Broody Bottoms
In the Brooder
- Jun 22, 2018
- 8
- 37
- 44
Hi y'all,
I have been reading the questions & replies on Backyard Chickens for a while now, so I finally decided I should join.
A little over a year ago, I assembled a hen house & did some yard work for an elderly gentleman. Though I didn't expect anything in return for it, he insisted on paying me.........with chickens. Not eggs, not fried or baked or just a chicken dinner.......the man paid me with a flock of 16 little baby chickies. I grew up on a farm & love animals, but as a toddler was attacked & spurred very badly by a rooster. My fear of chickens became so horrific, that my family decided never to keep chickens again. As you can imagine, I tried every way I could, to get the elderly gentleman to take these creatures back, but........he wouldn't. Instead, he catered to my every excuse, buying them a hen house, then later a huge chicken coop. The fact that I knew nothing about them did not sway him either. He is very knowledgeable & has helped me a lot. What he didn't know, we learned from this forum.
Well, this elderly gentleman has gotten real sweet on my Grannie, making him a mainstay with our family. The more time he spends with her, the bigger my flock seems to get. Fortunately, these birds (with all do respect, this includes the 2 old birds too ) have grown on me & I love them so much, that I couldn't imagine my life without them. They have truly changed EVERYTHING for me.
My 1st flock included 4 Buff Orpingtons, 3 Gold Laced Wyandottes, 3 Silver Laced Wyandottes, 5 Australorp, & 1 Wyandotte rooster. These were all 4 days old when they were brought to my house late 1 evening, in a box held by my very excited 8 year old nephew. It quickly became a project for him too, but he currently lives on a large chicken farm & has also taught me a lot.
About 4 months later, as I was walking up the steps to open the door to the screened in patio, I heard a bunch of chirping going on. When I opened the door, I discovered the homemade brooder I had previously built for my chickies, was full of little birds again. These were some funny looking, yet cute little birds. Immediately, I knew who the culprit was, & called the elderly man to say thank you & find out more about this treasure he had left for me. There were 8 guinea keets & he said they were about 3 weeks old. His advice was for me to eventually let them run free, but........NO. I didn't want anything to hurt them, so I built them their own house out of an old bunk bed. Of course, I finally let them out to free range during the day & getting them to come home usually wasn't a problem. However, where I live, there are many predators both at night & during the day. I lost 2 to a hawk, 1 to a coyote, 1 to a possum, & 1 to a skunk. The last 4 recently died, all in 1 week. This happened after finally getting them back home, as the 3 remaining hens went broody, sitting on their clutch in the front flowerbeds. They had quite a clutch of eggs, but then 1 day all but 1 egg was left, & it appeared to have just been laid. Latter that evening, I killed 1 huge chicken snake & 1 full grown copperhead snake in the backyard. Later the same week, I killed 2 more copperheads & watched a fight go down between my Wyandottes, over a small copperhead that did not survive them. After realizing my guineas were feeding the snakes instead of getting rid of them, I started taking their eggs away & put them in their house. It took a week, but they all finally came home. The day that the last 1 came home, they all started to die. Not sure what was wrong with them, but the male had a rattle in his chest like he was congested. He was the 1st of the remaining 4 to die. His "best girl," died about 10 minutes after he did. The other 2 died over the next 3 days. We are trying the guinea thing again, but I want to be a little more prepared this time.
Anyway......about 2 or 3 months after getting the guineas, the elderly gentleman heard from my Grannie, that I really love my Orpingtons. They are my favorite to love on, but the Wyandottes have some very funny personalities. The Austrolorps are also quite entertaining, but are very quiet with the exception of 1......her name is Chatty Kathy. Well....he asked me this time, if I would like some more Orpingtons. I told him, "yes, eventually, but not right now." We were going into fall and I wanted to wait for warmer weather. Also, I thought maybe I would surprise him with baby chicks later. He has quite a flock of his own & he & Grannie truly seem to enjoy them. As you would guess, on October 13, 2017 my 2nd flock of chickies appeared in my homemade brooder on the screened in patio. There were 16 little Buff Orpingtons just chirping away. Originally, there were 2 roosters, but 1 of them didn't make it past 2 weeks old. I raised all of the others until they started laying just a few months ago, but then I gave the elderly gentleman 7 hens & the rooster back for his own flock. He walks with a cane, so it's difficult for him to pick up a chicken to love on it. The Orpingtons I raised, expressed their love for him when he & Grannie would come to check on my flock & sit for a visit. They ran to his chair & jumped in his lap, letting him pet them. He hasn't been able to physically interact with his other chickens this way. Not only can he pet the Orpingtons, but now he is able to let his grandkids & great grand babies hold & pet them too, allowing him to share his interest with them. I think chickens have a potential future as certified therapy animals.
About 8 weeks after getting the Orpingtons.......that makes this around November or December, I was given a pair of white guineas. I named them Wanda & Walter White-Guinea. They were adorable & actually responded to their names. They were young, but not keets. I think Wanda must have been just a little bit older than Walter, by about 4 to 6 weeks, though I really don't know. I only had them a few months & the othere guineas were still among us. They were all going into their 1st true mating season, so they were somewhat segregated. Walter kept attacking my hens for just looking at Wanda, so sometimes I had to keep him in his pen. He often ran further than the safe boundaries & he NEVER flew. I let them both out 1 day, & they went too far. I found Wanda trying to get home, but she appeared to have been attacked by something. She had a huge hole in her neck & the insides & outsides of both of her legs had very deep claw marks on them. As I brought her home Walter came running out from underneath our storage building, where he had obviously been hiding. He didn't have a scratch on him & appeared to be fine. Wanda didn't make it through the next day. The day after her death, I found Walter with his beak down in his waterer........also dead.
I had some eggs left from this pair of guineas & I let 1 of my older Orpingtons, Amber hatch them out. She successfully hatched 2 little white guineas, but now 1 has died. This leaves me with a very devastated hen, who keeps searching for her baby, as I don't think she realizes it was dead when I removed it from her house (she has her own special house). The sibling also keeps looking for it & I am concerned it will get lonely being the only guinea of its age. It will be 3 weeks old on Sunday & it's sibling died just this week.
The elderly gentleman that has been my poultry partner, has given me 18 guinea eggs, some of which came from Wanda & Walter's siblings or possibly cousins (they are another pair of white guineas that came from the same breeder). The remaining eggs he has given me are from his grey pearl dot guineas, which were siblings to the ones I had. Additionally, I managed to save a dozen potentially fertilized eggs, from an abandoned clutch belonging to my grey pearl dot guineas. Today, I have loaded the incubators, hoping to give the 1 surviving keet more of her own kind. However, it will be a bit older than the ones that will hatch in about a month & I am not sure if I should hand raise them myself or let a broody hen take charge.
I have a lot to learn, especially about guineas, but have overcome my fear of chickens. Despite having many other ambitions in my life & a never ending goal of pursuits to aim for, I am hopeful that my poultry hobby will turn into something even greater. My only regret is not starting this sooner.
I have been reading the questions & replies on Backyard Chickens for a while now, so I finally decided I should join.
A little over a year ago, I assembled a hen house & did some yard work for an elderly gentleman. Though I didn't expect anything in return for it, he insisted on paying me.........with chickens. Not eggs, not fried or baked or just a chicken dinner.......the man paid me with a flock of 16 little baby chickies. I grew up on a farm & love animals, but as a toddler was attacked & spurred very badly by a rooster. My fear of chickens became so horrific, that my family decided never to keep chickens again. As you can imagine, I tried every way I could, to get the elderly gentleman to take these creatures back, but........he wouldn't. Instead, he catered to my every excuse, buying them a hen house, then later a huge chicken coop. The fact that I knew nothing about them did not sway him either. He is very knowledgeable & has helped me a lot. What he didn't know, we learned from this forum.
Well, this elderly gentleman has gotten real sweet on my Grannie, making him a mainstay with our family. The more time he spends with her, the bigger my flock seems to get. Fortunately, these birds (with all do respect, this includes the 2 old birds too ) have grown on me & I love them so much, that I couldn't imagine my life without them. They have truly changed EVERYTHING for me.
My 1st flock included 4 Buff Orpingtons, 3 Gold Laced Wyandottes, 3 Silver Laced Wyandottes, 5 Australorp, & 1 Wyandotte rooster. These were all 4 days old when they were brought to my house late 1 evening, in a box held by my very excited 8 year old nephew. It quickly became a project for him too, but he currently lives on a large chicken farm & has also taught me a lot.
About 4 months later, as I was walking up the steps to open the door to the screened in patio, I heard a bunch of chirping going on. When I opened the door, I discovered the homemade brooder I had previously built for my chickies, was full of little birds again. These were some funny looking, yet cute little birds. Immediately, I knew who the culprit was, & called the elderly man to say thank you & find out more about this treasure he had left for me. There were 8 guinea keets & he said they were about 3 weeks old. His advice was for me to eventually let them run free, but........NO. I didn't want anything to hurt them, so I built them their own house out of an old bunk bed. Of course, I finally let them out to free range during the day & getting them to come home usually wasn't a problem. However, where I live, there are many predators both at night & during the day. I lost 2 to a hawk, 1 to a coyote, 1 to a possum, & 1 to a skunk. The last 4 recently died, all in 1 week. This happened after finally getting them back home, as the 3 remaining hens went broody, sitting on their clutch in the front flowerbeds. They had quite a clutch of eggs, but then 1 day all but 1 egg was left, & it appeared to have just been laid. Latter that evening, I killed 1 huge chicken snake & 1 full grown copperhead snake in the backyard. Later the same week, I killed 2 more copperheads & watched a fight go down between my Wyandottes, over a small copperhead that did not survive them. After realizing my guineas were feeding the snakes instead of getting rid of them, I started taking their eggs away & put them in their house. It took a week, but they all finally came home. The day that the last 1 came home, they all started to die. Not sure what was wrong with them, but the male had a rattle in his chest like he was congested. He was the 1st of the remaining 4 to die. His "best girl," died about 10 minutes after he did. The other 2 died over the next 3 days. We are trying the guinea thing again, but I want to be a little more prepared this time.
Anyway......about 2 or 3 months after getting the guineas, the elderly gentleman heard from my Grannie, that I really love my Orpingtons. They are my favorite to love on, but the Wyandottes have some very funny personalities. The Austrolorps are also quite entertaining, but are very quiet with the exception of 1......her name is Chatty Kathy. Well....he asked me this time, if I would like some more Orpingtons. I told him, "yes, eventually, but not right now." We were going into fall and I wanted to wait for warmer weather. Also, I thought maybe I would surprise him with baby chicks later. He has quite a flock of his own & he & Grannie truly seem to enjoy them. As you would guess, on October 13, 2017 my 2nd flock of chickies appeared in my homemade brooder on the screened in patio. There were 16 little Buff Orpingtons just chirping away. Originally, there were 2 roosters, but 1 of them didn't make it past 2 weeks old. I raised all of the others until they started laying just a few months ago, but then I gave the elderly gentleman 7 hens & the rooster back for his own flock. He walks with a cane, so it's difficult for him to pick up a chicken to love on it. The Orpingtons I raised, expressed their love for him when he & Grannie would come to check on my flock & sit for a visit. They ran to his chair & jumped in his lap, letting him pet them. He hasn't been able to physically interact with his other chickens this way. Not only can he pet the Orpingtons, but now he is able to let his grandkids & great grand babies hold & pet them too, allowing him to share his interest with them. I think chickens have a potential future as certified therapy animals.
About 8 weeks after getting the Orpingtons.......that makes this around November or December, I was given a pair of white guineas. I named them Wanda & Walter White-Guinea. They were adorable & actually responded to their names. They were young, but not keets. I think Wanda must have been just a little bit older than Walter, by about 4 to 6 weeks, though I really don't know. I only had them a few months & the othere guineas were still among us. They were all going into their 1st true mating season, so they were somewhat segregated. Walter kept attacking my hens for just looking at Wanda, so sometimes I had to keep him in his pen. He often ran further than the safe boundaries & he NEVER flew. I let them both out 1 day, & they went too far. I found Wanda trying to get home, but she appeared to have been attacked by something. She had a huge hole in her neck & the insides & outsides of both of her legs had very deep claw marks on them. As I brought her home Walter came running out from underneath our storage building, where he had obviously been hiding. He didn't have a scratch on him & appeared to be fine. Wanda didn't make it through the next day. The day after her death, I found Walter with his beak down in his waterer........also dead.
I had some eggs left from this pair of guineas & I let 1 of my older Orpingtons, Amber hatch them out. She successfully hatched 2 little white guineas, but now 1 has died. This leaves me with a very devastated hen, who keeps searching for her baby, as I don't think she realizes it was dead when I removed it from her house (she has her own special house). The sibling also keeps looking for it & I am concerned it will get lonely being the only guinea of its age. It will be 3 weeks old on Sunday & it's sibling died just this week.
The elderly gentleman that has been my poultry partner, has given me 18 guinea eggs, some of which came from Wanda & Walter's siblings or possibly cousins (they are another pair of white guineas that came from the same breeder). The remaining eggs he has given me are from his grey pearl dot guineas, which were siblings to the ones I had. Additionally, I managed to save a dozen potentially fertilized eggs, from an abandoned clutch belonging to my grey pearl dot guineas. Today, I have loaded the incubators, hoping to give the 1 surviving keet more of her own kind. However, it will be a bit older than the ones that will hatch in about a month & I am not sure if I should hand raise them myself or let a broody hen take charge.
I have a lot to learn, especially about guineas, but have overcome my fear of chickens. Despite having many other ambitions in my life & a never ending goal of pursuits to aim for, I am hopeful that my poultry hobby will turn into something even greater. My only regret is not starting this sooner.
. You'll find more information here, and make some new friends. There's tons of information in the posts. And feel free to ask any questions you have. Glad you decided to join the flock. 
We are glad you joined our flock!
