Michigan

[Stacykins]

I just have a question regarding broodies and what you would do in this situation.

I have three Araucana broodies. I would like them to raise chicks, means I don't have to! Two have been broody before (recently) and stopped caring for the chicks to go back to brooding wooden eggs. Frustrating, to say the least! One of the two failbroodies is sharing a box with a first time broody. The other failbroody is alone in a different box. They are small birds despite being large fowl, so they can easily fit two fluffy butts in one box, where as my black copper marans and australorp are fat fluffy and fit just themselves!

ANYWAY! What would you do? Let 'em have another go at being Moms? Maybe those two didn't have it in gear when they got chicks last time? They didn't actually HATCH the chicks, I did so in my incubator, and once they were dried off, at night, replaced the wooden eggs with chicks. I guess I should let them hatch the eggs themselves, might help them get the idea. And how do you think the two sharing the nest box will cooperate with hatching chicks? They seem to regularly steal the wooden eggs from each other, they always have at least one, but the extras switch hens. Like if one goes for a drink, the other will stuff them under her.

 

[Totalcolour]

okay then, probably late over in that side of the country, so y'all probably went to bed, now the sun's down.

Finally peered out a few minutes ago (the sun) but it's a bit windy and chilly.

So, off to cook "most glorious spousal unit" some fabulous meal from the left over leg of pork from last night. Maybe some orange sauce and stir fried veggies on rice.

I'm hoping it will be nice tomorrow - I want to get some pics of my ducks since RaZ has pics of HIS! The babies are having so much fun on the pond!

Goodnight fellow crazy chicken peeps . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

[RaZ]

I'm hoping it will be nice tomorrow - I want to get some pics of my ducks since RaZ has pics of HIS! The babies are having so much fun on the pond!

Please post those duckie pictures. I know that some people here are desperate for cute duck photos.
Hello, Juise.

 

[NovaAman]

Uh, yeah.... I guess I could go back and edit that... but whats the point now?! LOL Sheesh. How did I not catch that...

Anyway, yup, I think you have 2 roos. Saddle feathers are the feathers that hang down on the sides of by the tail area. Hackles are the long feathers at the chickens neck that look more like thick hair when they are mature...

 

[NovaAman]

ANYWAY! What would you do? Let 'em have another go at being Moms? Maybe those two didn't have it in gear when they got chicks last time? They didn't actually HATCH the chicks, I did so in my incubator, and once they were dried off, at night, replaced the wooden eggs with chicks. I guess I should let them hatch the eggs themselves, might help them get the idea. And how do you think the two sharing the nest box will cooperate with hatching chicks? They seem to regularly steal the wooden eggs from each other, they always have at least one, but the extras switch hens. Like if one goes for a drink, the other will stuff them under her.

Make sure you mark the eggs that they are going to hatch or Separate them early to their own brooder area, or move them a few days before hatch is due if you leave them in the big coop. I left Leila in her nest until a few days before she was due to hatch, and put her in the dog coop brooder both times. I moved Skatter to a make shift brooder a day or so before she was due for hatching. I sectioned off for Skeeter her first hatch, was slow getting it done on her second cuz they hatched 3 and 2 days early and ended up with a freshly hatched chick snatched and eaten. But in the mean time, while they were on the eggs, I just marked the ones that were being set on, and took out the dailies that the broodies had no problem stuffing under them. Just be sure to mark the ends of the eggs, cuz their hot little naked chests will wear off the markings if they are on the sides...

 

[NovaAman]

OK! Took me a minute, but here is Veena at the age of your SLWs...

 

[RaZ]

For my duckie fans...

 

[NovaAman]

Do you know which are drakes yet? They are dang adorable!

 

[chicken grandma]

I think I see one drake and two female mallards out of RaZ's oldest three ducks.


Nova - Vanna is very pretty! Veena is also.

 

[M.sue]

Talking about gardens, to deter the chickens from going in the garden to dust bathe I made them up a dust bath. They really are enjoying it, sometimes 2 or 3 in it at a time. Izzy here looks as if she got in a fight with a bag of flour and lost!

We planted our garden yesterday which includes: tomatoes, green beans, carrots, onions, red beets, squash, zucchini, green peppers, and pumpkins. We had one raised garden bed last year, but this year we have two.

Ours is almost finished. Just have the pickles to put in and some more lettuce. We definitely are going to need a fence of some sort, not to just keep the chickens out but the dang rabbits too. The number of rabbits from last year to this year has seemed to quadrupled.

I'm so dirty, it looks like I'm wearing fishnet stockings.

Wouldn't that be a sight!!

If i'm looking at this right, this looks like it's made from a trampoline? Maybe I'm wrong, it's a cool setup!

How about these photos?




They both look like Roo's......just wait to see if they crow!

Old crabby next door would really like that.

Clarification.....Both look like Roos meaning 1st pic & 2nd pic not just this one with the two. lol

Had to intervene several times with the cockerels tonight. They were ganging up on the hens. One... Just one... Not all three at once. My poor hens. No wonder they keep going over the fence in the dog area. SHEESH! There are 15 pullets running around the dang yard and yet they keep going after the big girls. Especially poor Fia. Why do they all like Fia. Poor thing is bare backed!

Went and checked my veggies. All the seeds... OMG! Dang chickens dug up the peas! They didn't touch them last year. This year. Different story. Going to plant them again on Wednesday. Put a cage wire over them this time. They left everything else alone. Just not the peas.

And... Well that's it.

Fia needs a saddle! There always seems to be one...the so called favorite.
I look like the crazy chicken lady running through the yard to the garden with a broom in my hand to shoo them out. Can't get the fence up soon enough.

You can see the saddles growing already on the bottom pic of the second set of pics. DUDE! Did you see mom just before you picked them up?

He's gonna be very handsome!