My Broody Experiment has ended.. :0(

[Mahonri]

Well, my broody seems to be loosing weight... I guess they always do.

 

[speckledhen]

Crossing fingers for the rest of them. Yes, they do lose weight, however, one of my broodies barely lost an ounce. We took her off the nest twice a day. My DH heated a towel in the microwave and covered the eggs when she was off the nest, mostly so others wouldn't get in there. She ate what we brought her, drank alot, pooped a softball, then she would go back to my DH, stand in front of him and ask to be put back with her eggs. She'd tug on his pants leg, LOL! Olivia was a hoot! We left her in the regular coop till they were due to hatch, then put her and the eggs in the broody pen. She went into her molt immediately after they hatched and came out of it with flying colors, probably from eating chick starter for a month. She was in fantastic condition afterward.

 

[Mahonri]

Well yesterday I gave her a little canned salmon with some scratch and mash. She LOVED the salmon. I also put a little bit of water in a can in the front corner and I did notice she drank a little of it. Time is flying. Less than two weeks. the other 6 eggs still look good.

 

[the1much]

coooooooolies !!
i cant wait to try hatchin with a broody

 

[gumpsgirl]

Sounds good! Still have my fingers crossed for you, the broody, and the eggs!

 

[Mahonri]

Well I did Cyn's trick today and threw a towel in the microwave for about two minutes, took it out to the coop, removed Neckie and put the warm towel over the eggs.

I put her out by some fresh feed and water. She didn't get any water but ate and scratched and then exploded!

O my goodness did she need to let go of some ICKY, SMELLY POOP!! When she let loose the girls nearby in the run, ran away from her!!! It was hillarious. Then she got all puffed up and continued to scratch and eat. Finally she looked up at me like, "Well are you gonna put me back on my eggs?" so I reached down took her over to the door of the nest boxes, pulled the towel off, and put her back on her eggs. She seemed happy. Hopefully I can do it for the next 12 days and she'll stay healthy. She really does feel though like she's lost weight. In one corner of the nest box I have a can with water (braced so it can't spill), in another I have some crumbles and scratch.

21 days is a long time for my kids, they can't wait.

I'm gonna have to buy some more chick starter... that's positive thinking isn't it?

 

[pasofinofarm]

Very positive! You are doing such an awesome job with those babies... I just had to check in on the grandkids!

After day 18 do not take the broody off the nest. They raise their body temp and humidity and if the eggs chill or are exposed the you can get fully formed chicks that won't hatch... the worst kind.

Don't want to scare you .... experience talking here.

 

[flamingauburnmustang]

I wish you luck. I'll hold thumbs for you.

Keep us posted.

 

[Mahonri]

Quote:
Thanks "Grandma Melissa" Will do!

 

[Mahonri]

Well we are almost half way there and we haven't candled.

I never candled when I was a kid and we just hoped for the best.

That's what we are going to do here.