Mahonri's 3rd Annual, BYC Easter Hatch-a-long!

Well an unexpected flood here (Creek flooded), I had to move all my chickens and by doing so i think they got a little stressed, the big kids I locked up in their coops, their coops are 2 feet off the ground, The little kids who didn't have a coop yet were moved into the garage, along with the rabbits, water rose to about 2 inches below the floor of my coops, but then it subsided. It took all night for the water to recede back. They only laid only a few eggs, which is to be expected after such an unexpected move. Because of this though i will have to give up 2 dozen of the eggs i collected for the hatch-along because today and tomorrow I was supposed to collect eggs for the elementary class room and since the gals aren't laying because they got stressed I will not be setting as many as I would have liked! Oh Well thats mother nature for ya, All my babies are safe and sound and thats all that matters.
 
Yours is open on Saturday? Wow, we lost our Saturday hours more than 10 years ago. They deliver but don't open to pick up or send from the window.


Well back from the PO and no eggs for me today Renee. I will make sure I get to the PO tomorrow during the only TWO hours they are open. Gotta love rural areas.
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Here are the precious little egglings that lived -
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hopefully
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- through their nightmare journey
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looks like 106 i hope you have a great hatch a box of my silkie eggs had it rough but seem to be ok the box they were in had a big hole in it i will candle later tonight to check air cells just wanted to let them rest before i touched them to see if they were scrambled or not
 
ok looks like i am going to have 128 eggs total after my last batch gets here tomorrow morning i only have enough room for 84 in my turners which leaves 44 with no place in the turners and i can not turn them by hand and when i stack them i want to make sure they are not going to mess up the turners so if i split them up and do 22 on each turner stacked will it mess up the turner and also will they be turned properly so that they do not mess up and still hatch or should i had turn them in the morning then when i come home from work turn them again then a few times more before going to bed from the time i turn them in the morning to i get home from work will be close to 10 hrs
 
Spangled -- I had a broody once that I had tried to break up for months. Finally, I bought some day old chicks to put under her. I put them under her after dark and intended to leave them there. The way she growled, nay, screamed at them when I put them there made me nervous, so I went out to check on them just before daylight the next morning. She had pecked a gash on one's head and left them in the nest. She was sitting in another nest box when I got there. I fired up the brooder and put the chicks in to warm up. I tried once more but it was no use. She wanted nothing to do with the chicks, she just wanted to sit.

My nest boxes are inside the feed area of my coop and have entry doors to the coop, and collection doors to the feed area. The top of the boxes make a handy shelf that I use for my stage one brooder area. I put the chicks there and brooded them as usual. The chicks were growing well and the hen was still happily sitting on some golfballs in her original nest just under the chicks.

Two weeks later, I went into the coop and looked into the nest she was in. She casually walked out of the nest, out of the coop door, around to the people door (into the feed room) and inside to the brooder. I followed to see what she was up to. She flew up to the top of the brooder and jumped down inside with the chicks. Scared those (now big) chicks silly! I thought she was going to peck them but instead, she started squatting, and clucking and trying her best to get them underneath her! LOL! The chicks wanted nothing to do with her, so I removed the lamp (it was cold out) and soon they went underneath her to keep warm.

She fretted and tried to mother them but they never minded her too well. She followed them, not vice versa. When they got separated, it was she that panicked, not them. They finally learned to come to her when she called them to a treat, but not too fast and not all of them at once. She got tired of chasing them and trying to protect them in about three more weeks, but by that time, they were fully feathered and barely fit under her anyway. I felt sorry for her, but it was interesting to watch!
 
Got my eggs from Arielle and BHEP today. Great packing and received in great condition. They are now resting until tomorrow. Hopefully the rest of my eggs will show up soon.


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They arrived in great shape!!! None broken!!! Can you tell I'm thrilled? The blues and greens are so pretty!



My FBCMs were slackers for most of the winter. But they're so pretty that I forgave them. I just love their shape. (French Black Copper Marans for those reading along)
THe lights helped get them moving!! The eggs are pretty, like a hunk of yummy chocolate. Each a little different and I love checking the nest box for the next delivery!




Well, I have decided to add a pic to the calendar contest... I guess this one could work for Spring or Easter, but this Tiny, my little serema mix, he is only about the size (laying down) of a Quarter.
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Soooo cute !



If I tried to incubate that many, I would be homeless for sure....! Haven't even told DH about the eggs for hatch-a-long yet
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How about just a few?
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