INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[man_of_fishers]

MaiMai update:
One chick hatched. Looks like a blue orp. (The color confuses me a bit b/c the egg came from Glow. Not impossible since the chick's great Grandma was a project blue silver laced orp, but a little surprising.) The chick could also be a blk/lav split and just looks like a lighter shade of black. Time will tell when the chick starts walking around and I can see it better. Either way, I guess the daddy was my lav orp and not my laced orp.

There's one more egg under MaiMai. It has a slightly detached air cell. I candled last night and didn't see any signs of internal pips, but too early to do anything but wait.

I have one young serama pullet (named "Solo") who has a strong fear of other chickens. I want to integrate her into the bantam coop but when she runs, the other hens instinctively peck. My goal is to try to put her under a willing broody and let the serama feel the comfort and bond with the mama & chicks. (She's about the size of a 2 week old orp chick, so it may work.) If that doesn't work, then pull out a chick for the serama to bond with. I'm doubting she'd be afraid of a chick smaller than her. When older, the big orp chick can be her buddy & body guard as she integrates into the bantam flock.

That’s so exciting! How long will you wait for the other egg?

 

[man_of_fishers]

https://imgur.com/a/hYtJnB6

It’s happening! She’s been clucking nonstop today and shifting around a lot. Video above, though the video doesn’t have audio. More updates soon.

 

[man_of_fishers]

What the heck is happening?
I just went out because on the chicken camera, I saw an egg opened up and thought, “Yay! Our first chick.” Then I went outside and this. An extremely soft-shelled egg, split open, with yolk and all in it. I picked it up and nothing was special about the insides. I threw it out in the garbage. Just to be sure, I picked up the Silkie and her eggs were all normal. No chick was under her.

what gives?

My best guess is that my Silkie produced an egg despite being broody and it’s soft just because she’s calcium deficient from nesting. Thoughts?

 

[Faraday40]

View attachment 2022409

What the heck is happening?
I just went out because on the chicken camera, I saw an egg opened up and thought, “Yay! Our first chick.” Then I went outside and this. An extremely soft-shelled egg, split open, with yolk and all in it. I picked it up and nothing was special about the insides. I threw it out in the garbage. Just to be sure, I picked up the Silkie and her eggs were all normal. No chick was under her.

what gives?

My best guess is that my Silkie produced an egg despite being broody and it’s soft just because she’s calcium deficient from nesting. Thoughts?

Are other hens around? My guess is the egg came from another hen who laid it near your broody. Soft shelled eggs can easily break..... then the hens go "Ohhh Look! A treat!" and gobble it up. No big deal if it happens once in a while. I'd add some dishes of extra calcium for them. Mine don't care for oyster shell but will easily eat crushed chicken eggshells. (I just keep a container near the sink to collect & feed it back to the hens.)

The clucking & cooing to the eggs lets you know the eggs are getting ready to hatch or hatching. Cuteness is on the way!

My chick looks more black today & that makes more sense. (Lav orp had to be the daddy) It's not the typical inky black I'm used to seeing, so I can't be too sure of the color. The other egg was dead. Because I noticed a smell, I tried candling and decided to call it a quitter. It was the one with the rolling air cell. The shell was too thick to see that it probably died a week ago. Normally I would have let it stay a little longer but a rotten egg smell can mean it may explode.

I also added "Solo" my lonely only serama chick. She's probably close to full size for a serama, but MaiMai is treating her like a chick. MaiMai is not pecking the serama (a great sign), but the serama is afraid and tries to hop out. They've been together 8 hrs, so I'm going to let them spend the night together & hopefully the serama will bond.

"Solo" adopted me as her mama when her real mama left her and pecked at her. Because the broody hen abandoned her chicks just as I introduced them back into the flock, the other hens killed her sister & she witnessed it. Ever since then, she won't tolerate other chickens. Hoping this works to give her a good experience

 

[hayley3]

Are other hens around? My guess is the egg came from another hen who laid it near your broody. Soft shelled eggs can easily break..... then the hens go "Ohhh Look! A treat!" and gobble it up. No big deal if it happens once in a while. I'd add some dishes of extra calcium for them. Mine don't care for oyster shell but will easily eat crushed chicken eggshells. (I just keep a container near the sink to collect & feed it back to the hens.)

The clucking & cooing to the eggs lets you know the eggs are getting ready to hatch or hatching. Cuteness is on the way!

My chick looks more black today & that makes more sense. (Lav orp had to be the daddy) It's not the typical inky black I'm used to seeing, so I can't be too sure of the color. The other egg was dead. Because I noticed a smell, I tried candling and decided to call it a quitter. It was the one with the rolling air cell. The shell was too thick to see that it probably died a week ago. Normally I would have let it stay a little longer but a rotten egg smell can mean it may explode.
View attachment 2022551View attachment 2022552


I also added "Solo" my lonely only serama chick. She's probably close to full size for a serama, but MaiMai is treating her like a chick. MaiMai is not pecking the serama (a great sign), but the serama is afraid and tries to hop out. They've been together 8 hrs, so I'm going to let them spend the night together & hopefully the serama will bond.

"Solo" adopted me as her mama when her real mama left her and pecked at her. Because the broody hen abandoned her chicks just as I introduced them back into the flock, the other hens killed her sister & she witnessed it. Ever since then, she won't tolerate other chickens. Hoping this works to give her a good experience

View attachment 2022571

That is so adorable and heartwarming.

 

[man_of_fishers]

Are other hens around? My guess is the egg came from another hen who laid it near your broody. Soft shelled eggs can easily break..... then the hens go "Ohhh Look! A treat!" and gobble it up. No big deal if it happens once in a while. I'd add some dishes of extra calcium for them. Mine don't care for oyster shell but will easily eat crushed chicken eggshells. (I just keep a container near the sink to collect & feed it back to the hens.)

The clucking & cooing to the eggs lets you know the eggs are getting ready to hatch or hatching. Cuteness is on the way!

My chick looks more black today & that makes more sense. (Lav orp had to be the daddy) It's not the typical inky black I'm used to seeing, so I can't be too sure of the color. The other egg was dead. Because I noticed a smell, I tried candling and decided to call it a quitter. It was the one with the rolling air cell. The shell was too thick to see that it probably died a week ago. Normally I would have let it stay a little longer but a rotten egg smell can mean it may explode.
View attachment 2022551View attachment 2022552


I also added "Solo" my lonely only serama chick. She's probably close to full size for a serama, but MaiMai is treating her like a chick. MaiMai is not pecking the serama (a great sign), but the serama is afraid and tries to hop out. They've been together 8 hrs, so I'm going to let them spend the night together & hopefully the serama will bond.

"Solo" adopted me as her mama when her real mama left her and pecked at her. Because the broody hen abandoned her chicks just as I introduced them back into the flock, the other hens killed her sister & she witnessed it. Ever since then, she won't tolerate other chickens. Hoping this works to give her a good experience

View attachment 2022571

Chick is so cute!

great idea about the other hens. Maybe my Silkie tried gathering it under her and ripped it?

 

[man_of_fishers]

Well, officially day 22 here and no movement yet. Guessing it’s just due to the cold weather. Will check again tonight.

 

[Pollitos6]

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.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge . So since you have silkies you might know the answer to my question. I would like to get silkies but I heard they are very delicate and cannot get wet . My chickens have their large coop where I keep them at night but during the day they have an open large wooded area run. Do you keep your silkies under a roof at all time?
Thanks

 

[Pollitos6]

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.

How many hens do you keep per rooster? I have 31 hens and 1 rooster. I was thinking in getting another roo (raising him as chick) but not sure if they will fight?

 

[Pollitos6]

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.

oh no!!! I am sorry. I can't even imagine....
I have seen my hens moving eggs from one nest to another. The last year one of my Orpintong was broody and I usually collect all the eggs from her favorite nest. Well, I caught her on camera moving a "fake" egg from another nest into her nest Maybe one of your hens moved the fertilized egg to another nest and you didn't realized.