INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Faraday40]

It's OK. You know I'll share many photos, so you can at least enjoy them that way.

As promised, here are some pics of my current (& last) hatch of 2017.
Thurs night we went to bed with 3 pips & awoke to 2 chicks Fri morning.
By 3pm Fri, we had 6 chicks (all lav orps so far) & 4 pips.
Since then a few more pips & two eggs appear to be zipping now.

Both broodies are sitting tight & each got an incubator chick to keep warm tonight. If all goes well, the rest will be split between them.

 

[Derrick cook]

As promised, here are some pics of my current (& last) hatch of 2017.
Thurs night we went to bed with 3 pips & awoke to 2 chicks Fri morning.
By 3pm Fri, we had 6 chicks (all lav orps so far) & 4 pips.
Since then a few more pips & two eggs appear to be zipping now.
View attachment 1143197 View attachment 1143198 View attachment 1143199

Both broodies are sitting tight & each got an incubator chick to keep warm tonight. If all goes well, the rest will be split between them.

What kind of incubator is that? Store bought or built one? Im debating on hatching next year when mine start laying but idk if i wanna have a broody silkie do it or incubate

 

[hbrown322]

My boyfriend made me labels for the egg cartons & they arrived today!!

 

[Leahs Mom]

Love it!

 

[Faraday40]

What kind of incubator is that? Store bought or built one? Im debating on hatching next year when mine start laying but idk if i wanna have a broody silkie do it or incubate

It a home-made incubator (cooler) with a nice big viewing window. Even though my Hova-bator has a computer fan & auto turner, I use my home-made incubator because it gives the highest hatch rate. I made the mistake of tightening the screws too much & cracked the plexiglass. It would be a pain to replace the viewing window, so I deal with the cracks. Other than that, I love it!

Hens go broody on their schedule (not yours), but a good broody will do all the work with the highest success. I happen to have 2 broodies right now but both are young. I didn't want to risk them leaving the nest & these eggs were too important. Letting them sit & now care for a few chicks is a test to see if they can be used as broody hens in the future. (ie- I learned that my BIG blue hen is very clumsy & may squoosh her eggs when getting in & out. She also lets other hens in to lay eggs on top of her, and wouldn't let me move her to a broody apartment in the garage. I'll see how she does with chick care after hatching. My 1st time silkie = so far a perfect broody in every way... except size.)

I recommend using your own eggs (or inexpensive local eggs) the 1st time your let a broody hatch. That way if tragedy happens, it won't be as big of a loss.

 

[Faraday40]

The chicks have hatched & are adorable! (Well technically one is still hatching & 2 eggs did nothing.)

I had 4 of Jewel's egg which hatched: a splash (I think), blue, lav, & choc cuckoo (my last chick from Brick). The lavender chick proved that Jewel carries the recessive lav gene. ..... The "splash" may actually be a lav but it got a dose of whatever caused Oopsie to feather in white. (a "sport")

Below: Does the one out of the basket look like a splash? It's so much lighter than any of my lavs. The 2 in the basket are a lav & a blue.

All summer I only got a handful of lav orps in each hatch & in this hatch they're taking over! A line-up of lavs:

Below: I'm guessing the one on the left is female & the other a male.

I have both broody hens in the brooder.

 

[Mother2Hens]

@Faraday40 ~ Love your photos! Oh, those little lavenders are so adorable! I am dying for a broody. My littlest Black Cochin Frizzle keeps teasing me. She acts broody for several hours and then gets up. I wish the bigger Frizzle would go broody since she was so serious about it last spring. What did your broody hens think when you put the chicks in with them? Did you do it at night? I assume that not all broodies would adapt and some might kill the chicks—I was so curious that I just googled it. Chicken behavior is so fascinating.
Re an earlier post—Mother2Hens said: Down here in the south, it has been in the 90s and extremely humid. One of the chickens' fans broke, so I am hoping to find some end-of-season outdoor fan bargains this time of year. Air flow helps the flock cope. Sometimes, one will sit directly in front of a fan.
@Faraday40 said: ...Of course if you really want to spoil your chickens, you could get them a window air unit for their coop.
Haha They'd love it, but it wouldn't be a good idea since chickens shouldn't have sudden changes in temperatures.
Happy Hens
Something to think about— Egg-laying production facilities keep the air temperature around 75. Ventilation fans are controlled according to indoor temperature. A side note—Hens would be even happier if those companies used "enriched/furnished" cages!

 

[Faraday40]

@Faraday40 ~ Love your photos! Oh, those little lavenders are so adorable! I am dying for a broody. My littlest Black Cochin Frizzle keeps teasing me. She acts broody for several hours and then gets up. I wish the bigger Frizzle would go broody since she was so serious about it last spring. What did your broody hens think when you put the chicks in with them? Did you do it at night? I assume that not all broodies would adapt and some might kill the chicks—I was so curious that I just googled it. Chicken behavior is so fascinating.
Re an earlier post—Mother2Hens said: Down here in the south, it has been in the 90s and extremely humid. One of the chickens' fans broke, so I am hoping to find some end-of-season outdoor fan bargains this time of year. Air flow helps the flock cope. Sometimes, one will sit directly in front of a fan.
@Faraday40 said: ...Of course if you really want to spoil your chickens, you could get them a window air unit for their coop.
Haha They'd love it, but it wouldn't be a good idea since chickens shouldn't have sudden changes in temperatures.
Happy Hens
Something to think about— Egg-laying production facilities keep the air temperature around 75. Ventilation fans are controlled according to indoor temperature. A side note—Hens would be even happier if those companies used "enriched/furnished" cages!

Both broody hens hatched together on March 4th, 2017. The blue started laying about 2 weeks before the silkie. They both went broody the same week. (I now know what people mean when they say it's contagious!) Since I didn't know if their broodiness would stick, they incubated fake eggs until day 18 when I swapped in a real one. (Strange note: Both real eggs died for diff reasons.) I slipped a live chick under each for about 15 hrs. That test went well, so I put the "sister broodies" together with the 1st 10 chicks. Both hens were still in the "must sit" and call to the chicks stage, while the chicks just wanted to find the closest soft place to sleep. It can be tough to move a broody before her eggs hatch but not afterwards. They'll happily go where their chicks are. When eating on Sunday, the big blue made it known that she's the #1 mom by giving the silkie a peck on the head. The silkie went to the other feeder and called some chicks over there. Now they're back to sitting side by side. I've been checking on them frequently & it looks like the pecking order was worked out. The chicks run back & forth between moms.

Differences in broodies:
The blue orp went from normal to broody in 48 hrs, but the silkie took a few days. The silkie spent longer in the nest box & was grouchy when laying. After 1/2 a day, she'd hop out & sleep on the roost at night - only to return to the nest the next morning. Neither hen will peck toward my hand if I pick up their chicks or eggs. However, the blue orp makes very scary noises & long attack screams and the silkie only a gentle 1 sec grumble. The big blue orp was pretty clumsy during incubation but she could probably have fit 3 doz LF eggs under her. She rarely took bio breaks and lost some weight. She's doing great now that the eggs have hatched. The silkie did well both during incubation & after hatch. She took care of her basic needs. I think she could comfortably fit 10 eggs.

 

[Indyshent]

@Mother2Hens & @Faraday40 you guys guessed well!! The top left in question is indeed an olive egger. Then two blue silkies & a black bantam cochin.

The next set of photos: my buff laced polish with her hair cut so she can see . Golden comet/sex link/golden buff. Lavender Orpington. The Cochin I bought as a blue Cochin, but she is definitely a splash! She is also so much larger than my bantam, so must be a brahama?
The questionable one is a welsummer, then Easter egger, then my black Ameracauna, & speckled sussex.
That was fun!!!

Biggest difference between Cochins and Brahmas is the comb. If she has a pea comb, she's a Brahma. If she has a single comb, she's a Cochin. Brahmas and Cochins are roughly the same everywhere else so each is used in breeding programs as out crosses to improve the other other breed.

Regarding the EE pattern, I've got a lot of glare on my screen, but she looks blue gold to me. I wasn't sure about the speckled Sussex because I can't see any red (so she looked more like a mottled Java). Ah, screen glare....

 

[Indyshent]

Optimus Prime has recovered from his eye injury last week. Poor Lion-O is getting tormented as Mr Bottom of the Food Chain. The two poults are still alive, but we've lost several chicks to the dog and one to drowning. Silkies aren't laying yet, still not sure about the "pullets" in that breed group, but the Australorp and BO from @kanina are both laying now.

News of the weird: The olive egger has run out of toner? She's now laying blue eggs! She'd laid olive eggs before going broody but the extended broodiness must have depleted her on her brown pigments. Well see if she lays green again later.