and where to put the feed. He proceeds to fill the water silo with feed and when we get home the chickens don't have water and one hen is missing. He also over fed the dog to the point the lab looks like she picked up 20 pounds in three days. Then he left the lid off the feed container so rodents and vermin could get in it. At least he seemed to be able to handle filling the goat water buckets. Does no one teach their children sense any more? Or how about, pay attention to what you are being shown? Thank goodness we were only gone three days.

 

[Mother2Hens]

M2H you have more willpower than me! If you ever do need a truck let me know. We will be glad to help out

We have that big dually, I can't drive it (massive monstrous thing UGH) but DH would do it for you.

So, everyone on our thread..
I want to say a huge THANK YOU to racinchickins for our fantastic get together this summer, again and I can't tell you all how much we enjoyed it.
I hope to keep arranging more get togethers. Anyone in the south or north part of the state, shout out if you have ideas!
Next summer, I would love to set up a get together at our campground in Liberty.
The owner has a nice barn on site for gatherings!
We spoke a few weeks ago, he isn't opposed to the "demo" ideas ~ even on processing if we need to do another session.
He loves pickled quail eggs, so am buttering him up hehe

His family has kept poultry in the past and he likes the idea.
Brookville lake is just beautiful, and there is swimming, fishing, hiking, biking, horseback riding and camping there too, along with several other activities.
Couple different state properties locally offer different levels of camping from primitive to class A RV facilities.
I am throwing it out here now, shout out if you are interested! My group there are mostly retirees, but I am sure some will join in the fun

jchny~ Thanks for the truck use offer! I could have arranged to use a friend's truck to pick up the coop/sizzles, but I decided that although the CL deal was perfect, the timing was not. I appreciate your offer, though.

The get together location sounds great! It would be a nice option for people to stay longer or at least have a large window of opportunity to drop by as schedules allow. Good idea!
The event this past July at racinchickins was a very unique experience. It was so interesting to see Patrick's and Wade's state of the art Green home -- and fellow BYCers and Indy chicken lovers, of course! Thank you patrick and Wade for sharing your home and your intriguing ideas for environmental design!
vickichicki~ When is your hatch expected? There have been so many expectant mothers lately that we need a special calendar with due dates! I wish I had a broody hen.

Leahs Mom~ 19 degrees? No wonder your hen had to create a way to warm herself! Kidding! I like the way that you used logs for natural steps that are easier to navigate than a steep ramp.

Leahs Mom posted: Since chicks are small enough to go through the mesh in the fence, I lined the bottom of it with plastic chicken mesh fence.

Is that for use with plastic chickens only?

Just teasing! I wish I would have known about that product a year ago. We did the same thing using chicken wire, that horrible stuff that's almost as difficult to work with as Hardware "cloth" aka Hard Wires. We stretched chicken wire along the bottom of our neighbor's privacy fence, the kind with staggered vertical wood planks-- easy for small chickens to slip right through. The plastic fencing would have been much easier, but since we're newbies, we weren't aware of this newfangled product!

 

[SallyinIndiana]

Quote: Leah's Mom has more info than me.
But if it was me and I had a hen that might be broody and might not, I would not put her in with a current broody 2 weeks into a hatch. The broody hen might attack if the other hen is not truly broody.
Also I would be interested in seeing if she made a nest for 3 days straight. Then she would only need to sit on say 3-4 of the started eggs for less than a week to get her own chicks. If it is her first time being broody, it might be a great way to make sure she did not give up after a week.