INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[man_of_fishers]

Yes, hens just "know." They even know when the eggs are about to hatch and "talk" to their babies.

What you describe is how my silkie (Xansie) acts. She's sweet, never pecks, likes to be a mama, and allows us to hold her & her chicks. Our other silkie (Mai Mai) has tried to hatch her fav food dish - twice. Just patiently sits on it waiting for another treat dish to hatch. When some chicks hatched (from Xansie) we tried slipping some under Mai Mai and she pecked at them. She had no desire to mother them; so after 2 days, Xansie got all the chicks. Mai Mai's sort of "special" and has other not so intelligent quirks.

Xansie went broody a few weeks ago & Mai Mai decided to join her. This time I separated Mai Mai and put eggs under her. She's still in a plastic tote in the house and thankfully she's sitting on the eggs & not the food dish this time. If it doesn't work out, I know Xansie will raise whatever chicks come along, so we might as well let Mai Mai try again.

Tip: Sometimes 1st time broody hens take a little while to transition from sitting on eggs to mothering chicks. I've had hens peck at their babies when they 1st crawl out from under them. Pushing the chicks back under mama's fluff helps mama hen adjust. Also keeping the lighting dark keeps the hen calmer.

Mai Mai and Xansie sound so sweet. <3

Thanks for that Tip! I have wondered about my little Silkie and how she'll do when they hatch, since she's only about 10 months old. So I'l keep an eye on her for any pecking.

 

[man_of_fishers]

Edit/Update: Someone in another thread also let me know that Conchins come in Full/Bantam sizes. So it totally makes sense that it’s stubby-legged, then.

Anyone have a clue which breed my roo is? He just started crowing. Someone in another thread suggested Cochin, but those look bigger. He’s stubby-legged, which makes me think he may be crossed with a Silkie, perhaps. He’s far shorter than my Red Sex Links.

 

[Faraday40]

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Edit/Update: Someone in another thread also let me know that Conchins come in Full/Bantam sizes. So it totally makes sense that it’s stubby-legged, then.

Anyone have a clue which breed my roo is? He just started crowing. Someone in another thread suggested Cochin, but those look bigger. He’s stubby-legged, which makes me think he may be crossed with a Silkie, perhaps. He’s far shorter than my Red Sex Links.

Cochins do come in both bantams & LF. (He has the feathered feet, so it's possible) Perhaps he has some Dorking in him. They have very short legs and 5 toes. (Although if a mix, then he may not have the 5 toed feet.) I'm not seeing any silkie traits in him. He could be a mix of several breeds. If you know what breeds the farm had, you may be able to guess, but honestly with roosters temperament is everything. If he watches out for the hens, treats them well, and isn't aggressive toward humans & your other pets, then he's a good rooster.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Cochins do come in both bantams & LF. (He has the feathered feet, so it's possible) Perhaps he has some Dorking in him. They have very short legs and 5 toes. (Although if a mix, then he may not have the 5 toed feet.) I'm not seeing any silkie traits in him. He could be a mix of several breeds. If you know what breeds the farm had, you may be able to guess, but honestly with roosters temperament is everything. If he watches out for the hens, treats them well, and isn't aggressive toward humans & your other pets, then he's a good rooster.

Second that! I keep about 15 roosters. 2 for each breed of chicken I keep except for my Barred Rock. Barry was shown at county fair last year and is my only fella for my BR hens. Each breed has it's own coop, and I have a separate bachelor coop for my backup roos. Any hint of aggression and that rooster leaves here. Between friends visiting, my 2 year old grandson and my 86 yr old Dad I won't take any chances. I've had some pretty aggressive roosters in the past and one fella would actually fly at your face! (little D'uccle). That's the first thing I look for is aggression.

 

[Chaneys Ranch]

Loving all the pictures you guys have shared! Not much new happening poultry or otherwise here. Egg production is up a lot already. I think our mud production is huge lol! Cows really tear up a lower pasture with rain it just turns to muck. I have 1 full pasture closed right now. The mud is very bad for hooves and overall health. And more rain coming the rest of the week!
Been stupid crazy busy the last 2 weeks. Working on refinancing our home, getting estimates for the roof and several small projects needing done. Lots of phone calls, text, emails & paperwork. Told DH we need a weekend getaway real soon

 

[Faraday40]

Mai Mai and Xansie sound so sweet. <3

Thanks for that Tip! I have wondered about my little Silkie and how she'll do when they hatch, since she's only about 10 months old. So I'l keep an eye on her for any pecking.

Here's MaiMai (buff) & Xansie (with some past orp chicks)


Your hen will probably be just fine. I only mentioned the chick pecking because when it happened here I freaked out. I worried I'd have to separate them and raise the chicks myself. All that was needed was a little more bonding time. The darkened nest helped keep chicks under hen and the hen calm.

It's great when you have a hen to do all the work for you. No worries about proper temperature & turning eggs & possible power outages. Then the added bonus of 24/7 chick care and hassle free flock integration. You won't get to see the chicks hatch, but you will likely hear peeping. The hen stays on the nest for the entire hatching period. When she feels it's all done, she'll move and encourage the chicks to follow. That's when their chick survival skills training begins. It's so wonderful to watch them interact.

 

[artsyrobin]

Hi everyone, i have a friend in need of a silkie pullet or hen up your way, she lost hers and the other hen is grieving, do you know of reliable breeders near Ft Wayne

 

[man_of_fishers]

Day 19 and she’s doing great! Looking forward to Sunday!

Question, how long does the hatching process take? How closely do I need to monitor?

 

[man_of_fishers]

Oh no oh no. Don’t read further if you would like to skip a bad chick story.

I go out every morning to gather the eggs that the other girls have laid which is in an adjoining nesting box. This morning, I went to makemy usual breakfast sandwich and when I cracked one of the eggs, an underdeveloped chick came out onto the pan. I know mother hens kick out eggs, and this one definitely appeared to be nowhere close to 21 days, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to eat eggs for a few days. That’s going to take a few to shake off. I marked all the fertilized eggs—so this one just must have it’s marking rubbed off, or maybe my Silkie roo has finally matured and started mating and I haven’t seen it. Regardless, my Silkie hen kicked it out, I’m just not sure how it ended up in the other nesting box.

 

[Faraday40]

Oh no oh no. Don’t read further if you would like to skip a bad chick story.

I go out every morning to gather the eggs that the other girls have laid which is in an adjoining nesting box. This morning, I went to makemy usual breakfast sandwich and when I cracked one of the eggs, an underdeveloped chick came out onto the pan. I know mother hens kick out eggs, and this one definitely appeared to be nowhere close to 21 days, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to eat eggs for a few days. That’s going to take a few to shake off. I marked all the fertilized eggs—so this one just must have it’s marking rubbed off, or maybe my Silkie roo has finally matured and started mating and I haven’t seen it. Regardless, my Silkie hen kicked it out, I’m just not sure how it ended up in the other nesting box.

So sorry about that about that gross experience. I have my own similar egg embryo stories, but it was never a surprise like that.

I'm not exactly sure how they do it, but broody hens can and will pick up and move eggs. I know this because of years of seeing hens laying eggs in all 4 nest boxes (1' off the ground with an 8" lip) and then later finding all the eggs under a broody hen in one nest. My theory is that they somehow stash them under a wing. I once had a hen on 6 eggs. I moved her off the nest for a morning bio break & only 5 eggs were present. I didn't see any evidence of the 6th egg. That night, 6 eggs were present again. Did she hide it? Was she holding it? Did another hen steal it & then she took it back? I'll never know. I only know I searched every inch of that nest & it wasn't there that morning.

I'm guessing you used pencil to mark eggs. That works great for incubators, but can get rubbed off by a broody hen. They turn the eggs frequently. I use a sharpie to mark the eggs. The markings can be predicted hatch date or abbreviation of the biological hen's name or just a simple line around the equator. Anything to help identify those eggs from any new ones.