newbie broody questions help needed asap

[cajunlizz]

Quote:
I had 2 hens that went broody during the summer . I took her , her nest , and her eggs that I placed in her nest and MOVED it all into a cage( make sure you put water and food nearby . ) I did this where she could have privacy and not be bothered by roos, or other hens . I decided to do this WHEN I went into the coop one afternoon and she had gotten off the nest to eat and drink and another hen was sitting on her nest trying to lay an egg . I said well , ya'll just make up my mind for me . Moving her into a cage was the best thing I could have done . I marked the eggs with date due to hatch . DO NOT touch the eggs , HEN turns the eggs herself . 21 days later I had beautiful chicks . LARGE BREEDS CAN SIT ON AS MUCH AS 8 - 10 OR MORE EGGS . My lil english Bantam hatched 6 and she is 1/2 the size of large breed.

 

[crazychicken]

Thanks all i am still on "vacation" but will be home tomorrow. i hope my chickens are ok i gave them a big dog self feeder ( full of chicken food ) and water i called someone who are some friends of ours that i gave chicks to. and he said he would go check in on them but we have not heard from him so i assume that everything was ok we told him if he saw any eggs that he can have them but i doubt he would find them because they have been hiding them here and there and everywhere and he would have probably just have looked in the nest boxes that they are not using. the reason i asked and i probably should have clarified more in my first post but we were in a hurry to find everything and get packed. i have three hens and a roo, my roo does not like anyone but me i don't really know why but he charges and scratches at everyone else but he gets along just fine with me. so that was part of the problem, the reason i asked about the broody was that one was showing signs before we left but she had never really committed her self to it she would puff up and peck at us if we went toward the nest but she never sat on them like a true broody. she would sit on them a while but when dusk came she would leave them for the cold when she would go and perch.

well we will see what happens tomorrow when i get home it is a 18 hour drive so i am in for a long ride tomorrow.

CC

 

[cajunlizz]

Well , I promise you , when they ar ein full broodiness , they will not get off nest to perch . You can hardly see them come off nest at all to eat and drink . Infact , I have heard many starve to death just not to leave the eggs .

How long have you been gone ?

Hope the neighbor was putting fresh water daily and they had plenty of feed.

 

[crazychicken]

Ok so it is a day later than i said we would be home we got a late start and spent the night in Atlanta. and we just got home a few minutes ago. i went out to check on my chickens and everyone was on the roost with five eggs out on the nesting place so i guess that he found them. so i did not come home to a brooding surprise

thanks for all the help.

 

[swtangel321]

Glad you made it home all right and everyone was ok

 

[TheNewMrsEvans]

Next time find a friend who will come each and every day...just leave a broom by the door to the coop so they can defend themselves from Mr Roo. I just worry that something will go wrong, one get caught or injured or knock over the water or something bad...if someone comes each day then hopefully nothing serious will happen. I'm sure if that friend is too busy you could pay a high school kid a few bucks for your sanity! My pets are just too important to leave alone for more than 1 night...

I am very glad though that all are ok!

 

[crazychicken]

Quote:
yes i really love my chickens they are my pets and my babies, and if i could of had my way i would have done just what you said and set up our web cam so i could just hide in some corner and watch my chickens until we got back. but sadly my parents said that, that was overkill and that they were just chickens and could take care of them selves. but i did convince them to call my friend to go check on them in the middle of the week and they got free fresh eggs. but i was just happy that they were ok before i did any thing when we got here the first thing i did was to go down to the coop and do a head count. but since it was dark i will have to wait until tomorrow to go check for problems. but my roo crowed when i went down there which was why i did not stay long because we live in the city and a roo crowing in the middle of the night might push the neighbors over the edge LOL .

 

[cajunlizz]

Quote:
How long were you gone ?

 

[crazychicken]

eight days but we called the person that we asked to come check on them while we were gone it took us a while to get into touch with him because he was out of town the day we left. but he said he changed their water and gave them feed 4 of the days we were gone. he said it took him a while to find the eggs but then when he got them a hen followed him out and chased him across the yard.