OHio ~ Come on Buckeyes, let me know your out there!

[OHfarmerswife]

Kristen:
Thank you for the Information.I lots of questions, hope you don't mind.

I have a separate area for the broody.
I do take her out of the nest area at noon and again in
The early evening. She takes a dust bath, eats, drinks, and then asks to go back. I guess I should just leave her alone? She does have food & water in her pen, but seems to enjoy some stretching and foraging for a few minutes.

I have read a bit, and also bought a book by Gail Damerow "Hatching & Brooding Your Own Chicks" but it seems to have more about incubation.

Thanks again

Barb

 

[12lilfeet]

Ha! Love it! Guess I am off the hook for the cake now! LOL

Don't feel bad. I wasn't going to do chicks this year and we got 12 this weekend and added 3 different breeds to our "program."

Program = Lisa coming up with some professional sounding yet complete BS story in order to get some more chickens.

Lol. I've been formulating my poultry program too.

Big news... Apparently Irish eyes were smiling on me yesterday as we got our first egg! So so excited. I've checked twice today but haven't found another. I know this is just the beginning and eventually I might see 10 a day. So eggciting!! Lol. I still don't know who laid it but that's ok.

 

[12lilfeet]

Oops. Some how that posted twice.

 

[babymakes6]

Quote: I was just told today by an employee at our TSC that they have an agreement with a certain organization that cannot be named, NOT to sell any animals (rabbits). In exchange, the organization will not protest the sale of chicks.

 

[OHfarmerswife]

I was just told today by an employee at our TSC that they have an agreement with a certain organization that cannot be named, NOT to sell any animals (rabbits). In exchange, the organization will not protest the sale of chicks.

i thought Mt healthy Hatchery was in Mt healthy near Cincinnati not Dayton.

 

[Chickawawa]

Quote: Congratulations! That's awesome!

 

[larry529]

I just looked your right they are not in Dayton. Actually in Mt Healthy Ohio.. I map quested it and seen its down near Cinci.

 

[Chickawawa]

Quote: They are starting to feather out but they still just look and smell dirty. It's a bit better tonight as they have been cleaning themselves quite a bit. I'll give them another couple of days of trying to clean themselves. I'll try to post some pics. Wait, is it okay to post dirty chick pics on here? LOL Sorry, it's getting late obviously!

 

[KirstenJL]

I have a separate area for the broody.
I do take her out of the nest area at noon and again in
The early evening. She takes a dust bath, eats, drinks, and then asks to go back. I guess I should just leave her alone? She does have food & water in her pen, but seems to enjoy some stretching and foraging for a few minutes.

I have read a bit, and also bought a book by Gail Damerow "Hatching & Brooding Your Own Chicks" but it seems to have more about incubation.

Thanks again

Barb

I didn't do that with the one I crated, but it probably won't hurt--they do enjoy getting out (in my broody suite they have a 10 x 10 ft. dog kennel to come out into if they want). In my experience with broodies, less is more. I don't bug them, even to candle eggs. I do keep close track of when the chicks are due. I've started working with with a breed notorious for infertility, so I don't want my broodies to be stuck brooding forever! So far though, I've had at least some chicks hatch each time. Once the chicks are hatched and off the nest, I clean up whatever's left.

I guess some hens brood well, but then don't snap out of it when the babies hatch--they should be off the nest two days after hatch. And I've heard some hens are just poor mothers, so you should be prepared to brood chicks if necessary. But I've had very good results with just letting nature take its course.

Also, chicks raised by hens are less tame with people (even if the hen is very tame). So I make sure to spend some time hanging out with them every day the first few weeks. I bring some scratch and meal worm treats and have the hen eat from my hand so the babies get the idea that you're not a monster!

Have fun!

Kirsten

 

[KirstenJL]

I have a separate area for the broody.
I do take her out of the nest area at noon and again in
The early evening. She takes a dust bath, eats, drinks, and then asks to go back. I guess I should just leave her alone? She does have food & water in her pen, but seems to enjoy some stretching and foraging for a few minutes.

I have read a bit, and also bought a book by Gail Damerow "Hatching & Brooding Your Own Chicks" but it seems to have more about incubation.

Thanks again

Barb

Another thing I've discovered is that hens, broody or not, are quite capable of moving eggs in and out of nests. I've not seen it done, but I think they tuck the eggs under their wing to manage it. Some of my coops have nest boxes side by side, divided by walls and I find eggs that started out in one end up in the other. I have two pairs of hens that go broody together and co-parent well, but when I tried this with an untested pair, one of the hens ended up with all the eggs in her nest and the other hen broke out of her broodiness. So weird things happen. After your hatch, make sure all your eggs are accounted for or you could be in for a smelly surprise!

Kirsten