ordered 25 pullets from Ideal, second broody hatches!!! updated pics

[dparadise]

Ok so last week I received my 25 chicks from Ideal, great, they'll be laying by spring and I'll have a very colorful basket of eggs!! One of my bantams decided to go broody, no big deal, she's young and she kept changing nest boxes, she'll get over it and none will hatch. Well, to make a long story longer....I came home from work today and heard a little peeep, ppeeeepp and thought the the DH had brought the babies outside for some sunshine and warm weather. Nope, they were in the house where they should be. Hmmm, where did the little peep come from? Walked into the run, nothing there... walked into the coop and saw the cutest little orange chick outside the nest box, crying for 'her' mommy. wishful thinking anyway. I did get a pic but its kind of hard to see, momma's so black that the flash won't focus on her.

the best I can do for now, momma's a bit mean when she's broody, she bit me!

I have a newborn, our first chickie born here!!!!!! I wonder how many more we're going to get, within the last 2 weeks all 4 of my bantams, 2 oegm and 1 phoenix and momma have decided to sit. I think it's revenge for ordering more chicks.

momma (Maria) and her 3 chicks:

These are my new girls, there's 25 of them total:

 

[nuttyredhead]

Wow!!! You are going to have alot of egg come spring lol!!!!

Good Luck to all your babies!!!

 

[txcarl1258]

LOL They can be sneaky and mean when they want to brood! My BA has 5 chicks and she has bitten me several times when she was setting. I think my White Leghorn has decided to try and brood again she didn't come to feed today, so its a hunt for a nest tomorrow. I think I got the only three cochins in the country who are not interested in being broody! Go figure.

 

[dparadise]

Sneaky is right, one of my girls is under a kids motor car that's upside down to keep the rain out of it. She has 9 eggs under her!!


We had 2 more hatch to day, they're so cute and so different, she's not the birth mom

all 3 eggs shells are from large eggs, the bantam eggs are still full, I'm going to give her another day or 2 and then take them away from her. Here's a few pics that the DH took right as I got home.

they're sooo cute!

 

[pixy]

adorable!

 

[gryeyes]

Awwwww, your first GrandChick! How adorable!

My first GrandChick was hatched earlier this summer and she's looking so much like her egg-mother it's astonishing. Her broody momma is a BO but an EE laid the egg, fertilized by my dominant, EE rooster.

I now have 3 more GrandChicks, which by hatched by Shirley Welsummer; two of the chicks were eggs SHE laid. I think Delilah Delaware is the other egg contributor. Shirley is doing a wonderful job! (But I think she's finding it more difficult to raise 3 little active goobers than Buffy had with her solo chick.)

Let us know how many end up running around your place. They're SO much fun to watch interact with their momma!

 

[dparadise]

Maria seems ok so far with her 3 babies, the only problem so far is that 1 chick always seems to be left behind when they go back in the nestbox for the night. We used a board to make a little ladder for the chicks but momma has changed boxes again! It seems that she doesn't want any eggs in the box with the babies and now that she's out with them all day, the other girls take advantage and use all the boxes again. Right now, I'm home early enough that I can empty a box but as soon as the time change takes effect, it's going to be dark by the time I get home.

 

[gryeyes]

The first time Shirley took her chicks out of the coop, one little fuzzbutt didn't it back into the coop..... I had to catch it and put it into the nest box with the rest of its family. Shirley tucked it under her just fine. I think herding the four of them was just too hard for her.

The next night, a different chick got left out. I cornered, captured it, and put it in the nest box; Shirley looked relieved. Really.

Night 3 of outdoor exploration, and every night since, all the chicks made it back with momma.

Shirley came to me when I went outside one day a few days later, all upset. One of the four had fallen into the ducks' kiddie pool and drowned. She fluttered around me when I recovered its body and I checked to see if I could revive it, without success. I felt so bad for her (and emptied the kiddie pool for the time being). I wish I'd stayed outside all day so I could have prevented that!

But the remaining three chicks are thriving. The ducks just have to be content with the water trough in the FRONT yard.

 

[dparadise]

Sorry about the chick, it is hard to keep an eye on them all the time. They are so cute and so little, it almost bothers me sometimes to see them wandering the yard with mom. I know that chickens have been doing it forever but still......

Maria has 1 that won't let her get out of sight and I think that makes it harder on her to watch out for the others. If she jumps out of the nest to help the one that didn't make it in, the "cling on" jumps out with her. She's been great though, she realizes that we're helping her when we put the feed or water by the babies and when we pick them up to return them to the nest. She was so mean while sitting and is still very protective but you're right, they do seem relieved when we help out. With her being a bantam, I can't wait to see how she hides them when they get a little bigger

 

[dparadise]

Pixie's hatched 5 chicks so far! I can't believe it, they're all black.

Pixie, she might weigh 8 oz.