June Hatch a Long

[5 Acre Rooster]

Talk about disapointment. Candled Day 8 and pulled 17 clears and 1 bad egg. Yes their shipped. But the real bummer was the local breeder's eggs. Most of what I pulled were from his eggs. I think he had dipped them and ruined any fertility. But since he's not a "breeder" per say I doubt I will get anything from him but a Blame game. Guess it just reinforces my thoughts of only my eggs from my birds

. Prolly on the way to a power outage will check back in the am

 

[mrsguardian88]

I don't worry too much about movement as long as I see veins, especially before day 10. It's just an extra bonus when I see it wiggling

Okay, very cool! Thanks

 

[Madpolak]

Usually they take care of that by themselves. But I read one poster with a very determine broody, and that poster would pick up the broody once a day, put her down in the yard, and the hen would be all ruffled, eat and drink, run around for a few minutes, then go back to her nest. And the poster had done that once a day for several days and it was still going well.

As to a broody being less work.....

AWESOME!

I would put chicks I had bought under a broody, and she would take care of them perfectly, do all the work.

She would fuss and make sure they ate and drank and stayed warm or cooled off. And then she was priceless when I wanted to add them into my current flock. Even with the chicks still tiny, she would not let any of the other chickens near her babies. It was so much less work!


If you have her, use her!

Had to move the coop today with her in it. She just sat there and took all the jostling. When I checked her after the move though found out she has a pretty bad abcess under one wing. We move her into the basement to clean it and watch her. Tried to set up a nest with the three eggs and she's checking it out but has not sat on they as yet. I may have fouled the works by moving her in bit the sore looks pryrrty bad and had not noticed it before this evening. We'll see what happens I guess.

Do they normally stay with the other hens or do you set them up seperately anyway?

 

[Wrightsx4]

Talk about disapointment. Candled Day 8 and pulled 17 clears and 1 bad egg. Yes their shipped. But the real bummer was the local breeder's eggs.  Most of what I pulled were from his eggs. I think he had dipped them and ruined any fertility. But since he's not a "breeder" per say I doubt I will get anything from him but a Blame game. Guess it just reinforces my thoughts of only my eggs from my birds . Prolly on the way to a power outage will check back in the am

How disappointing - sorry to hear that.

 

[Wrightsx4]

Had to move the coop today with her in it. She just sat there and took all the jostling. When I checked her after the move though found out she has a pretty bad abcess under one wing. We move her into the basement to clean it and watch her. Tried to set up a nest with the three eggs and she's checking it out but has not sat on they as yet. I may have fouled the works by moving her in bit the sore looks pryrrty bad and had not noticed it before this evening. We'll see what happens I guess.

Do they normally stay with the other hens or do you set them up seperately anyway?

Mine is separated. I built a removable gate underneath the nesting boxes and added a sideways nest box with a hinged lid so I can reach in easily, it's a long 2'x9' enclosure. She only uses the nest - won't get up at all - but the long run will give the chicks a safe area within the coop after they hatch. I think she's content this way. She can hear the others and see them if she wanted to peak out, but doesn't get bothered - and they can't steal her bowl of snacks!

 

[Alaskan]

With my broody, she was lovely.... She went broody, I didn't have a rooster, but I wanted her to brood the chicks that were to arrive soon.

I picked her up and carried her across the yard to an unused duck coop. I set her all up there for maybe two days. At that point, I saw that the eaves were open because a jay came into the coop. I was worried the jay might eat the baby chicks when they showed up, so I picked up the broody *again* and carted her across the yard to the greenhouse. I set her up in the green house surrounded by scrap plywood and with a cardboard box to nest in. I had been toting a few eggs around with the hen. And each time, she just found the eggs and then settled right down.

I should mention that she was not a pet hen, and we had never carried her about before this.

Anyway, with all of that, each time, all she wanted was a nest with eggs, and she settled right down.

When the chicks came, she mothered them all perfectly!

Now, that year I actually had three separate chick shipments. A different hen, a bantam Cochin had also gone broody. Her, I moved from the coop directly to the greenhouse (opposite corner as the first hen) and she totally freaked out! I cold not get her to settle....she didn't care that I gave her a nest with eggs, she was unhappy in the new place and wanted out....so out she went.

The good broody though, she took ALL three chick shipments, some bantams, some large fowl, and three different ages. When I added the third shipment she had a large brood, but she still did great. With the last shipment though, I grew them out for about a week, then added them to the broody, since the size difference on chicks was so great.

I am SO SORRY about the abscess! Is it because she has been broody for so long and is rubbing it against the nest box?

I have no idea how to heal those things.

 

[hokankai]

Woohoo! Last hatch of the season and my first setting of duck eggs! I set 18 shipped Welsh Harlequin eggs Saturday at midnight, and 4 local WH eggs a week earlier. These are from show quality lines and I am SO excited to see them!

 

[5 Acre Rooster]

Woohoo! Last hatch of the season and my first setting of duck eggs! I set 18 shipped Welsh Harlequin eggs Saturday at midnight, and 4 local WH eggs a week earlier. These are from show quality lines and I am SO excited to see them!

I set my 10 rouens and 30 guinea eggs saturday. We should have a race to see whos start 1st. LOL

 

[hokankai]

You're on!

 

[5 Acre Rooster]

Maybe the 50 other guinea eggs that I set earlier will hurry them on LOL. 80 guinea eggs WHAT am I thinking? KEETS I guess.