NY chicken lover!!!!

[Cass]

another broody hatched her lil ones

Oh, I have that bird in miniature....same coloring....She/he is gonna be wonderful once she grows up....Now to find out what gender they are....sigh...But they sure are pretty.

 

[stonykill]

Oh, I have that bird in miniature....same coloring....She/he is gonna be wonderful once she grows up....Now to find out what gender they are....sigh...But they sure are pretty.

they sure are. This is broody #5 so far this year running around with lil ones.

 

[Cass]

Anyone else battling Boodies with egg breakage? I have lost 10 of 17 eggs set in the last 2 weeks. How do you fix this. I think it is from other hens sitting on the nests to lay.

Yup, been there, done that. Just had Ray build a small box with a smaller opening to put over one of my broodies so she can get some peace. Are all those eggs in one nest or under different broodies?

Once I have all my chicks grown out, I'm going to put the broodies in the small side of my coop so it stops happening. I will admit that I am not gentle when I remove an intruder from a broody's nest (not abusive, just not gentle) to try and discourage them from getting in again. It seems to cut down on the intrusions, but some birds never learn.

Are your broodies in an actual nest box? A while ago someone suggested putting chicken wire over the nest box so no one can get in....however you have to be willing to go down a couple times a day to let your broody out to eat, drink and poop.

Of course, you could just get lighter birds. I have never had a D'uccle break an egg when she gets in the nest to babysit and lay her egg. I have had D'uccles stand on my feet and my not realize they were there and try and walk away. Man, do they squalk when my foot moves. LOL

 

[featherz]

My broodies are doing great! Got home from work today and was so hoping there was no chick massacre, since I have two broodies in the same coop, not penned in at all. They were camped out on the coop floor about a foot away from each other and were watching the chicks drink from the nipple waterer. So far so good! I still haven't managed to count how many chicks I ended up with, but I stuck my seven incubator chicks in there last night and I know there were at least 5 others, so probably a dozen or more total. And now another NN is acting broody! argh!

I had some problems with egg breakage also. I am tempted in future to just stick duds under any broodies and incubate the eggs myself. Much less stress to put the eggs in the brinsea and press 'go', easier to candle. Then I just give them the chicks. =)

Oh, and I had my first 100% hatch (in the bator) - stuck seven eggs in, locked down seven eggs, and all seven hatched. Of course, they were not shipped eggs and my roo is a feisty guy, so all was in my favor.

 

[featherz]

Since I added the canned cat food (and not a lot, just what the cat can't get out of the corners of the can or won't finish cuz it's "old" LOL), the mash with eggshells in it and making SURE they have enough water to get them til I am home at night (I wasn't too good at that in the past and came home regularly to DRY waterers) the new girl's shells are much thicker and the feathers are growing back ....and I am getting 8 - 10 eggs a day from 13 layers....or was, until I had 2 go broody on me, so it's more like 6 - 9 a day, but that's still more than I can eat a week. (Heck, that's more than I can sell each week)

My three leghorns finish off the cat food every day - I have to lock my garage until my cats can eat, then I let the leghorns clean the plate. I know, it's probably not good for them, but it's such a small amount. Plus it helps me - I get sparkly clean cat food plates. (this is for my outdoor barn cats). =)

 

[stonykill]

My broodies are doing great! Got home from work today and was so hoping there was no chick massacre, since I have two broodies in the same coop, not penned in at all. They were camped out on the coop floor about a foot away from each other and were watching the chicks drink from the nipple waterer. So far so good! I still haven't managed to count how many chicks I ended up with, but I stuck my seven incubator chicks in there last night and I know there were at least 5 others, so probably a dozen or more total. And now another NN is acting broody! argh!

I had some problems with egg breakage also. I am tempted in future to just stick duds under any broodies and incubate the eggs myself. Much less stress to put the eggs in the brinsea and press 'go', easier to candle. Then I just give them the chicks. =)

Oh, and I had my first 100% hatch (in the bator) - stuck seven eggs in, locked down seven eggs, and all seven hatched. Of course, they were not shipped eggs and my roo is a feisty guy, so all was in my favor.

congrats Feathers on the broody's getting along. Mine usually do. Today when my newest broody brought her 3 lil ones out for their debut, "mama" came over with her 2 lil ones. A blue Sumatra broody fight ensued for about 20 seconds. Then, it was over and the chicks each went to their own mama. The 3 Blue Sumatra broody's all sleep in the same shed/coop. All was quiet tonight when I locked them up. I like it when the chicks a little and the mama's bring them to bed early

 

[Cydney83]

Love her!!!!

Counting chicks.. heck, I don't wanna even count chicks. I think I have like 75 with chicks, but 30ish will be going out soon. I like to keep 40ish adult birds. =)

Here ya go Java! A little favorelle! I see three possible java chicks (black and white) so far and now I have two favorelles. Could be more hidden in mamas feathers. I don't know if the EE's will hatch, but you did mention the fertility was poor in those. Plus I have a few mutt chicks to stick under em.

 

[Lynzi777]

Well, day 1 of my husband caring for the chicks seems to have gone well. Only 2 more days to go! My coop didn't come today.

Not sure what's going on. Said it was going to be delivered today but the UPS site said it hasn't even arrived at their facility yet - so how they came up with this delivery date of 4/30 is beyond me! Owell, I just hope it gets there by Thursday so I can spend the rest of the week putting it together and getting the chicks outside and using it.

Oh and before I forget, does anyone in the Syracuse area or even in Albany if it's before the end of June, have any lavender orpingtons or know where I can get some?

 

[pharmchickrnmom]

Came home to find miss broodypants still sitting on the eggs. Opened the pop door so the others could go in the coop. Stripe is sitting tight on her eggs. I guess we will see if she hatches them. I only let her have two as the coop is small and she is nesting on the floor instead of the box. I am glad everyone elses broodies are doing well and I hope mine does too.

The four walls are up on the coop and nailed down. Dh will be running the rafters for the roof on tomorrow. He managed to score some vinyl flooring so it will be easy to clean. We are pushing to get the terrorists in there by the end of the week. I cant believe how fast they are growing. My laying hens didnt grow this fast. Once the roof and the skin is on, then there is just the little things to do. Getting excited!!!

 

[Henicillin]

I'm not a chickie grandma yet, dang it. However, I set the eggs under my ditzy broody at 10:45 PM on Monday the 9th, so I'm not surprised I have no action. It'll be interesting to see if anyone hatches out. She's such a good-tempered bird. When I lifted her up to see if there were any pips, after I set her down she just tucked them back under herself more comfortably and sort of looked at me like, "really, lady, I've got this."

I also have Official Broody #2 - my avatar BLRW slept in a nest box last night, stayed in there all day until I shagged her out, and is down in there again. She has also developed a nice broody patch. If she's still at it tomorrow evening, I'll set some mutt eggs under her - why not?

My extra roo problem may also be solved without my having to do the deed myself. Alan has a co-worker from Mexico who absolutely loves the girls' eggs (he says they remind him of home, which is sweet). I'm told that he asked today if we ever sell extra chickens for meat. Lightbulb moment! I don't mind the idea of processing - I'm just having a hard time working up the guts to do it myself, because, hey, I'm a wuss. So, I told Alan to ask his friend if he'd like this one, as I'm more than willing to hand him over to someone who is going to make good use of the meat and who knows what he's doing.