MJ's little flock

[Shadrach]

I agree with this. I did not back stop my girls with an incubator even though it was their first time. But I was prepared for the whole thing to be a wash if they didn't finish. I do it for them, not to add to my group.

The addition of mother raised chickens is great and I'm thrilled to have Aster join the group but that was not the point of what I did. The point was for them to try being a mum and have as much of the "chicken experience" as I can give them.

The fullest of chicken experience as circumsatnces permit is pretty much my aim.

 

[Shadrach]

My whole group is still on chick food. I've gone through multiple 20 lb bags of the stuff. Once they start mixing with everybody they eat whatever is out. The extra protein is helpful with everyone molting right now anyway. In another month I'll move them all to all flock once molting is over and Aster is fully grown.

Watching the mums showing the chicks what to eat while ranging the mums encourage the chicks to eat larger particles much earlier than one might expect. Fret was trying to get the most recent clutch to eat such things as whole wheat, sunflower hearts, nut pieces and even pellets at around a week old. My understanding is this has something to do with developing the chicks gizzard which doesn't reach full strength for some weeks post hatch. It hardly works at all at hatch apparently.

 

[BY Bob]

Watching the mums showing the chicks what to eat while ranging the mums encourage the chicks to eat larger particles much earlier than one might expect. Fret was trying to get the most recent clutch to eat such things as whole wheat, sunflower hearts, nut pieces and even pellets at around a week old. My understanding is this has something to do with developing the chicks gizzard which doesn't reach full strength for some weeks post hatch. It hardly works at all at hatch apparently.

I was unaware of that. Fascinating.

I love watching the mums teach the chicks what to eat. Frankly I love watching them teach the chicks everything. It's wonderful.

 

[MaryJanet]

Mary did well today, with 3 hours of self-care.

While she was up, I moved the fake eggs into the roosting section of the coop, but she ignored them and sat in the nesting section.

I'll try relocating her to the roosting section after dark tonight. I'll also remove the straw from the nesting section. Hopefully she will be ok with this mini adjustment because she gets her real eggs tomorrow!

 

[MaryJanet]

The fullest of chicken experience as circumsatnces permit is pretty much my aim.

Same here. I do my best on a suburban house block.

 

[MaryJanet]

Watching the mums showing the chicks what to eat while ranging the mums encourage the chicks to eat larger particles much earlier than one might expect. Fret was trying to get the most recent clutch to eat such things as whole wheat, sunflower hearts, nut pieces and even pellets at around a week old. My understanding is this has something to do with developing the chicks gizzard which doesn't reach full strength for some weeks post hatch. It hardly works at all at hatch apparently.

Fascinating! I'll make sure there are a range of sizes available from a week old.

 

[BDutch]

Mary did well today, with 3 hours of self-care.

While she was up, I moved the fake eggs into the roosting section of the coop, but she ignored them and sat in the nesting section.

I'll try relocating her to the roosting section after dark tonight. I'll also remove the straw from the nesting section. Hopefully she will be ok with this mini adjustment because she gets her real eggs tomorrow!

She probably feels safer in the nestbox. Relocating broodies is often a no go.
If Mary doesn’t accept the new location I would put the sand, bedding and eggs in the nestbox again after you added the plywood on top of the original bottom.

 

[Ribh]

She probably feels safer in the nestbox. Relocating broodies is often a no go.
If Mary doesn’t accept the new location I would put the sand, bedding and eggs in the nestbox again after you added the plywood on top of the original bottom.

This.

 

[MaryJanet]

She probably feels safer in the nestbox. Relocating broodies is often a no go.
If Mary doesn’t accept the new location I would put the sand, bedding and eggs in the nestbox again after you added the plywood on top of the original bottom.

She didn't mind moving from the original nest box to the new coop. It was a one and done maneuver.

I guess some hens are easier to move than others?

 

[Shadrach]

She didn't mind moving from the original nest box to the new coop. It was a one and done maneuver.

I guess some hens are easier to move than others?

I used to move broody hens from the nest box in my house to a matenity coop with a small enclosed run on a regular basis. I also moved hens from outside nests to more secure nests in coops.
Moving hens from outside nests worked best if done at night. The advantage is they are locked in for some hours and most settle on their eggs eventually. Occaasionaly a hen would return to her original nest site the next day, but most took to the new site without problems.
Moving from my hoouse nest site during the day did pose some problems with the hen returning to the house nest box and just sitting in an empty nest. Sometimes it took a few goes of picking the hen up and dumping her back in the new nest site. I think I spent a morning doing this with a couple of broodies before they settled. I've had a couple that just abandoned the eggs and wold not accept the new site but this was rare.
Moving at the begining of a sit.
I tried to wait for three days. This period is where the egg turning is critical for preventing the embryo from sticking to the inside of the shell. Most moves after three days wait were successful.
Moving on day 17 to a site where the hatchlings would have access to natural ground from day one was never a problem.
Moving on the day the hen showed she had finished hatching was never a problem either.