My first attempt...

[janelle18]

this thread is great! Was an enjoyable read! That is awesome hatch rate, just goes to show that nature works best!

 

[TMNfarm]

Prim's babies...



These were day 1...

The next ones are from today. They are 2 days old.

Maybe you all can help me figure out which hen is the actual momma...

I have 6 BO's, 4 Production reds, and 2 Black Australorps. Daddy is an Ancona rooster.

All of them have black bodies, but 4 of them are lighter, almost grey, and have red faces like this one.


This one is my son's favorite. He named it PJ...


This is the darkest of them all...


These are the egg shells they came from. It's hard to tell from the picture, but the one on the left is the lightest, the ones in the middle are teh darkest, adn the ones on the right are in between...

Today was day 21 for 4 of Butterscotch's eggs, but no chicks yet... :-(

 

[TMNfarm]

Sadness and disappointment last night...


1 of Butterscotch's eggs had pipped. I broke down and candled the other 5... All dead...

I opened them and all I had was egg soup...


I picked up the one that had pipped and chipped away a tiny bit of shell to check on it. The membrane was dry, so I moistened it a bit with water on the tip of my finger. When I put the egg back with Butterscitch, she stepped on it and crushed the shell!! I let it be for a bit while I did barn chores, but I couldn't help but check on it again. The chick seemed to be in distress. The shell was falling off all over, so I made sure the membrane was moist and helped to peel it off of her a bit. When I tried to put her back with Butterscotch, she attacked it! She was going to kill it! I took it away from her and offered it to Prim. She pushed it around a bit with her beak, then settled herself over the top of it. When I left them, the chick was still alive and breathing, but I'm not holding out too much hope of it pulling through...

So, this being my first time... Does the fact that 100% of Prim's eggs hatched and only 1 of Butterscotch's mean that Butterscotch didn't keep them as warm as she should have? We did catch her off of her nest a few times. They were all eggs from the same flock, so I can't believe that it was just luck of the draw... I know I probably jumped the gun in helping this little chick out. I probably should have never picked it up when I saw it had pipped, but I so wanted to make sure it was ok... Then after the hen stepped on it and crushed it... Maybe I should have left it alone then, but I just couldn't... At this point, I figure I've done enough damage. I'm leaving it up to Prim.. If she can save the chick, she will... If it's too late, then it's too late... So sad...

 

[Roxannemc]

Love the face of your brownish looking baby and as always the chicks peeking out from under the broody....

too adorable

 

[chicken pickin]

This was a great read and congrats on the 100% hatch from Prim. So exciting and I love the redish brown one in the pic. Sorry to hear about Butterscotch and her only one chick. But still 7 out of 12 is great, I think anyway, its your first hatch. Im glad Prim has accepted the chick and I will keep my fingers crossed that she makes it.

 

[TMNfarm]

She made it!! She made it!!!

I went out this morning fully expecting to find a dead chick. Prim was sitting in the same spot and her chicks were running around the box. I lifted her up and found a sweet little bundle of fuzz!! She looks just like the one my son named PJ... What a good Mommy my Prim is!

 

[chicken pickin]

YAY!!! Good job Prim!

 

[Pele]

YAY!!! Good job Prim!

x2! so glad she made it! Give Prim some treats for being such a good mommy. It does sound like Butterscotch isn't such a good mommy. I'd give her one more try, and if she doesn't do well again, just stick to Prim.

 

[weaversfarm]

This is an interesting thread, thank you for posting it TMNfarm! I only tried once to let a broody hen set on eggs. They were duck eggs. We were in the hopes that since the ducks wouldn't lay on them and the buff hen was broody even though she wasn't laying eggs she would hatch them out. We put 4 under her and one did hatch out. My husband found it dead on the floor of the hen house. Apparently, the hen knew it wasn't a chicken and kicked it out of the box after it hatched. I then gathered duck eggs and incubated them and out of 25 eggs put in 24 hatched out. I will be interested in seeing how your hen does with hatching them out. I have always wanted to have a hen that would hatch out her own eggs and watch how they take care of them. I will follow this thread and maybe if I have a broody hen out of this new batch of chicks I will try it. Good luck and keep us informed....I can't wait to see how things turn out!!

 

[weaversfarm]

You have to forgive me, I am new to this site and didn't realize there were 3 pages, I only saw the first page. I am so glad your hen is taking good care of the babies. They are cuties. I just may try this when my chicks are hens and I have a broody one. Thank you for sharing.