Marans Madness March Hatch Along.....

[cthrash1]

Quote:
oh no! I am so sorry! I would be kicking myself too

 

[pinkchick]

Thanks you guys......but on the up side I still have some set to hatch on the 27th some under that broody and the other half in the bator. I checked and I have the correct thermometers in there so we are all good.

 

[FeatherMoon]

Congrats on all the adorable chickies I've seen in this great thread!

Sorry pinkchick that this hatch did not go well, but the next one will make up for it, I am sure.

I just registered on here yesterday but have been visiting this site for some time now. I am a city-chicken rebel

, so I can not have roosters and I only have 3 hennies at the moment: 2 Ameruacanas/EEs (a buff and a orange?) & 1 Australorp, but have had others in the past and hatched out some chicks for others & let them roam with mine until the "you crow - you go" stage.

Anyway, at the beginning of March my 2yo buff EE went broody!

Obviously none of the eggs from my place are fertile, but my BF has a nice flock of good blood line (Wade Jeanne) black copper marans he had been working on for some time now and he picked me out 6 nice, fertile BCM eggs to put under her on the night between 3/6 & 3/7! I am so excited

I could run in circles!

I think they should hatch around Palm Sunday (3/28) if I am correct.

She normally sits put on them & won't budge. I bring her a hand full of mealy worms everyday and make up some warm rice milk with bird vitamins & oatmeal in it. Plus of course she always has scratch & crumble & water, etc. Once every 2-3 days though, she gets up to quick gobble down some food and I think maybe gets jealous of my other 2 roaming outside, so she joins them to stretch her legs and greet the spring sun, I guess. After a few minutes though, I herd her back into the coop & shut the window so she can't leave. She is not very happy with me & voices it quite clearly; but then goes back & gets on the nest to resumes incubating. I feel bad, but she's the one that started this stuff and those are some pretty precious eggs under her so..... I think I am doing the right thing....???

Anyway, my MAIN QUESTION is: Is it normal for her to keep allowing other hens to lay eggs into this clutch that she has already started 10 days ago? Her partner-in-crime, the Lorp, keep sneaking a light brown egg in there (like I won't notice it is WAY lighter in color or something!

) I'm guessing it is not a huge deal at this point as long as someone is sitting on the nest, but what about the last 3 days when humidity & everything is sooooo crucial?!?!

I am planning on putting a dividing wall in the coop tomorrow to keep the others out of her nest, just incase. It means I will have to fuss with separate food & water bowls, more obstacles to cleaning, and other hassles, but it will protect the babies from the other bigger hens too, so it'll at least serves more than one purpose. What do you guys think? Any input / advise would be greatly appreciated.

 

[mediazeal]

Oh man, I feel like I came late to the party!
I have 30 BCM eggs in, well 29, one was tossed for weeping.
It's Day 20. 1 has hatched today. I have 4 more pips. These are wade jeane eggs, blue and black I believe.

come on babies!

 

[pinkchick]

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HI and Welcome!

It would be best if you have the space and are able to keep her seperate from the other hens. Yes it's normal for the others hens to give her an extra egg.....lol.....they think they are helping her cause, but it disturbs her when they do and may cause her to get up off the nest as the other hens are pretty insistant. If you have a large dog crate, you could set her up in that so that she can sit without interruption. It may help the hatch rate. Hope this helps and that somebody else comes along to give their opinion.

 

[pinkchick]

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It's never too late for Marans Madness Media!

Thanks for joining us!

 

[okiehen]

Today is day 18 for me,

I cant wait

I'll candle them tonight and bump up the humidity.

 

[BeccaOH]

I'm late to the party too. On the 7th, I set 12 Copper and 3 Wheaten Marans, and on the 9th, I set 15 French Maran eggs (not positive they are Copper

)

It may have been discussed, but how do you candle these things??? Especially the Wheatens are very dark. There is no getting light through that shell.

 

[Dani27]

Eeek, I have 49 BCMs in the incubator (three batches) all coming out at different times for their hatch and last night the humidity heating element blew! I'm running a dinosaur Humidaire big redwood cabinet and this will be the third pencil heater I have gotten from Don at Sunny Creek and I am getting really disgusted. They blow every year so I'm off to Johnstone Supply today to see if I can get something else that will work because waiting 2 months for Don to get a new one to me just isn't going to cut it and I can't fit all these eggs in my Little Giant. I'm doing everything I can, but humidity is down from 46% with it working to now 37% with it blown. I just can't get a break!

 

[Illia]

Ohy my! Oh my! Did I hear what I thought I heard?!!

I just barely heard a couple peeps! It is day 20, though. . . Did I actually hear them peep in the bator, or was I just hearing the chicks outside? Because it sounded like it was in the bator!!!!