Why are my hens so much drama?
This is likely due to my own countless mistakes keeping up with my birds. But at least it makes for an interesting story. I hope you find it less horrifying to read than I did experiencing it.
I found a stash of eggs and was cleaning them up. But then I hear chirping, one of the eggs is pipped. I currently have 3-4 hens I've been fighting with over their desire to be broody. So I try with one of them, but they're already mad at me for taking today's eggs away. I can't figure out which hen is this little bird's mom either, she doesn't seem to want to return to her secret nest now that it's been discovered. The poor chirping egg gets stepped on, pecked at, the shell shatters so much I worry the baby won't survive. I try to ask the silkies who hatched some babies a few days ago to take the hatching baby, but they look at it and walk away.
I get the idea from reading a silly thread on here once about someone trying to incubate an egg themselves, using their chest. I nestle the hatching there and pray I don't have to awkwardly explain myself when the chick chirps during dinner. Despite everything, the baby is determined to hatch. The chick hatches perfectly well despite all the trauma. She wobbles around a bit but looks strong. No clue what to do with her though.
It's dusk and all the hens are settling into bed again.
I don't know if it'll work, but I put the baby under a broody hen who once again settled herself over an empty nest. I definitely don't have a brooder set up right now, and I thought a hen would be safer and more consistent heat than I could provide by hand. It'd be the best-case scenario for a broody to re-adopt the baby. But I worry it won't work out as I hope.
I pray it'll work out and the chick survives and integrates well with the flock.
This is likely due to my own countless mistakes keeping up with my birds. But at least it makes for an interesting story. I hope you find it less horrifying to read than I did experiencing it.
I found a stash of eggs and was cleaning them up. But then I hear chirping, one of the eggs is pipped. I currently have 3-4 hens I've been fighting with over their desire to be broody. So I try with one of them, but they're already mad at me for taking today's eggs away. I can't figure out which hen is this little bird's mom either, she doesn't seem to want to return to her secret nest now that it's been discovered. The poor chirping egg gets stepped on, pecked at, the shell shatters so much I worry the baby won't survive. I try to ask the silkies who hatched some babies a few days ago to take the hatching baby, but they look at it and walk away.
I get the idea from reading a silly thread on here once about someone trying to incubate an egg themselves, using their chest. I nestle the hatching there and pray I don't have to awkwardly explain myself when the chick chirps during dinner. Despite everything, the baby is determined to hatch. The chick hatches perfectly well despite all the trauma. She wobbles around a bit but looks strong. No clue what to do with her though.
It's dusk and all the hens are settling into bed again.
I don't know if it'll work, but I put the baby under a broody hen who once again settled herself over an empty nest. I definitely don't have a brooder set up right now, and I thought a hen would be safer and more consistent heat than I could provide by hand. It'd be the best-case scenario for a broody to re-adopt the baby. But I worry it won't work out as I hope.
I pray it'll work out and the chick survives and integrates well with the flock.
