They did it. Going out to the pasture about noon time today we heard cheeping. I had checked their nest around 6pm last night and the egg hadn't even pipped yet.
On 10/13 (my brothers birthday) my broody Silver Phoenix hen had gotten ahold of an egg. We had no idea how long she had been sitting on it. I already had eggs in the bator that I had set on 10/4 so I wasn't going to slip this one in with them. The decision was made to slip it under. I didn't want any winter babies. The ones in the bator were heading out the day they were born. I didn't expect Broody #1 to brood the egg the whole term because she had already been brooding for over 2 weeks. No matter what I did to try to break her she continued to brood.
Fast foward to last week...the winter turns foul and my only other Silver Phoenix hen is attacked by my in-laws dog. So that leaves only one SP hen to roam around with the Standard White Cochin hens. She was lonely so she joined Broody Hen in the box to keep the egg extra warm.
Well this morning 11/4, my husbands birthday we heard cheeping. Our lone little egg actually hatched. Unbelievable. Unexpected. So we took it down from the elevated nestbox and put it on the ground for a few minutes hoping one of the cochins would run over and say "MINE". No one even looked. SP are not known for caring for eggs once they are hatched. And Broody went back to her nest on the golf balls later, but we can't leave the chick in there as it is 2 feet off the ground.
So we cleaned out the cage we have for injured hens, brooding chicks etc. Went to set up the heat lamp, the bulb was broken. Went to set up an incandescent bulb to hold us over, didn't work. We don't use incandescent bulbs in our house so we didn't have a replacement. My husband rigged up a milk jug full of hot water to hold us over until I could run to the hardware store and get the replacement bulb. So now Cheepy is in the Hall bathroom. She has a feather duster Mom (although she really prefers my hand), feeder and water with marbles.
What I want to know is could I possibly slip her in with the cochins at night or early morning when she is a bit bigger (we call them all she until proven wrong.) I worry because we have goats in with the chickens and I don't want her stepped on. I'd like her to be strong enough (3 or 4 days at least) to get out of the way.
Laney
On 10/13 (my brothers birthday) my broody Silver Phoenix hen had gotten ahold of an egg. We had no idea how long she had been sitting on it. I already had eggs in the bator that I had set on 10/4 so I wasn't going to slip this one in with them. The decision was made to slip it under. I didn't want any winter babies. The ones in the bator were heading out the day they were born. I didn't expect Broody #1 to brood the egg the whole term because she had already been brooding for over 2 weeks. No matter what I did to try to break her she continued to brood.
Fast foward to last week...the winter turns foul and my only other Silver Phoenix hen is attacked by my in-laws dog. So that leaves only one SP hen to roam around with the Standard White Cochin hens. She was lonely so she joined Broody Hen in the box to keep the egg extra warm.
Well this morning 11/4, my husbands birthday we heard cheeping. Our lone little egg actually hatched. Unbelievable. Unexpected. So we took it down from the elevated nestbox and put it on the ground for a few minutes hoping one of the cochins would run over and say "MINE". No one even looked. SP are not known for caring for eggs once they are hatched. And Broody went back to her nest on the golf balls later, but we can't leave the chick in there as it is 2 feet off the ground.
So we cleaned out the cage we have for injured hens, brooding chicks etc. Went to set up the heat lamp, the bulb was broken. Went to set up an incandescent bulb to hold us over, didn't work. We don't use incandescent bulbs in our house so we didn't have a replacement. My husband rigged up a milk jug full of hot water to hold us over until I could run to the hardware store and get the replacement bulb. So now Cheepy is in the Hall bathroom. She has a feather duster Mom (although she really prefers my hand), feeder and water with marbles.
What I want to know is could I possibly slip her in with the cochins at night or early morning when she is a bit bigger (we call them all she until proven wrong.) I worry because we have goats in with the chickens and I don't want her stepped on. I'd like her to be strong enough (3 or 4 days at least) to get out of the way.
Laney
